Student arrested for 'modding' Xbox consoles

maybe we should outlaw trucks because they could be used in smuggleing, or outlaw pants because they could have been the result of child labor. the minute we start indicting on what we could do then our county will quickly become an orwellian nightmare.

Doesn't homeland security have better things to do?!?!?!

I would like to know why Homeland Security was the department who arrested him. Shouldn't they be looking for Osama bin Laden or making sure that other terrorists don't attack us? I didn't know it was their job to arrest someone for taking money for allowing US citizens to potentially illegally play video games. If Microsoft can't make their consoles unhackable that should be their problem.

We modify our cars to perform better and have more options. We do the same thing for any number of things we own, including our PC's. We can copy old Cassettes and LP's at our leisure and VHS video's for backups of media we have legally purchased.
How is it different to want a backup copy of games or movies that are much more expensive to replace and easier to damage?
The Industry should be sued for purposefully preventing you from backing up legally acquired media you PAID for.

Besides, guns CAN be used to kill people. That doesn't mean you WILL kill someone with it. Cars CAN be used to run someone over. That doesnt' mean you WILL.

Gimme a break. If you don't have the technological know how for upgrafdng your own equipment, what's wrong with paying for the service. ie – Car mechanics, PC repair shops... pretty much ANY service technician.

Wow! DHS really comes through taking another "terrorist" off the street, huh? Is this guy really that much of a threat to Bill's multi-BILLION dollar personal wealth? Where do you draw the line on "modding" vs "HACKING"??? C'mon folks, let's try and keep this in perspective.

This is a joke... you would think that the government would have better things to do..Let's think of what else they could be doing......i got it maybe the financial recession that's going on

Another excellent use of time and resources, aren't these guys supposed to be looking for terrorists? I'm getting a bit worried when I hear that the Department of Homeland Security is enforcing stuff like this–what were they created for? We are going to be seeing a lot more of this crap, like any other govt. agency they are going to do what they need to justify their existence.

After spending alittle over 400$ for an xbox, I should be able to do whatever I want with it. If I decide to rearrange my xbox to be a file-management system, a blender or even a paper-weight.
How many people in the past have rigged thier home-appliances, cars, and even homes to thier satisfaction. Now, if the resulting product is used to do wrong then it should be punishable. Just like, making a sawed off shot gun might not be illegal (in most states), but using one for a crime is.

The exact same thing happened a few years ago with a compnay in Canada selling parts that COULD be used to get free Direct TV. All of the customers were being threatened with charges of piracy when. After all was said and done all were dropped because it wasn't illegal to buy the items it was just illegalto use them and Direct TV had to prove they were being used.

Like Mike D said "After spending alittle over 400$ for an xbox, I should be able to do whatever I want with it." There should be no reason why he couldnt modify the xbox. It's not his fault if people are modifing there xbox's for piracy! Like he said in his statement that he only did it to back up games.

This whole thing about him getting arrested just goes to show that this country is moving toward socialism everyday... The government will have more and more control on what you do and what you spend your money on everyday... These are sad times for the US. We are no longer united and it is a dog eat dog out there nowa days... No more US in United States, it is now me me me me me. Dand Im so annoyed right now.

what a freakin' joke! i agree with kevin! this is what our tax money is paying for?! we should praise these kids for their entrepreneurial endevours =)

Michael Crippen faces 10 years in jail for modifying Xbox consoles. On the other side gun dealers who supply guns to criminals are virtually immune to prosecution. As far as I know there are many more people killed by guns in criminals' hands then by Xbox consoles, modified or not. Let's hope that the judge who will take the case will dismiss it with prejudice. And the time is long due to drop the DMCA provisions that turn us into criminals if we want to make use of our legally obtained music, movies and software in ways not approved by the distributors of these works. Years ago a Norwegian student was sued by MPAA et al for writing a piece of software that circumvented the DVD content scrambling system, allowing him to watch his legally purchased DVDs on his PC with Linux operating system. The MPAA lost. We should follow the example set by the Norwegian courts...

This is absurd! This is all based on what could be done with the console instead of what the person clearly claims on his website. By the way, why is homeland security handling this matter, since it is NOT a threat of national security. Glad to see my tax dollars at work...

If they say that Modding an Xbox is illegal because it has potential to pirate games, then what about DVD-RW Drives? You have the abilities at hand to pirate DVDs and Games and other optical disk forms. But wait, there's more! What about the internet or a computer itself. These afford for many facets of piracy. What about DVR players that burn to DVDs? This list can go on and on and on for potential for piracy. I know for a fact that some mods to an xbox 360 are beneficial to keeping it running longer due to failure's in Microsoft's research and abandonment of old technologies. This is a violation of freedom rights on citizens.

This is ridiculous.

What is worse is the dubious legal grounds-

If they can't prove he was involved in piracy (dubious in itself) then, what, it sounds like I could be arrested for what is essentially a thought crime.

Like the post below stated "Doesn't Home Land Security Have better things to do" If they are worried about some guy modding someones xbox's "which is their personal property" to make a few bucks, we should be really worried! Glad to see our tax dollars hard at work!!

One good thing I have noticed in all of this is that in general commenters on these stories (this article and others on the same news) seem to be outraged at the government for handling the issue this way. To me that reasons that if this guy gets put in front of a "jury of his peers" he might end up in the clear. This is how we as citizens of this country get a voice, our judicial system is set up to give us the final say in criminal cases; we should take advantage of this and use our positions as jurors to decide what laws are and are not fair.

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 is bad law and bad public policy. It is also arguably unconstitutional, but I don't know that our current court system would arrive at that conclusion. The substance and essence of the DMCA is to place corporate interests above the liberties of individuals and even society as a whole.

Its passage was a complete sell-out to corporate special interests.

Maybe Michael Crippen should find a cave to hole up in for a while. By doing that, Homeland security and the Dept. of Defense would have no idea where to locate him and he could continue his business uninterrupted. When did Homeland security become the all seeing eye of Justice that enforces copywrite laws?

"Maybe we should outlaw trucks because they could be used in smuggleing, or outlaw pants because they could have been the result of child labor. The minute we start indicting on what we could do, then our country will quickly become an orwellian nightmare."

Ditto. This is absolutely absurd. If Microsoft sued him or went after him in general, that would be one thing. But Homeland Security? This is a waste of national resources and an outrage.

This is a cover up people. Of corse it can be used to pirate video games. But it is kind of bizzare for a department involved with stopping terrorists to go out and persecute a dude for improving a product that sucked in the first place. This is just another case of the rich beating down on the poor because even though we own the technology they still controll what we do with it. It makes living in this country depressing.

I totally agree with being able to mod anything you own but You all are missing the point.
1. no one would have even looked at this guy had it been a small operation.
2. had this been a mod ( i.e., new clear case with lights, change in form factor, or some type of add-on ) he would have been fine. But directly circumventing / changing DRM security so the system will ignore its own rules is like the article say illegal.

