Hardware Is it Legal to offer a 3ds Modding Service?

[Red_Yoshi]

So I've done a bunch of research on this but I want a definitive answer! Is it legal to mod someone else's 3ds for money? I know it's illegal to sell modded 3ds systems (Trial and Error) but are you allowed to offer a service to hack it, install roms, the works, for like 50 dollars on craigslist or something?

 

[Anxiety_timmy]

Installing roms would be piracy so, no on that one

 

[driverdis]

So I've done a bunch of research on this but I want a definitive answer! Is it legal to mod someone else's 3ds for money? I know it's illegal to sell modded 3ds systems (Trial and Error) but are you allowed to offer a service to hack it, install roms, the works, for like 50 dollars on craigslist or something?

offering any modding service is just as illegal as selling already modded systems in most countries. Selling anything with roms then exponentially increases your chances of legal trouble with Nintendo and other companies.

 

[Red_Yoshi]

Installing roms would be piracy so, no on that one

Another GbaTemp Thread says something around the lines of "Once you buy it, you can do what you want with it" and "The worst thing that can happen is that it voids your warranty". Does that make it okay to do anything you want to your 3ds since its yours (or the person your modding it for) I'm not saying your wrong or anything, I'm just trying to make sense of all this.

 

[jeffyTheHomebrewer]

but just homebrewing it for them should be fine I think

 

[driverdis]

Another GbaTemp Thread says something around the lines of "Once you buy it, you can do what you want with it" and "The worst thing that can happen is that it voids your warranty". Does that make it okay to do anything you want to your 3ds since its yours (or the person your modding it for) I'm not saying your wrong or anything, I'm just trying to make sense of all this.

In most countries this only applies to the hardware itself, not the software that runs on it. I can solder on a 3rd speaker if I wanted into the 3DS and the warranty would be voided but I could still sell it 100% legal.

 

[jeffyTheHomebrewer]

In most countries this only applies to the hardware itself, not the software that runs on it. I can solder on a 3rd speaker if I wanted into the 3DS and the warranty would be voided but I could still sell it 100% legal.

What about installing Luma?

 

[driverdis]

What about installing Luma?

In countries like the United States, that is illegal since it allows circumvention of “digital locks” (software limitations put into place to combat piracy and to prevent you from legally backing up your games)

however this is legal in other countries and so far legal action is normally not taken against anyone modding their system, it is for selling modified systems or piracy of games and/or software.

technically B9S payloads themselves don’t bypass anything since they run right on the hardware (as low level as allowed) so you can legally backup games this way although I don’t know if B9S itself breaks any “digital locks”

 

[jeffyTheHomebrewer]

I see

 

[Goku1992A]

It is legal I offered Nintendo Switch, PS Vita , PSP, and PS2 Modding services what is illegal is probably offering to put pirated games off of it.

Many people don't wanna look up how to mod a system so they just pay people to do it for them. I'm not going to lie to you I made a good amount of money from Nintendo Switch and PS Vita Moding services.

 

[driverdis]

It is legal I offered Nintendo Switch, PS Vita , PSP, and PS2 Modding services what is illegal is probably offering to put pirated games off of it.

If your country flag is accurate for where you live, then you are subject to the disaster that is the DMCA.

installing any modchips is against the DMCA as they can defeat copy protection schemes.

installing any softmods that bypass copy protection schemes is also illegal as per DMCA

but nobody will go out of their way to get you for it unless you start offering up free games or your operation grows into the size of an actual business.

this is the main reason retro game stores don’t sell services to mod systems or sell modded system like stores do in countries like the Netherlands.

 

[Goku1992A]

If your country flag is accurate for where you live, then you are subject to the disaster that is the DMCA.

installing any modchips is against the DMCA as they can defeat copy protection schemes.

installing any softmods that bypass copy protection schemes is also illegal as per DMCA

but nobody will go out of their way to get you for it unless you start offering up free games or your operation grows into the size of an actual business.

this is the main reason retro game stores don’t sell services to mod systems or sell modded system like stores do in countries like the Netherlands.

