Modding: should it be illegal?
So you are at home and you have your friends over. You are trying to watch Lord of the Rings. But guess what your friend dropped your dvd player and it broke and all you have is a Wii. Then one of your friends mentions modding your Wii. The room is now divided into a hot debate over if it should be legal and you do not know what to think. Most of your friends are on the legal side. It is time to make up your mind and quick. There are multiple things to consider what kind of benefits would you get from modding it, is it even legal to mod, and what do game companies think?There are many benefits to console modding it is used around the globe to make the system your own and to unlock its potential. One of the many uses is turning your console into a media center to play movies or music. The Wii is one system that is widely used for this type of modding. One mod is WIIMC designed by teams Tantric and Rodries can play pretty much anything a computer can . The program does many things:
WiiMC (Wii Media Centre) is an open source media player for the Nintendo Wii.
Features include:
- Ability to play virtually any video or audio format
- DVD playback, with DVD menu support
- Picture viewer
- Music player
- Online media support, including SHOUTcast, YouTube, and Navi-X
- SD, USB 2.0, SMB, HTTP, and FTP support
- Attractive libwiigui-based interface, designed with the Wii in mind.(Tantric)
The legal issues of a mod are argued over for many reasons but one big one is of how vague the law is. But one universally known fact about modding that it voids any warranty you have on the console. One arguing point about the legality of modding is hardmodding vs. softmodding. Hardmodding is where you modify the hardware of the system by opening it up and installing something like a chip or modifying what is already in the system to bypass security measures, and softmodding is where you take advantage of a software exploit in the system to run your own code and install your own software. The Digital Media Copyright Act more commonly referred to as DMCA. “ VIOLATIONS REGARDING CIRCUMVENTION OF TECHNOLOGICAL MEASURES.—(1)(A) No person shall circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work protected under this title...”(“DMCA” 112 STAT. 2863) Under this bill hardmodding in most cases is illegal. Not many have been charged for hardmodding, but in the case of Matthew Crippen he was taken into custody by Homeland Security but the charges were eventually dropped. So that leaves us with softmodding it is one of the most popular because it is cheap and in some cases free. There is no case that has not been dropped against softmodding, but that doesn’t mean it’s not wrong.
The views of modding differ not only in gamers but also in the companies. There is no doubt that the big game companies do not tolerate modding because in most cases it leads to piracy. Just look at Nintendo’s official statement on emulators:
The introduction of emulators created to play illegally copied Nintendo software represents the greatest threat to date to the intellectual property rights of video game developers. As is the case with any business or industry, when its products become available for free, the revenue stream supporting that industry is threatened. Such emulators have the potential to significantly damage a worldwide entertainment software industry which generates over $15 billion annually, and tens of thousands of jobs.(“Legal Information”)
They are not the only company that thinks like this Sony and Microsoft do too. Large amounts of gamers and citizens back their opinion too. But there is many companies that are trying to set a new standard with open modding. The new and upcoming game console OUYA is going to be one of the first open source tv gaming console. OUYA’s policy on hacking is pretty much hackers welcome “Hardware hackers can create their own peripherals, and connect via USB or Bluetooth. You want our hardware design? Let us know. We might just give it to you. Surprise us!”(OUYA). This is important to the gaming industry and modders alike. Modders will have no legal lines to cross the possibilities to mod OUYA are infinite.
So after your friends have introduced to you all the facts about the benefits of modding, if its actually legal, and what the gaming companies think its time for you to pick a side. Its a hard choice. Most people already made this hard decision.It will let you play your movie on your big tv, but some of your friends think it is wrong. You plan on softmodding if you do so you can avoid legal issues, but the law is shaky on softmodding. You can keep your warranty or make the Wii unique. What do you want to do its time for you to chose.
so basicly im wondering if there are any errors i missed and if it is plain outright any good. I procrastinated way too much so i rushed it. please no flaming and thanks for your guys time and its just a highschool paper