Modding Consoles illegal in New Zealand?

Forums › Gaming › Modding Consoles illegal in New Zealand?

tamatama14

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Topic # 24382 22-Jul-2008 16:37

Such as chipping and custom firmware for psp, ps2 etc...
illegal or not ?

xpd

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Reply # 150407 22-Jul-2008 17:33

Dont think its illegal here.... if it is, then Ive never heard of anyone being dragged to court for it.

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scottjpalmer

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Reply # 150430 22-Jul-2008 18:28

I don't see how modding something you own outright can be illegal but be very careful discussing these topics here as generally mods are done to enable you to carry out not so honest or legal activities which we of course don't condone in our forums.

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gehenna

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Reply # 150448 22-Jul-2008 19:12

it's illegal in some places because they have laws that prohibit the means to playback pirated material. we don't have those laws here as far as i know, however that doesn't mean that possession of pirated material is not still illegal here. just the whole thing around the dmca in america seems to have gotten the whole world scared, when most of the world doesn't even have those kinds of laws in place. bottom line is i'm almost positive there are no laws prohibiting the modification of game consoles in nz, but there are laws prohibiting the ownership of pirated media used on those modified consoles.

NZtechfreak

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Reply # 150505 22-Jul-2008 22:43

There are plenty of reasons besides piracy to mod a console (Homebrew, increased functionality, for example). Lets not be closed-minded about someones motives for wanting to do so.

In terms of the legality, I'm pretty sure its legal to mod it. It will void your warranty though (unless it can be undone without leaving evidence, unlikely for hardware-modded consoles), and of course copied/downloaded games are illegal.

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Adamal

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Reply # 150807 23-Jul-2008 23:30

I'm sure the modding itself isn't illegal.

It becomes illegal when you use the mod in an illegal fashion. EG, a mod may be able to play non-legit copies of games. However, if you are able to prove you own the game, and have it as a backup, then thats legal. If you don't own the game, thats illegal.

gehenna

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Reply # 150827 24-Jul-2008 07:53

NZtechfreak: Lets not be closed-minded about someones motives for wanting to do so..

I don't think anyone is being closed minded in answering the question that was asked. The OP's reasons for modding aren't specified so how can one comment on those anyway?

tonyhughes

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Reply # 150828 24-Jul-2008 08:06

tamatama14:
Such as chipping and custom firmware for psp, ps2 etc...
illegal or not ?

Please check with your lawyer.

There is a LOT of modchipping going on in New Zealand, and the getting-more-conservative-by-the-day-since-being-bought-out-by-a-corporate Trademe.co.nz still allows their sale (not that Trademe makes the law in New Zealand).

As to the rest of the thread, its all moot and OT, as the question is around the legality of modding the console itself.

Discussion on modding is fine here, discussion on how to "backup" game discs won't be.

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NZtechfreak

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Reply # 150836 24-Jul-2008 08:39

gehenna:
NZtechfreak: Lets not be closed-minded about someones motives for wanting to do so..

I don't think anyone is being closed minded in answering the question that was asked. The OP's reasons for modding aren't specified so how can one comment on those anyway?

I was just responding to the caution given earlier before any one decided this was about copying games or other illegal activity, a discussion about modding per se is perfectly fine here, which is all I intended I say.

Regarding backing up your own content: I'm still hazy on the legalities of this here. In most of the world this is true, and while it isn't enforced here it was strictly speaking illegal here prior to the last revision of copyright law, and since then I haven't looked at it again closely enough. Someone here must know definitively surely?

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baboeska

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Geek

Reply # 156130 12-Aug-2008 01:49

I guess it depends what you want to do.
I really doubt that doing a mod to an Xbox 1 so it can run Linux would be illegal, although it might be...
Not too clear on the law, but running an alternative operating system on a console... I don't see why that would be at all illegal, so long as you can handle having your warranty voided.

pistolpower

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Master Geek

Reply # 162186 4-Sep-2008 17:12

Im pretty shure moding isnt illegal.
Home brew isnt either.
Possesion of pirated materials and breaking copyright law is.

Just like p2p

P2P isnt illegal.
Linux isnt illegal.
Possession of pirated materials is.

Batman

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Reply # 164059 12-Sep-2008 17:55

modding isn't illegal (well what do i know i'm not a lawyer) but what people tend to do after that is DEFINITELY illegal ... big fines are out there