Again I want to stress no one would have even looked at this guy had it been a small operation. Homeland Security's not going to go after a one time offender.

This is our country. We cannot let random sectors of the law dictate to the people of the united states simply because they have the power. We are in a generation where we must stand up and be recognized as the people who made government and the people who can tear it down. We are the 200 million people to the governments 1 million. I think we can make anything happen by demanding it. We are the people. We own this country not the govenrment.

Pass it along.

Another major reason why the draconian DMCA should be outlawed. That was totally paid for by Hollygreed.

I just knew that sooner or later the A-hole DMCA was going to be used to pull crap like this.

good luck getting a jury of 12 to convict him.

I think most people are missing the point here... it's not that he modified XBoxes, but that he did it for personal profit. That's where he got in trouble. It's the same idea behind making copies of CD's... you can burn backup copies for yourself, but once you start selling them you've got problems.

On the other hand, I think the DMCA is superbly retarded... mainly because I agre with an earlier comment likening modding an XBox to the modifying of a vehicle.

Modding an xbox is all fine and dandy. But only an idiot would charge for it, that is when you get into trouble.

That is like saying I can't upgrade my hard drive in my PC.

DHS has completely lost its mind; this is a department that SHOULD NOT exsist in the US; its like our own version of the Stazi or secret police. What the heck happened to the FBI being the law enforcement branch of the federal government? Also, what happened to due process, I mean, just because he modded his (or others') Xbox doesn't mean he was trying to gain illegal access to copy written material. This is what happens when people allow their fears to cloud their judgement, and the people give too much power and authority to the government. One universal truth about government, you can NEVER EVER TRUST IT. Just because one administration doesn't run roughshod over your rights with the authority it has, doesn't mean the next one won't. Call you congressman and senator, let them know that you fear our government and its new found powers to arrest people without an actual crime being committed.

Tommy, I don't agree with the "if you're running a small op, the feds won't look." Look at the lady who now has to pay $8M or the studen't who has to pay out $650K!

DHS needs to be roped in. DCMA needs to be dissected and appended. Copyright law (pre-1994) needs to revisited as the current version is a shameful scam that lobbyists have paid for, bypassing a majority of US citizenry. Hollywood needs to have an "entertainment czar" installed (to keep too many H-wood types from bilking the American consumer) and MPAA and RIAA needs to have their heads surgically removed. Only when you cut off the heads of these leeches and clean out the wounds they have all left will our society start to feel creative again and see a better day and brighter future.

(Note – I am a conservative.)

I don't see how this hasn't been challenged in court. It seems to be plainly at odds with the betamax decision in that it criminalizes the exercise of fair-use. I'm no expert in the case law or the language of the legislation but shouldn't it be a crime to devise a copy protection system that prevents consumers from exercising their fair-use rights? What is the point in having fair-use rights on the books if content produces can prevent you from exercising them and then charge you with a crime if you even try? That doesn't sound like a right to me. I'm buying a creative work not the media it came on, I want access to what I paid for anywhere I feel like or I won't pay for it. Who matters more, us or them? Tell your congressman.

Seriously? This is what Homeland Security is doing with their time? I really don't see a difference between upgrading a computer with a DVD-RW or modding an XBox to play burned games. C'mon...there's got to be something more pressing out there for Homeland Security to be doing...like arresting terrorists. How did Homeland Security even get mixed up in this whole thing? Was the guy a terrorist, modding XBoxes to build cash for Al Qaeda?

It basically comes down to this – why do people want modded xboxes? I really doubt it is to play backups. No one plays a game that long that they need to pull out a backup (at least not that often). In most cases they do it to pirate a game. Pirating a game is illegal and unethical. It is stealing. Crippen broke a law created to prevent that. This law makes it difficult for people who want backups for their personal use – but it can prevent billions of dollars in losses to the gaming industry. I have taught my son you don't pirate games, you don't pirate music. It is stealing the same as shoplifting at the store. So if we have to go to extremes to stop it – we must. The economy is already suffering enough.

I have a modded xbox and use it for all kinds of things. Like to watch movies, watch TV shows, play older console games, etc. Plus load times are rediculasly fast because the data is read straight from the hard drive vs from a disc.

In other words, it's great!

This guy messed up by trying to make this into a business. If you're going to do something like this, do it for your personal use!

This is just as stupid as TSA throwing away toy guns that some kids bought at Disneyworld a few days back. If people want to pay for changing settings or modding their own XBOX 360 that they legally paid for, then let them. He is providing a legal service, he is not responsible for what they are using it for.

Should a gun dealer be responsible for selling a gun to someone that they legally purchased and later decided to go postal with. NO!

Chris
Los Angeles

If you think people are modding these Xboxs for anything else besides piracy (for the most part anyways), you're just being nieve.

I don't think this guy should have been arrested tho. It's just a HUGE waste of taxpayer dollars. Also, it makes the Dept of Homland Security look like a joke... I think they have more important things to do than to make sure someones not playing a pirated vidja game.

Sorry state of the Union. "homeland security" is arresting people for doing something that amounts to nothing, and then they may get ten years in jail? You dont' get ten years for raping and killing someone now do you. But you should. And a few downloaded songs, costs 15millon in fines? C'mon government. Where is your head? Oh Congress, Senators; excuse me – I forgot its up your butt. Don't stand for this stuff people, Write call email your rep and the white house. Its you next. Wait til they make you "carry papers." Its coming.

WTF! Why is Homeland Security even touching this one! A Sheriff deputy should have been the one to knock on the door and serve an arrest warrant. They are trying to make an example out of this kid. A kid how is trying to carve out a few dollars for himself in a craphole economy.

Watch your step everyone, 1984 has arrived and we are standing at the doorway. We are about to sell away our rights for the promise of cool gadgets. Wake up!

This is Crazy... People who pay for a modded xbox should be frowned upon. I'm not saying arrest them or fine them money, thats just completely unnecessary. Personally I feel that if you can't mod it yourself you shouldn't be modding it period. How dumb can someone be not to be able to read directions online or watch a howto video on youtube. This stuff is fairly simple to do. If anything he should get fined for not paying taxes for his illegitimate business.

@ Tommy,

you're missing the point. us citizens won the right to backup our 50$ dvd games so when the disk gets scratched up, (becuase they refuse to make then scratch resistant) we don't have to go buy another copy of something we already own. The fact that no game console as factory (un-modded) will allow you to PLAY the game you have the right to back up is just bullSh**.

@Robert

It comes down to this - why do people own guns? I doubt it is to commit murder. Yet, should we indict people who own guns because of the capacity and ability to shoot someone? No.

