Charlie_PS2 found guilty
 

EUCD laws deliver Europe's most comprehensive ruling yet against mod chip devices


Sony has won a landmark case in the British High Court, with a judge ruling that the sale of mod chip devices for the PlayStation 2 is illegal under the UK's implementation of the new European Union Copyright Directive.

The case was taken against David Ball (aka Charlie_PS2), who had sold some 1,500 Messiah 2 mod chips to customers around the UK. The chips circumvented the built-in protection of the PS2 and allowed the console to play pirate and imported games.

The judge in the case, Mr Justice Laddie, ruled that Mr Ball had acted unlawfully in selling the chips, and went on to state that the use of the chips, advertising them or possessing them for commercial purposes are also illegal.

This is one of the most comprehensive rulings against mod chips to be made in the UK, or anywhere in Europe, and it is the first to be brought since the UK adopted a version of the European Union Copyright Directive (EUCD) laws late last year.

"This case, together with the recent successful criminal case against chippers in Belgium, confirms in the clearest possible terms that Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has the right to protect the illegal infringement of our intellectual property rights, and those of third party game developers," according to SCEE president David Reeves. "We are sending a clear message to manufacturers and distributors of mod chips throughout the PAL territories that we will continue to pursue legal action against them."

cud he not argue he was selling them for backup use only allow the users to back up their games enabling them to not scratch the orginals etc...

He sud of said he was selling them with backup use in mind only and all clients where told so.

I would have thought he sold way more than 1,500 chips. What was his sentence?

he proberly did, they just did not find out, or have any proof to prove so. I reackon he has got 4 years (if its a jail term) no idea if he has to pay damages etc, that cud be the roof, but with the amount he sold, he sud be well off, lol

Yeah this was posted in the Chit Chat section yesterday.

http://www.fileforums.com/showthread.php?t=62999




Tyler!

I really hope ever thing works out for the best for Charlie. Hopefully they won’t put the screws to him to bad. I’m wondering how this will affect modchips not only in the UK but every where else.

Since Sony won won in the UK, they mite try and come after the US next. I’m sure they are looking into it very hard to find some loop hole in the DMCA. Just another reason the DMCA needs to be burned.

Also wondering how this will affect XBox modchips in the UK. Think Bill will try and make an example out of some one as well?

Im not too worried about the US version court dates. I know our US lawyers are a bit more sly.



Tyler!

That sucz.Yet again Sony the Multinational bully one guy. It's really sad an I feel sry for charlie. Out of all the mod chip installers why pick on him?

Don't sony realise how much homebrew software there is out there that is unusable without a modchip.

Also I thought it was legal to be able to back up your own software for your own personal use. I assume Sony will be providing some alternative means for doing this or offering free replacement software for damaged discs??

They suck big time. PS3 or Xbox2? Am getting really swayed the other way!

Legal to own backups or not is not the point, Sony is just trying to make a statement!

Sony's been making Lord knows how much money off us gamers already so what's a few mod-chips going do? Better stock up on them chips before it's too late :p

They picked on Charlie because he was the front-man. I do wish him luck but unfortunately I doubt he has a lot of fun comming his way for a while.


@ToyFigure,

Thats exactly my point. With that in mind Im sure there is no way Sony can get rid of modchips altogether in the States. We have the more bloodthirsty and sleaziest lawers in the world.



Tyler!

The reason why is beacause he was a distrbutor of the m2 he was like a main guy in the company if u know what i mean.

he was a distributor but he wasnt the main guy, charlie couldnt even install a chip, he was like a spokesman for team messiah. I dont have all the facts but from what i hear Team messiah disappeared and left charlie holding the bag.This is the reason i reguard the new messiah chip a fake.

damn, all i can say is that I hope time passes fast for him. Sometimes the law can be completely unfair, no matter how good the apposing arguement is. Some things have gotten way out of hand in the terms of technology and what is really important in life. I hope things turn out as good as they can for him.

If what you say is true Warlock, then I lost all respect for team messiah.

Like i said, i dont have all the facts, I also wish him the best. As people say, nothing very good or very bad lasts very long so hopefully this will pass quickly for him.

does anyone know his sentence? (jail?/re-embustment?)

Thats a bit tight, of wat the messiah team have done, if true, if he knows their names he sud hand them in, as he wud get a shorter sentence.

He (in my opinion) is not the type of guy to do that.....

I personally dont see anything wrong with what he did.....

YOU KNOW that you MUST OWN the game that you are going to back up.... If you dont, then you cant legally do it.....

Everyone that is in the mod chip scene KNOWS this.......

So why pick on Charlie_PS2...... Because he is the "easiest" to go after....

I wish all the best to him and hope that maybe through appeals, he can get this overturned....

Its just like when McDonalds got sued by a woman that spilled her coffee on herself.... She sued them because her coffee was "too hot".... If it was too cold she would have been pissed of anyways......

What we have is judges that dont want to stand up to people (especially big companies) in fear of losing their jobs (or votes for that matter)..... And the law allows **** like this to happen.....

Sorry for talking like this to some of the younger memebers, but it really pisses me off........

If you buy a stove/oven.... You know its hot when you turn it on..... But if you burn yourself.... You can sue the people that made the stove....

Laws are just ways for lawyers/government to make money nowadays.....