I live in USA. If you put pirated games on it yes you are wrong but if you just unlock it then it is up to the end user if they want to put piracy on it. I always tell people I am not legally allowed to put pirated games on thier system I just unlock it. The main reason why most guys get in trouble is because they sell systems with WAREZ or they charge people to load bootleg games on it.

 

[tfocosta]

Offering these services for a certain amount of money in exchange is basically the same as selling copies of any DVDs or CDs with warez content downloaded from the internet (piracy) that are forbidden by law. So, if you get caught, it's likely that you will be in trouble and face serious accusations from Nintendo and other game companies because you don't own the rights to what your are selling. Even if you do it for free. It's a bit different if you do it for yourself, but if you are caught you still are doing no good from the law's perspective.

So, in the end, I would say that advertising it is pretty much the same as attaching your name to these illegal practices.

As long as you are fully aware that you are taking some risks here, it's entirely up to you doing it or not.

 

[Pokemon_Tea_Sea_Jee]

I know it's illegal to sell modded 3ds systems (Trial and Error)

Do you mean that you have got in some trouble before for selling a modded 3DS?

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Putting pirated software is obviously illegal, but just modding a device.. I am not sure.

USA has different laws in different States, as well as their federal laws.

 

[GreatCrippler]

1: Is it legal to offer to hack the system for money? Yes
2: Is it legal to pre-install roms and sell it?: No

That simple.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

So I've done a bunch of research on this but I want a definitive answer! Is it legal to mod someone else's 3ds for money? I know it's illegal to sell modded 3ds systems (Trial and Error) but are you allowed to offer a service to hack it, install roms, the works, for like 50 dollars on craigslist or something?

Selling modded systems is not illegal. The issue is most sellers include pirated games and that is super illegal. Modded systems are probably also against the TOS of eBay and the like.

Offering these services for a certain amount of money in exchange is basically the same as selling copies of any DVDs or CDs with warez content downloaded from the internet (piracy) that are forbidden by law. So, if you get caught, it's likely that you will be in trouble and face serious accusations from Nintendo and other game companies because you don't own the rights to what your are selling. Even if you do it for free. It's a bit different if you do it for yourself, but if you are caught you still are doing no good from the law's perspective.

So, in the end, I would say that advertising it is pretty much the same as attaching your name to these illegal practices.

As long as you are fully aware that you are taking some risks here, it's entirely up to you doing it or not.

No, it really isn't. Unless you include pirated games. At that point you are risking large fines if you get found out. It's not super common but it does happen to people.

 

[tfocosta]

No, it really isn't. Unless you include pirated games. At that point you are risking large fines if you get found out. It's not super common but it does happen to people.

That's what I meant when I've mentioned the installation of warez content... However, advertising any services of this nature on platforms like Craigslist is making it easier to get caught. You need to keep a low profile when you take this kind of risks.

And it's not guaranteed that you will be completely safe from being caught. But again, it's up to you to calculate your own risk and see if it's worth it.

 

[Bladexdsl]

the way nintendo is now i wouldn't try it...unless they don't care about the 3ds anymore

 

[CMDreamer]

This kinda relates with the question if emulators are legal.

Most of us know already that emulators are legal, and that we can use them.

The main point here, is if the hardware/software is being used to circunmvent copyrights of the company that produced those. Hacking a console (most of the time) is related with the final user willing to use illegal copies of games, and I'm sure about this because if they were to say that they want it to do homebrew, well, most "homebrewers", would know how to hack their console in the first place.

I'd say that as long as you're not offering ROMS as the catch for your service, you're good to go.

 

[yuyuyup]

I think you'd have better luck with "word-of-mouth," demonstrate a hacked system to potentially interested people. You could probably get away with whatever. I'm the police.