You don't go to jail for something you "might" do. Unless you're talking about conspiracy...but nevermind that. The law favors the industry and corporations while also taking away personal freedom (at least, how the authorities are interpreting it in this instance). This is an example of how laws run amok. Unless they can prove he modded the Xboxes with the intent for them to be used with illegally possessed software...then he should be released and the charges dropped.

Should modding be illegal simply because it could result in piracy, despite other legal applications?

More appropriately, "Should cigarettes be illegal because they could result in cancer?"

Or how about "Should cars be illegal because they can kill people?"

TO MANY DAMN LAWYERS IN THE US IF YOU ASK ME...

Better yet...how about no one buy an XBox and see where their R&D money and projected income goes...

The basic problem is congress. The politicians we elect take corporate dollars then pass laws that benefit corporations and hurt individual citizens. DHS is just doing what our elected officials command that it does.
In the 2008 elections I voted against every incumbent in both the primaries and general election. If you don't like this crap, I suggest that you join me and do the same in 2010.

Homeland security? What a joke.

I look at it like this... if he had just modded his own X-Box, he probably wouldn't have been arrested.

But he was doing it as a business. Shockingly, law enforcement got involved. There were probably, outside of DMCA violations, all kinds of things he could have been charged with.

Now, yes, Homeland Security should have better things to do. And the DMCA sucks in so many ways that it's not even funny. But the guy was pushing his luck modding X-Boxes as a business service.

It all comes down to $$. some where allong the line if you follow the trail long enough you will see money, from Microsoft, changing hands in order to pay some one to find these "criminals" that are or could be cutting into bills Multi Billion dollar bottom line. most of the time these moves are just to prove a point, even if they cant win the case, Microsoft will spend more than they stand to loose by one person just to prove that they have control and the money to remain there.
I say thumb your nose at them and every one should learn the art of Xbox Modding.

I don't think you people understand this very well.

The ONE and ONLY reason they are modding their consoles is so they can pirate software. All other reasons are BS.

I have a friend who just did it. First thing he did was download 20 games. So now he and people like him are making it worse for the rest of us who buy our stuff legally.

Not to mention these hackers are now cheating on games - which ruins the whole idea of playing online.

Good for MS for busting him. I hope they ban every account with a Modded box.

This is rediculous. You're allowed to make one legal backup copy of any disc you own so that when the original breaks, you have a backup. This is all about greed. Nothing more. "If your original breaks or scratches from our xbox, you have to buy another." That's right! SPEND MORE!!! BUY MORE!!! Waste your hard earned money so that the upper echelon executives keep padding their bank accounts.

This is a perfect example of companies screwing their customers for a few extra dollars. That's all! Well MS is still not getting any money from me. I haven't bought one of their operating systems since DOS 6 years ago. Their constant screwing over of customers sent me over to LINUX and UNIX permanently.

Today, it's consoles. Next year, your own cars and trucks. "Oh, you can't modify that chair you bought either or replace its leg. Its design is covered under a DMCA-like law that we pushed through." Or "What??? You want to add an extra wing onto your house for extra space??? Sorry, Charlie! Read the fine print. It says under these Housing DMCA-like laws, you can't change a house you own. Meet our attorneys... Lawyers? SIC 'EM!!!!"

This is just the start. Mark my words. This 'entitlement society' is becoming worse and worse. Well, I will darn well modify my XBox to play whatever the heck I want... I'll modify it to play ANY CD... I'll modify it to brew coffeee... I'll modify it to drive itself around my house sweeping the floor and turn off the lights when their not in use.... I'll modify it to change the temperature settings on my refridgerator and play online with Wiis. Muaaahahahahaha!

I think most people are missing the point, this is about scare tactics, lets not kid our selves in the next 20 years which is how you should always look at laws like this when they are written. What will these laws be like in 20 years, if they are this bad now imagine in 20!

Imagine when they where first written did anyone think it was going to be this bad, well its 10 years later and look at the useless agency we now have, imagine in 10 more years.

Company owners like to live rich lives, scaring average people is a tactic that has been around since there was gov with business sleeping together. I for one was hoping this administration would push to get this stuff off the books or amended but I guess its business as usual, I for one stop worrying long ago about how bad it was going to get and have worked to have money and not care about anyone else but my self. Tried the whole write to congress garbage, realized without large capital nothing gets done, and once I have large capital why would I care about people in general.

Would this guy not have been arrested by the big brother Gov. agency if he had not been making money, no he still would have been arrested, even if this goes nowhere, this guy now has a record, and that is the whole reason for doing this, now lets see now many employers are going to hire a person with a record, and who initiated that record, he better get to grad school and get a law or medical degree because he is going to have a hard time getting real work.

And that is what these laws are about, scaring the public into submitting to what ever the top monopolies decide or Ogolopolies if you like, all the same to me.

Loudstone said: DHS needs to be roped in. DCMA needs to be dissected and appended. Copyright law (pre-1994) needs to revisited as the current version is a shameful scam that lobbyists have paid for, bypassing a majority of US citizenry. Hollywood needs to have an “entertainment czar” installed (to keep too many H-wood types from bilking the American consumer) and MPAA and RIAA needs to have their heads surgically removed.

NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. what we are seen is Capitalism at its worst, some people say this is socialism but its not its actually capitalism after all capitalism at its core is not about fair play or nothing like that, actually in real capitalism monopolies are fine, companies or families getting government to go their way is fine, buying off government is fine, at its worst, lucky we are not there yet, or are we? Democracy should not be interpreted as been part of capitalism its not.

That's like saying you can't have a car because you might possibly get in an accident and hurt someone or you may get a ticket....

That's your hard earned tax dollar at work... laws that protect huge corporations

The law should be revisited. I think it is fair to have laws on the books that make piracy illegal, but I don't think all materials should be covered by DMCA. Manufacturers/publishers should be able to "opt-in" to DMCA protection, but to do so they must guarantee that they will replace damaged property for a minimal (materials cost + postage) fee. They should also allow format upgrades (tapes to CDs, DVDs to Blu-Ray) for the same low cost, since they have already profited once from of the intellectual property that was purchased. This type of two-way street would elimate the need for "fair use" backups and will also allow consumers to purchase new products, such as HD-DVD discs, without fear that they will be worthless if the format doesn't catch on.

What alot of you fail to realize is that most of these pirated movies, games, software, etc, come from overseas and usually criminal organizations. Think heroin and the taliban. Now think movies and games and the taliba. Im not saying that its the Taliban doing this at all but my point is most of this stuff comes from other countries. The same as shipments of knock off designer clothing or jewelry coming into the country. So just because it isn't drugs or firearms, does not mean so international criminal organizations cant make money off of these things. Im sure its a lot easier to peddle than an ak47 or heroin. Come on people think outside the box a little.