They have taken all common sense out of it....

Ok.... NOW im really pissed... So I will be quiet....

Very true BG! He definitely got a crappy deal. I sure hope he does it fact get a chance to appeal and hopefully get a lawyer that can actually help him.

Don't forget he was based in the uk and the laws are really screwed up there about mod chips seems there illegal there thats one of the reasons why they bully him so much and also to make a statement cant leave that out.

Laws are screwed up in the uk? lol, in u.s.a everyone sue's each other for any petit thing, lol

Anyways, He sud appeal and say the mochip were sold for backup uses only, which is wat it sed on the site, so its not him breaching any laws its the end user.

There aren't any particular laws in the UK on mods, so this is a real shock. As others have said, I hope it goes quick for him and that he can get it overturned. As for the Messiah Team - well, words fail me if it's true about them just upping and leaving... :mad:

Being legally allowed to backup a disc for whatever reason depends on whether the ability is written into licencing.

But at the end of the day he wasn't done for backing up discs, he was done for selling ways of bypassing the copy protection system. Sony would do anything to protect their and their investers interests. Just the same as any other company would.

Just the same as you would if someone was preventing you from earning income that you would otherwise earn.

Please note that I am in no way against piracy. I have a chipped PS2, when i get a new one i'll get it chipped as well. And i work in a retail store that sells console games & dvd movies.

Mod chips are illegal in Australia too.

Sony has already won a court case over some company somewhere here.

yah, Some things are just stupid. There is no room for common sense in coart rooms (refers to mcD's case). I mean, there was a 12 year old girl fined well over $100,000 for downloading 1 song off of the internet. Wow, such a henious crime. Think should would have gotten the same sentencing if she stole the whole CD strait from a record store? Although this is unrelated to Davids case, it just shows how most priority's are more important than a persons well being.

Agreed, a 12 year old girl really would ge a slap on a wrist and hr parents handle the rest.

Really there needs to be some kind of consistancy with these acts.

here's a little more info, http://www.courtservice.gov.uk/judgments/judg_home.htmscroll down to chancery division

It all revolves back to being made an example of. Being 12 and being sued wasn’t really the point. The point was the IRAA could and did take this girl and make an example out of her. This showed every one had they had the balls to do it in hopes that it would discourage others from downloading. Not that it really did a lot of good, downloading just went more underground.

As for the laws in the UK (and other co British ruled land) on chips is kinda weird. Sony was not really saying making the back ups were illegal, it was how it was being played that was illegal. They were going on the basis that the chip bypassed their code and they felt afraid by that.

Just like this 12 year old girl, Charlie is just a example I’m sure there will be more as time gos on too.

Gaynor David Ball????



Tyler!

Could be worse, could have been Gaylord.

BTW, if you click the sony-v- ball link at the bottom of the first page you can read the full ruling. Man i hate it for charlie@ TD, i like the new signature lol :)

If i'm reading right (Warlock's link)seems like the Judge wasn't too impressed with Charlie's lawyer.


If you read the UK law on this mod chip stuff you would see he didn't stand a chance.


:mad: :(

johnjohn13

Hi,

I have known Charlie for years and first met him on this board when i waas looking into buying a chipped PS2.

Even back then he know his sh*t about chips booting methods etc etc. I wish him all the best in the future.

There is no way the modchip scene will die down, you can pick up a modchip on the net so easy these days.

This happened to the NEO brand of modchips a few years ago, SONY got involved and now they are no more.

Dal

or worse still

Gaylord Focker Ball.

Perhaps his parents had a good sense of humour....Either that or they didn't like him! :D

But if you stole a cd from a store would the IRAA get involved? i somehow doubt they would with something so trivial. If you stole a shipment of cds going to a store would they get involved? I doubt it once again. How come stealing a cd of the internet really be any different?

It's like stealing a car from off the street or stealing a car from a car yard. At the end of the day it's still car theft.

Nah, the IRAA wouldn't get involved if you stole the tangible CDs. It’s the job of the local law and the person you stole it from to prosecute you.

But when it comes to downloading music thats a whole different ball game. It’s a computer file and it falls under different rules, and than the IRAA has the legal right to go after you.

and also u would have to be a dumb mofo to steal a cd from a store or truck when u can download then lol j/k any way when stealing it off the net 1000's and 1000's doing it unlike from a store only a hand full will steal cds.

****ing Bollocks
 

The law is all a load of crap....especially in the uk

Tell me this, If charlie_ps2 gets put in prison for that, then shouldn't all dixons/curry's/walmart staff be there as well???

After all they're the ones selling us vcr's and dvd recorders to take films off TV......which is also illegal without full written permission from the copywrite owner. (Most people arn't even aware of this!)


Poor bloke :(

seems the judge does not understand his lawer, I think he needs a new n a much better one.... much better

http://www.the-console-corner.com/scea_vs_tcc.pdf

Tyler, I think you can worry now.

Still not too worried. I just dont think that fool stood up for himself. We are by law allowed to make one backup of our original games. Nowhere in that order was there anything refrencing that.




Tyler!

i remember reading an artical saying that sony declared the ps2 as a computer so they could avoid imoprt taxes on the ps2s they sent to europe, so if im right (which i like t tink i am) then wouldn't that make modding a ps2 the same as adding a new pice of hardware to your pc