thoughthead


Pir8 4 pr0fit

Posted in Moding,Xbox-Scene by Michael Pica on the December 13th, 2006

About every month or so there’s a news article about a console moder for hire somewhere in the world that wound up arrested. Late last week reports of a NJ moder getting arrested hit the web. This particular instance hit a little closer to home as many in the Xbox-Scene community knew him, either through “business” dealings, having played games with him on Xbox Live, or from having seen one of his many (non piracy related) console modifications hit various news outlets, which is probably how most people knew of him. Personally I didn’t know much about him. While we were both Xbox-Scene forum moderators I never really talked to him much, I’d seen some of his water cooled consoles, I’d only ever played online with him once or twice and only because we were both invited to a game by a mutual friend.

The news of his arrest of course set the XS forums into a frenzy, that was eventually shut down, but before that it was interesting to see the amount of fear people held, as well as the amount of contempt people held towards him. Fear I can understand but the contempt was rather interesting to me, considering I noticed a lot of the same screen names that just days before had sung him praise… it’s amazing how fragile respect can be.

Most commonly people were calling him a hypocrite because he boasted a persona of anti-piracy on the Xbox-Scene forums, yet he was arrested for allegedly selling pirated games. I don’t think many people realize that Xbox-Scene doesn’t care what you do on your own time, your actions and beliefs, these are external to the forums. They’re not going to tell you how to live your life or make your choices. I’m not going to get into a discussion on the rights and wrongs of piracy, or what my personal beliefs are on the subject (I would ask you to refrain from such discussion in the comments as well). However it’s not Xbox-Scene’s place to tell you what you can and can’t do.

It’s no mystery that many console modifications, while excellent for homebrew software and personal customization, can also be leveraged for piracy, and while console moding is quite a large gray are due to these allowances, piracy is not. Regardless of whether you think piracy is right or wrong does not change the fact that it is quite plainly illegal. If for no other reason Xbox-Scene does not allow the discussion of piracy to keep it from suffering the same fate as the many pirates who have found their business shut down and their persons in jail. When you dedicate a site to console modifications you walk a dangerous legal line, when you begin to allow discussions on piracy, you clearly cross that line and it becomes only a matter of time before you’re shut down.

I’ve known of moderators and members alike who’ve had drastically varying beliefs on the subject, but regardless of your beliefs when you sign up to be come a part of a community that a sight like Xbox-Scene provides you should respect their rules, because you’re in their house. No matter the reasoning behind it if they request that you don’t discuss something, you shouldn’t discuss it. When you consider this, one would be a fool to assume that a person’s stance on the matter within the bounds of a site like Xbox-Scene could accurately represent their true feelings on the subject. It has very much to do with roles and respect. As a moderator I have certain responsibilities and rules I must follow, no matter how much I’d love to let loose on someone I make an attempt to be cordial, and often times even in debates, some of which I have strong feelings about, I make an attempt to remain neutral. Similarly when at work you refrain from criticizing or otherwise insulting your superiors, and at family gatherings you might often refrain from telling your relatives how you genuinely feel about them. Similarly, Xbox-Scene does not endorse, condone or otherwise support the act of piracy, and thus it’s expected that you respect these wishes while on their site, even if your personal beliefs are to the contrary.

…some things are best left unsaid…

One thing I noticed about nearly every moder that finds themselves arrested is that they all have two things in common:

1. They were selling pirated software in addition to providing a modification service.
2. They were quite brazen in the advertising of their illegal operations.

The NJ moder ran a website with pricing for pirated games, he ran a mail order service and even sold items on eBay. The arrested moder before him ran a “mod while you wait” booth at a country fair, of course with games for sale. And probably one of the biggest cases I’ve heard of was a pair of moders who weren’t just open about the illegal items that they offered but they opened up a store in a strip mall to sell their pirated games.

I’m not going to tell you how to live your life, I’m not going to preach to you about my stances on piracy. I think it’s pretty clear that if your beliefs, and more-so actions, conflict with where you are, be it where you live, or which websites you visit, you should be discrete, if not completely silent about it. Most importantly, be prepared to take responsibility for your actions. Piracy is illegal in most places, whether you agree with it or not. Breaking or abiding by the rules is a choice that you make, just because you don’t get caught doesn’t make it ok, and it doesn’t mean you wont get caught sometime down the road.

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152 Responses to “Pir8 4 pr0fit”

  1. Foe-hammer Says:

    Good read.

    You bring up some very good points, namely the ‘etiquettes’ one must follow if they want to be apart of a particular organization, etc.

    The obvious reason we are even hearing about these ‘modders’ getting arrested is because they crossed the line and actually SOLD pirated software, merchandise they did not own. If any do this then they have to except the very real possibilities of being reprimanded.

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