Wow my tax dollars at use, I have a couple of friends who have their x-boxes modded... wanna know why? so they can look up videos on youtube and check on what the weather is going to be in the cities that they are going to be visiting. BTW to all those saying why else would someone mod an x-box besides for piracy... last I check he WASN'T COMMITTING THE CRIME the people who are using the mods for piracy are, they have the wrong person.

Thank you homeland security for making me feel safe by taking this "evil doer" off the streets... maybe now I won't have to lock my door, oh wait never mind there are still people out there who want to kill, rape, and steal; how about you go for them first?

If that kid goes to prison for ten years for THAT, then the american justice system would lose all respect and ideal authority in my eyes forever.

Its as simple as this, if I purchase an item, I OWN the item. It is no longer the property of the manufacturer. If I then choose to use that item, or change it, for purposes other than what it was designed for that is MY perogative. I then forfeit any help or support that may have come with the product but I have done nothing wrong.

The person that compared this to modifying a car was dead on accurate. People PAY to have their cars modified ALL the time. Does that mean then that the mechanic they paid should be arrested because he changed the "intellectual property" of the manufacturer so that the car would perform better? A now since he made it perform better it is more dangerous to society so we should arrest him? Absolutely NOT!

It is the way America has advanced for the last 200 years, take what has already been created and find a way to improve upon it and then make money off of it. If this is not allowed we would never move forward.

And as for the DHS being involved, WTF?!! How does this have anything to do with what the aim of the DHS is for? This has nothing to do with protecting the security of our nation. What's next, FEMA arresting someone for speeding?

We should file a law suit to Homeland Security. We pay our tax money to them for catching Xbox modder?

First of all, I think the main problem here is the outrageous penalties associated with this action, and the fact that DHS is involved, like many have posted. And their is certainly a large question as to whether he should be prosecuted at all considering it isn't his fault what the other people did to it after he modded it for them.

But the problem with this is that come on, do you really think most of his customers are having him mod their boxes so that they can 'back up' their games? Please. I don't think I've ever met someone with a modded box that only uses it for 'backup' purposes, in fact, most of them don't back up any games at all, they just get pirated ones. I think it was kind of a bonehead move on his part, and the part of people that paid him to do it. Any yahoo with an internet connection can find hundreds of articles and videos on how to do this themselves, it isn't rocket science. That part alone is what makes this tricky, the exchange of money. I'm no saint, done my share of downloading in the past and whatnot, but that's one thing. If I turned around and sold that stuff, that's completely another. While he wasn't actually selling pirated material, he's walking a very fine line, and putting up a website and advertising this is begging to get busted. Like one might argue that this is the same like Limewire, which is legal. they wrote a program that ficiltates sharing amongst people. They say what they share isn't their problem, and that the program was designed for people to share non-copyrighted material. And that's how they stay in business and keep legal. However they aren't actually breaking anything or modding anything to facilitate this, it's all up to the users. This guy is basically breaking a lock, which is illegal 95% of the time in all other areas of life. I am rooting for the guy, but I think that this point had to be made. if you're going to do 'shady things', keep them in the shade...

Stupid. Just stupid. How much time and energy did 'Homeland Security' waste trying to lock up this guy over an XBox? Last i checked, there is far more serious issues in the world than a modded XBox.

Let's just admit there should be a compromise, a way to make and use legal backups of these expensive and fragile game DVD's and a way to enforce copyright protection. Because there is no way to legally and easily do both, we will continue to have such cases. As a result, the people that are enabling such features are legally criminals.

people people people....stop and think for a minute....you're talking about big business, the corporations that live to keep you under their money grubbing thumbs...eisenhower was right

I 100% agree with Steve, this is outrageous. I own a car that is approx $20k that is faster then most ~$100k cars since I put some money in to the modifications on it. Does that mean that I should be sued by those other companies for making a car that is faster then the ones they sell for 4x at much? I think not! Laws and actions like this are going to be the downfall of the United States. We're the land of the free however every year we slip further from this. I think its time to take our country back and stop this crap in its footsteps. I beleive the person above is going to win in the end on his court case and this is just another attempt at picking a single person out of a crowed to make a media example. I just hope this guy decides to bite back and sue the crap out of everyone on the other side of the fence and walk away with a few million dollars to show that you cannot just screw with people for excercising there right to do what they please with items they purchased.

He was charging for his time to do the Modding. The chip or whatever he put in the XBOX costs $$ as well. The article didn't say he was producing the chips that modify the system.

I'm sure he was not making a huge profit... The government will probably try to hire this guy when he graduates college... We need people like him. He is talented. I'd rather him on our side then on the malicious side of things... IE: Virus Creators.

Their just jealous because a KID found out how to do it....
-My 94 turbo Integra car runs very well with my hydrogen fuels cell, built from the wonderful free internet info and well the good old “MOBILE” the life drillers of our time haven’t sent their troops to arrest me yet…(yet), perhaps I need to get 59 true mph with over 900whp on a consumer basis hmmm?
I only get 50mpg @ 400 whp on pump gas......
(Oh and I didn’t get a grant either, FREEDOM OF INFO. Is wonderful!!!!)
-The U.S. Navy and Air Force have all the info/ knowledge to insure hackers can be stopped and fuel efficiency with infinite power supply!! & children are being arrested for breaking the code?
I don’t get it….

Yes one should have the right to mod their own machine. Their may be law the restrict mod as business but clearly the FBI has other thing to do other than try and stop moding.May be is the FBI could focus on the billionaires and bank form stealing from the mass and leave college student along this would be a better place to live.

This is getting out of control! Big Brother is watching and he is not Uncle Sam.

What is concerning as others have noted is that there is no proof either he or his clients stole copy-written material.

I am not a lawyer, and have never read the DMCA, but i do support intellectual property rights of artists and their ability to make money. i think there must be a better solution for artists and the businesses that distribute their works to ensure they can be profitable (which ultimately is good for our culture and economy) that does not infringe upon the rights of citizens' individual property rights.

The fact that a federal agency cracked down here is a complete joke though. Hundreds of thousands of dollars will be wasted over a kid making $30 a pop to mod an xbox...and i'm guessing he did what like 5 to 10 a week!? Definitely going to move the needle in stifling piracy efforts!

I agree with Jim. He wasn't producing the chips that modify the consoles. So if government really has a problem with the whole modding issue they should go after who ever produces the chips.

No point shooting the messenger.

Homeland Security, their job is to give us the illusion of security.
enough said.

Wow, after reading the article i thought people's comments would be on the positive side (aside the homeland security stuff), I know in my town atleast three guys that modify xbox360, ps3, wii. etc at $50 including any 3 games in the catalog, so its obvious that not all moddlers do the same thing but most of them do benefit....

