JayceMJ said:
Thanks for your replies, I think Commadore64 covered everything I needed to know. Looks like a TvC tourney is going to have to wait until I can get some people to pool together to get a Japanese Wii or get the store owners to pay up for it.
I'm not trying to convince nor take away from anybody else's post but thought you (and others) could use the heads up.
As you might imagine, the majority of people on this forum aren't lawyers so if you really want to feel safe, try to get advice from someone you might know in the field.
To clarify, the legitimacy surrounding this type of 'modification' is still in a fairly gray area of the law. While companies (Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, etc) take measures to protect their interests (ie through EULA), it is still relatively unsettled what is within your rights and what is not.
The easiest example I can give you is the whole episode the cellphone industry went through with regards to 'unlocking' cellphones. If you happen to remember, 'unlocking' a cellphone was considered illegal by the telecommunication companies (through the equivalent of their EULA) and there was a big legal battle that ensued against those who chose to 'unlock' their phones. In the end, the courts ruled that when a company no longer owns the phone (if it was purchased), it has no jurisdiction over how the end-user chooses to use it. Now you can opt to 'unlock' a phone almost anywhere. While a cellphone device is much different than a console, I simply use that example to illustrate a contrast in what you were attempting to do/ask.
As a rough breakdown, the modification of any console is not illegal in and of itself. However, the manufacturer may refuse to provide services for a unit unless it conforms to the set standard outlined in the EULA (ie, not provide you with online services, warranty, etc) as that is not what is purchased when title is transferred (only the console). This leaves the end-user with a decision to make due to what they are compromising (receiving services).
Playing a 'backup' of a game that you don't own is illegal. Owning the original and playing a 'backup' is legal.
While owning a Japanese Wii isn't illegal, it does not change the legality of the 'backup' in question. Playing an imported game on another region console (due to it being modified) is legal. What would come under question (that gray area ), is whether the sale of the game was legal (due to you being outside of the territory). This is of course does not apply to all imports (ie a toy with led content for example). Additionally, there would be another legal matter raised if there was money involved in the tournament (ie paying for entry) but I won't get into that.
My apologies for the length of this post, it turned out much longer than I intended. Cheers.