Why would DHS get involved? I agree with the DMCA being flawed. The DMCA has caused nothing but problems and was made just so corporations could make more money. Many, but not all, xbox modders use their mods for piracy. I used my modded original xbox to add mods for Halo 2 that would add custom made multiplayer maps.

I can understand MS getting a little upset if someone is making a living modding their devices, but in the end, someone ismessing with their own property as they see fit. I've been modding my consoles since the original Playstation, and never thought twice about it

Did you know my car can play MP3 files. And MP3 file can be downloaded illegally from the internet. Thus my car is a DCMA violation, according to these jackholes.

no one modifies an xbox to play backups. they do it to get free games from their friends and from the game rental services. Get off your libertarian high horses and recognize that theft is still theft.

I get a kick out of the references to 'owning' a car. In the USA, you don't 'own' your car. Neither do you 'own' your real estate. You have a 'title'. With cars, the state holds the MSO (Manufacturer's Statement of Origin). The state 'owns' the car and 'titles' it to you. That 'title' is revokable at any time the state wishes (see the process for seizure-the state sues the car-who always loses and then look why they can force you to abide by the traffic laws). The same is with real estate (think eminent domain and look up the definition of that). The state 'owns' the domain and 'titles' you to a piece, again revokable at any time. This is why building codes and zoning laws work. You really 'own' nothing!! With the way things are going you probably will not even 'own' your body, as the state will decide what and how and when and if you can do anything with it. George Orwell was really only off by 25 years, not bad really!

This is a miscarriage of justice... and I'll probably be targeted by HMS for making this comment...

Homeland Security happens to be the department that contains the Secret Service. The Secret Service investigates computer fraud, which happens to include violations of copyright laws. The DCMA of 1998 is a copyright law. Apparently they where doing there job. My guess is you photocopy a $20 bill and get caught trying to using it or selling them for $5 a piece.... Homeland Security will probably arrest you as well, since the Secret Service also investigates counterfieting.

Watchout... The Nazi Party is watching you.... oops i mean Homeland security?? WTF

The mod is a firmware swap, he puts in no chippys....changes the DVD drive to read any disc, not just DRM protected discs.... What this guy was doing, millions of people do....Mebey the music industry would like to sue this guy for 1million for each song he hummed while modding systems...that seems about par for this crime...... Homeland security....jeez what a friggin joke.

The back-up copy argument is Bull-&%$. We all know that people do these mods so they can rent games for $5 and make a copy for themselves, instead of buying the game for $60. When you buy the player or a game, it has a Software License Agreement. If you can't abide by the agreement (called a contract) then you don't HAVE to buy the game, or the console. The warnings, including "Copying for Personal Use – even if you will not profit" are very clear.

And modding cars as an example. Are you serious? In fact, when you mod your car, the penalty is you void the warranty if you mod mechanicals (in general). This is also in the purchase agreement and warranty info for the car. But with a car, you are not doing it so that you can later put in pirated gas that costs one 12th the cost of gas for un-modded cars. There is no "stealing" when you are modding your car. A console is being modded to "steal" software, which happens to be an other person's way of making a living.

Comparisons to copying cassette tapes and LP's? Really? They were analog sources, and suffered generation degradation. Each subsequent copy got worse. Digital media needs protection. Every copy, no mater which generation, is identical to the original. If you don't protect the content creator's right to their copyright, there will be no reason for them to produce the product.

Everyone is entitled today. It is easy to say "greedy Hollywood". But who is really greedy when you want everything for free – THAT is socialism. Not the government cracking down on thieves. Socialism is when the government tasks people to make the product and give it to the masses, for free. People having to pay $60 for a game – that's Capitalism. Long may it live.

Imagine my thrill to know that Homeland Security is now enforcing EULAs.

Does anyone here really think that anyone is actually modding their x-box NOT for piracy? That anyone is simply just burning backups of their games? Everyone says that in articles and videos "to be used only playing backups or YOUR own games", but come one, everyone knows people rent games, copy them, then play them on modded consoles. That's the reality. It's is possible someone could just make legal backups of their games, but highly unlikely. He was obviously not charging enough for this to be worth it, only $30/mod? Wow, sad for him to have his life trashed over such a paltry amount of money.

Hey Microsoft, wanna make some money how about selling modding kits that will allow to upgrade components or make legal backups of software and stop wasting the courts time. Don't be mad because he found a way to make money .

Absolutely astounding.

Walmart sells guns, paint, glue, steak knives, and gunpowder, all of which can be used for illegal or illicit means i.e. sniffing glue or paint, tagging property gangland style, murder, robbery... the list goes on. Yet, these people aren't held accountable for what the product -could- be used for, and they merely vendor it, not produce it.

I, myself, have at least a few games that I was forced to make copies of, since I was moving, or the discs were starting to get damaged because of wear and tear. If it weren't for guys like this, I'd have to fork out another 40-70 dollars everytime I lost a disc, or a disc was damaged.

This is no different than ROM's and emulators for game systems. ROM/Emulator sites state that while possessing said emulator for a computer isn't illegal, obtaining copies of games whilst you don't own an original copy yourself, is, and to download at your own risk. This guy was trying to make a buck, help other people out; nothing malicious. He even openly stated that if you (figuratively) were in this for playing pirated copies, he wasn't about to help you out even if you paid him or not.

Bravo, America. Not only using the wrong department to monitor this sort of thing, but making enemies on the inside as well.

Uh, is it just me or does anyone else have a problem with Homeland Security being involved in this?

If I remember correctly that was the major reason for consolidation of federal law enforcement agencies. Now, I was active duty navy during the "Global War on Terror" and have not problem with the organization of these agencies for the protection and defense of the "Homeland".

I can understand the FBI being in on something like this.or even heavier agencies getting into the game if the guy was modding Xboxes into avionics computers for missle tech like the North Koreans were trying to do with PS2's a few years back. But thats not what was going on here.

If suddenly software piracy or violation of EULA can be defined as terrorism, it makes me shudder to think of where we are going as a society.

Cripes, next they'll be enforcing parking violations in Chicago...

Glad to know my tax dollars are going into something so important. =/

Homeland Security comment line (202-282-8495)

When I call to leave a message, trying to let them know how ridiculous stuff like this looks to the average citizen...They give a whopping 10 seconds to leave a message.

Because, "they care about what you think".

Now when an average joe like me goes to the trouble of looking up their comment line phone #...

And they can't even figure out that a 10 second message timer might, just might, make me more upset than before...

How in the heck do they think they are going to catch criminals, terrorist and other REAL naredowells?

Gee... I feel safe now.

It's stuff like this that makes me look at joining the libertarians.

Really? This is what homeland security is worried about? How much money was wasted on investigating this "terrorist". Thank God his operation was shut down. Think of all the children. Are you kidding me?

This is why I use Linux, Micro$oft uses these tactics over and over again. They want to squeeze every penny of of everyone!

http://www.linuxmint.com

Post all the complaints you want, but nothing will change until you call your senator, congressman and the white house to complain about this incident – you can find their phone numbers here:

The White House – 202-456-1111 or http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/

The Senate – http://senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

The Congress – http://www.house.gov/ find your rep on the home page.

If you want things like this to change, you must let your senator, congressmen and president know. Pick up the phone – it only take 5 minutes!

Department of Homeland Security? What exactly are they securing here? It is up to a judge or jury to decide if a crime has actually been committed. Which it does not appear to have been. However, the government is still in the 80's when it comes to technology and if they are going to try to enforce law that deals with technology there are much better criminals for them to go after and that part of the government should be the FBI not homeland security. The attorneys or whoever is pushing for this needs to wake up and pursue real criminals not hard working enterpreneurs who are using their skills and staying on the forefront of technology.

I am responding to Jasons comment, at 6:13pm on August 5th... You make a comment about modifying their own property... So thats like saying I can install a greenhouse to grow drugs.. its my property..?? Your comment about MP3's? Yes your car can play MP3s..Congrats... My steak knife can kill people, and my car can run people over.. But that is not their intended use. If I use either for that purpose I go to jail right? I can list millions of items, and their intended use, but change that to something that is illegal and you should suffer the consequences.... You buy drugs, you know the risk, so dont cry when you get caught... you mess with guns, dont cry when your hand gets blown off... you play with a knife, get cut, tough, you knew what you were getting into when you opened the drawer... Im tired of people whining about getting caught... Go to a gun battle and expect a tea party and you deserve what you get!!! He got caught, he deserves what he gets.

yep our tax dollars at work ,arresting some kid for modding video games, lord knows it could have led to a life of crime, i swear our governments priorities are so then , that THIS , is what they do with their time, nevermind the mexicans at the boarder, lets track down our youth and make them criminals for messing with toys . . idiots

So this is what "homeland secuirty" does??!?!?!

Time for some jury nullification!

Homeland Security = FAIL

this is funny. more people get killed by people smuggling weapons into the country than people get killed by an xbox well, except for that 32 kill streak lol. i mean really the DHS was probably bored and decided to do that.

What a joke! I hope his case goes to trial and he is found not guilty taking the DMCA power away. Further, fair use should always be allowed since the console is actually a computing machine. I am sure the DMCA would like to get into all of our computers. Is this what we want?! It is time for us to fight back!

I which i got my xbox 360 modded, i have 10 games scratch by the console itself , and now is not why to replace this games of fixed, you know how much cost me each game between 40 to 60 dollars spend in games again. And microsoft care less to what happen to my games i think what this guy si doing is legal enough.

Matthew said the keywords above, 'corporate interests'. Our government has been co-oped by these high-powered corporations to do their bidding. The best weapon we have as citizens is to not buy the crap that they unload on us.

Homeland Security? WTF? Shouldnt that fall under the FBI? Or is Homeland Security the governments new version of the Brown Shirts?

was he modding them so they would be good? seriously xbox sucks
they have a 90% failure rate. where as ps3 has .03% failure rate

People mod hardware to upgrade it. Why put all this restrictions on a hardware? In my opinion once you purchased a product you can do whatever you want with it.

http://bisdaktech.wordpress.com

The whole anti-piracy law is a joke. By all means: fight piracy! But let the punishment fit the crime. Ten years for modding a game console? TEN YEARS??? There's people on involuntary manslaughter charges doing less time than that...

modding should be allowed. i can see maybe why they went after him if he charged more than what was needed for supplies. but people should have a right to mod what they want, how they want. if they paid X amount of dollars for anything, they should be able to tinker with it as they please.

This is getting so old. Charging someone thousands of dollars for 10 mp3s, getting put in jail for burning a movie, or both for modding an xbox (why not people who mod playstations, gameboys, nintendos...?).

They're making examples of individuals and filing charges they will never be able to get so high in the future when they realize how extraordinarily common this is. This kid will still be in jail when others are just getting their wrists slapped.

By ruining some college student's life they're convinced they can stop this from happening in the future. It's not going to work! You need to arrest about ten thousand more little hackers or change the way your industry works. GET UP TO SPEED, GET CURRENT! The world changed these past five years, in case you didn't notice!

Oh my gosh! Terrorism on our shores! Modding an x-box! HOW DARE THEY! Dept. of homeland screwy-HELP!

ALL of my consoles have been modded. The XBOX, the XBOX 360, and the WII. Why? Because I have three boys – 10, 8, and 6. Especially when they were younger, the youngest sone was notorious for accidentally damaging disks – much to the dismay of his brothers and my wallet. With games costing $50 apiece, I don't have the resources to replace games when they are damaged. (The consoles have been gists over the years). EVERY game I have I have legally purchased or recieved as a gift, and EVERY game has been backed up for that inevitable day when it is damaged, I can make another copy and send my sons on their way.

Homeland Security officers is supposed to do something of more importance to protect the security of the country, rather than doing frivolous task like catching rats..

Is that they have nothing better to do, so do something of lesser important, more safer task to justify their existence. I thought they ought to be chasing after terrorist. Oh no, terrorist got heavy arms, student are easier, safer target.

What an ides to go about arresting student modifying Xbox video game consoles to play copied games... I think President obama get the wrong guy to be in Homeland Security Office. Change name to Homeland Rat Office.

Fire the officer that do the arrest. If not, the next news is Homeland Security officers going after prositution.

Hey, what **** are they doing?
With Homeland Security officers doing such frivolous task, of course when terrorist attack, their excuse is not enough manpower.

I have a modded Xbox. I hope homeland security tries to arrest me.

As much as I would like to agree that having backups is a good thing, piracy is getting out of hand. It is becoming more and more popular, and this will destroy the videogame industry. Why buy a game if you can pirate it for free? Intellectual property is not respected anymore, so there no need for anyone to create anything new, because people will just rip you off and you won't get anything for your hard earned work. Modifying cars doesn't take away revenue from third parties (not the original car maker) in fact it helps boost sales of makers of parts. Sure a car can kill you, but this isn't about killing people. It's about not paying for the right to own and use (and/or distribute) intellectual work that isn't your to begin with. I see everyday people ignore photographers CLEAR mark of ownership on their works just because they want a copy of their work, yet they don't want to support the person who did the work because they think its too expensive. No one wants to pay for anything anymore. It's really REALLY rediculous. How do expect an economy to survive if you don't want to pay people for the work they have done?! You need to think about the larger implications of your actions, not your own selfish reasons to save a buck.

Homeland security arrested him? Maybe that government agency should be downsized a little...

Homeland security? Is it 1984 again?

What if you read this on the headlines:
"China Allowing Citizens To Mod American Made XBox"

Would you think it would be OK then?

DRM is used by many big corporations like Sony, and they constantly look for ways to exploit their customers. In 2005, Sony introduced new DRM software that would install on a customers computer without the owners knowledge. The software also installed a root kit which, in turn, caused security flaws that could have easily been exploited. Sony like other big money spend an abundance of funds lobbying the government to do their bidding. I would not be surprised if Homeland Security used provisions in the Patriot Act, which in my opinion, violates Article III of the Constitution by bypassing judicial review, in this case. They have been known to use provisions in the Patriot Act in other cases besides those that involve terrorism. To sum it all up, M$ was ticked off at Michael Crippen for unlocking the Xbox systems because he was allowing customers to make backups of software for which they legally own the license for. If you can not use legal backups, then you have to go back to M$ and spend more cash to get another copy. This is all a money making scheme by big the big corporations of America to milk the population for every cent they have. Corporations are the bane of the American people, and constantly try to take advantage of them. The feudal system was divided up by lords and surfs. The democratic system is divided up by corporations and citizens. See the similarities here? The only entity powerful enough to challenge these corporations is the US government, which is sad to say, have come to love the money from these corporations. President Obama seems, however, to put pressure back on these big money corps, so lets see if things change.

OK, yes, piracy sucks and is dumb, but c'mon! 10 years?! Rapists get less than that, tell me which is a worse crime.

Please. Anyone who actually thinks someone wouldn't play pirated games with a console like this is naive. "Backups" aren't downloaded because most people own those games. Wake up.

I would agree it was piracy if he was selling cracked copies of games. But for modding consoles?? C'mon Federal Bureau of Intimidation, you guys are getting a little foolish!

I cannot count how many copies I have made as personal backups for my own computer software. Its pretty simple, just don't sell it, and keep in in your own home.

Quite frankly, this is why I don't vote for the Lushes and Leeches that are in the White House right now!

First they start with your right to keep firearms, then remove your rights to build Hot Rods, and now Gaming Consoles. Whats next you silly people? Gas is already 3 bucks a gallon? You gonna ban that too?

I call this the Hidden Agenda of the people who want to keep all of the fun things for themselves!

Can't do you own personal Fireworks on the 4th of July, heck no that is too much fun! Can't go fishing anymore on certain streams because we saw a move, (The River Runs Through It), so now you can only use fly rods! Can't go hunting, because the small fuzzy creatures of the forest belong to Walt Disney. Can't play voilent video games anymore, because parents are not responsible enough to monitor thier childen, then we have a Columbine Incident. Can't own certain types of dogs because they can be made too agressive.

How about this. Why don't we take all of these irresponsible people, place them on a boat and ship them to their own little corner of the planet so they can live their happy "Perfect World" lives and leave the rest of us NORMAL people alone.

Sorry about the rant there, but this has gotten totally out of hand and completely stupid.

And... finally, yep I'm gonna keep building my Gaming Machines, and making those back up copies!

thats wrong
homeland security sucks

FREEDOM

We are no onger free in America.

There is a law for everything, and you can't live your life without breaking one. A College kid tinkering with his and others X-boxes. Their own personal property. Not leased or borrowed. Their bought and paid for property.

Its wrong! Now I'm headed to to my car, I will wear my seatbelt as required by law and be sure to carry my drivers license to avoid arrest...I'll make sure I don't post anything here that could be deemed obscene because that could subject me to arrest....or have I offended someone somewhere? Where does it end?

This is an OUTRAGE. It's a GAME console, a friggin toy, the fact that "Homeland Security" made the arrest is simply maddening. Total waste of time and resources. Homeland Security should be out there busting violent criminals, not arresting kids for modifying a "toy". Government FAIL.

There's no crime in "modifying" something you own. I modify almost everything I own – from cars, lawnmowers, electronics, appliances. It's my right – I bought it, I don't care about warranties, I can go about modifying things as I please, if I'm not harming others physically or emotionally, I'm not committing a crime. Same goes for this kid modifying a bunch of game systems. He's not harming Microsoft or anyone else, not cutting into anyone's profits.

Now, get caught actually pirating software, different story. If you're out pirating software and making a profit by selling it to the public, that is truly a crime.

If you're truly outraged by this story, call your State Senator, start a petition to overthrow the DMCA. It's an unconstitutional policy that puts corporate interests above the rights of US citizens.

Get 5 years for raping a girl, but 10 years for modifying an Xbox. We have a great justice system, don't we?

I had no idea that the xbox could be modded in the first place... I use my xbox casually, but I have had the problem where the games may not read anymore due to dust, damage or plain wear and tear. What if people just want to mod their system so they can back up their own games for the reason previously stated... Give the men the benefit of the doubt. For the record I do keep my games in their boxes.

everyone on here commenting on this story knows that modding of a game console is so someone can play copied games. I was stationed in Korea and everyone I know had their game console modded so they could play copied games. Not only would vendors mod the console for you but they also sold copied games. Is it a bit overboard by the government to arrest the kid? Perhaps, but it doesn't excuse breaking the law.
Yeah I have a modded console but I know the risk I take, just like people who file share movies/games/music. If you can't pay for the crime don't take the risk.

i'd rather see him modifying xbox 360 consoles for 30 bucks then selling drugs for 30 bucks...

[quote]It basically comes down to this – why do people want modded xboxes? I really doubt it is to play backups. No one plays a game that long that they need to pull out a backup (at least not that often). In most cases they do it to pirate a game. Pirating a game is illegal and unethical. It is stealing. Crippen broke a law created to prevent that. This law makes it difficult for people who want backups for their personal use – but it can prevent billions of dollars in losses to the gaming industry. I have taught my son you don’t pirate games, you don’t pirate music. It is stealing the same as shoplifting at the store. So if we have to go to extremes to stop it – we must. The economy is already suffering enough.
[/quote]

The big reason I like to do it is because of less load time and I'm hard on my DVD/CD's. Backing them up and/or putting them on a HD means I dont have to worry about scratching them or losing them. I can back them up and then store them for later.

And what exactly, does this have to do with Homeland Security???
... are these terrorist modifications?

Good to see Homeland Security is standing on the wall at the border, protecting the country from outside threats.

So, I was watching the minority report and...

Is Osama caught. Has internet fraud been stopped,are defense contractors being honest? Are the countries governmental computers safe from hacking? Yet Homeland Security has the time to go after somebody for hacking a few game computers.If 1/10 of 1 percent of the people that are in this country illegally are acting in a hostile manner they have got more work to do then you will ever finish.On the list of things to be done who made the decision they have time to waste on this?Asia and China in particular are the kings of pirated games cds and dvds thats where that problem lies so if you are going after that problem go after it. Quit pretending that you are getting anything done.Oh and by the way its very important you remove your shoes at the airport.

a hack to modify a box with a dying technology (HD-DVD as opposed to Blu-Ray)... NICE. I agree with the majority here... doesn't homeland security have better things to do? At least bust 'potential' wrong-doers 'modding' PS3 into a copying machine. Personally, people who buy additional media to use in copying originals are contributing to making my slowly rising storage stocks... Keep it up!

Don't forget he owes the IRS taxes on the income, and Social Security as a self employeed individual. Let's get all we can out of this!

Looks like Homeland dropped the ban-hammer on this guy.

Nice try Shawn, Homeland Security was created by Bush. Republicans have traditionally been pro-business when it comes to making piracy illegal. And the DRM laws predate Obama entirely.

Besides, think about what you're saying. Socialism. That is the complete lack of private industry (that is what it really means) and these laws were intended to *protect* private industry. Worldwide socialist nations are the biggest copyright pirates around. Your facts are all backwards and twisted.

Somehow I just knew someone was going to make this into a partisan issue, I'm just amazed at how upside down the logic was.

Just another example of government gone wild, so much for "the land of the free".

Homeland Security? Seriously?

Actually, this is sort of scary in that it doesn't point to any particular offense...only that it could facilitate a minor crime. Might as well go after the TV set maker and all its suppliers and employees...can't commit crime without them!

1. The DMCA is absurd and should be eliminated, whether it is by a court declaration of unconstitutionality or by legislative reversal.

2. If the DMCS is left in place, it needs to be modified to force consumers abilities to exercise their fair use rights without having to break laws or agreements or go to extraordinary lengths or pay extra to manufacturers/producers.

3. While the law is on the books, reasonable enforcement is to be expected. This guy didn't just mod his own box – he had made it into a business where he charged others to do it to theirs. That is clearly a higher level of activity which is worthy of notice.

4. His statement of "This is for your legally made backups. If you’re talking about piracy, I’m not helping you out" is total BS. He simply is making that sort of statement to try to cover himself from legal repercussions, knowing that piracy is the real goal of most if not all of the people who pay him to do it.

Wow. 10 years in prison? What is happening to this country? Health insurance reform isn't needed anywhere near as badly as government reform.

He wasn't arrested for modifying his Xbox. He was arrested for modding (at a profit) other people's Xboxs to circumvent anti-piracy law.

All of you anti-gun nuts can compare it to someone who was running a business modifying AR-15s into full-auto mode. Those people are arrested just the same.

I'd also like to point out that this article is wrong.

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local-beat/Cal-State-Student-Faces-10-Year-Prison-Term-for-Playing-with-Video-Games-52386872.html

NBC correctly reports that he was "taken into custody Monday morning by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents." (ICE) not the Department of Homeland Security(DHS).

I would agree with Kevin - Doesn't homeland security have better things to do?

@ Ezareth

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

But what do you think of people who modify their Xboxes for personal use?

I think that Game Consoles should come "modified" or "open" from fabric. People are going to "open" them anyway.

Period. No more discussions about this.

With a name like Crippen he's gotta be evil

The overpriced XBox has a flaw anyhow.. eventually everyone who owns one will get the red light of death.. it happens to ours all the time.. we have to overheat the darn thing to get it to reset to make it work on a constant basis... If anything people who bought the hunks of junk should file a class action lawsuit against Microsoft for the faulty equipment that they wont cover under warranty... gimme a break.. what a waste of tax payer money with this homeland security crackdown on this guy trying to make a buck in these poor economic times.. it's not like he is hacking into banks...

I guess we better outlaw internet usage throughout the globe as internet usage promotes piracy. You will need to go through a background check first before you can hook up that Ethernet cable to your PC. The cops will be at your door the second it is hooked up and they do not detect that internet license. Damn you Windows for giving us the ability to install those programs that could potentially play that what could be potential pirated materials. I say sue Bill Gates.

Maybe we should throw them in jail for releasing junk product to the community, I should'nt have to keep sending in my xbox and waiting 6 weeks to get it back! Ive been threw 5 consoles, Sounds like a law suit to me!

Next ... you will be send to prison for 10 years for wearing your undies 2 consecutive days ... Homeland's law forbid WMD, which in this case, is your stinking undies

Doesn't Homeland Security have anything better to do? Last I checked, "modding" a gaming console really isn't a matter of national security.

Your tax dollars at work... keeping the homeland secure from... XBox modders?!?!

Almost every single comment in this thread is against the absurdity of making it illegal to modify one's own computer game machine. If everyone is so opposed to this lunacy, how do the politicians who make these asinine laws continue to get elected?

at anyone who supports DRM... wow.... you would willingly cripple yourself? and what does it matter anyway? companies lose 1 percent of sales? someone still has to buy the first copy and not too many of you people on this planet are intelligent enough to find a pirate game, much less burn and encode it properly. Go back to twitter and blog about Twilight

I'm glad the department of homeland security is protecting a muti-billion dollar corporations monetary interests instead of protecting America from terrorists and checking shipping containers for coccaine, bombs, and HUMAN SLAVES FROM CHINA.

Ok so from what I understood, he’s breaking the law by creating or modifying technology to facilitate copyright infringement, if it’s being used for this, or not is beside the point. So therefore under that same law shouldn’t any company that makes a dvd burner be exposed to the same punishment? Not to mention the xbox only plays the content, it was a pc (most likely running windows) and a dvd drive that created it in the first place.

I have $20.00 in my pocket which I could use to buy some weed. Does this mean that the cops should arrest me?

While I do think he has carefully thought out the wording of his answers in regards to why he did it, such as it is, it is legal to do.

Instead what the DRM (which is why the porn industry fought them) is doing is to say that you have 1 copy (they make it) and it that copy fails then you have to go and purchase another copy. No exceptions.

How on gods green earth is modding an Xbox a threat to National Security?!?!?!

Yes but it was not DHS agents that initiated the arrest. ICE is under the juridiction of the DHS but they are their own organization.

Specifically the IPR : http://www.ice.gov/pi/iprctr/

is in charge of investigating piracy

The problem with Calling agents DHS agents is that could mean one of 35 or so different departments withing DHS, and it is misleading as we see here. Most of us think of DHS as mainly enforcing border laws and counter-terrorism but they have a very broad spectrum of responsibilities.

I guess they should shutdown my office because that money they gave me for the work I have done may be used for illegal activities. I willfully accepted the money and I may potentially do something harmful. So, if I did something that can be used illegally, but I did not commit the crime myself, I guess I am guilty of nothing, but yet everything. Good thing we caught Osama already...oh wait.....

Same reason I refuse to buy BLU-RAY. Greedy manufactures of SW. I wouldn't care to guess how many boxes are modded in Asia. Same reason I love seeing MS lose its butt on royalties. If they would be decent on prices, this would not happen. Same with Cd's and DVD's , and they wonder why kids do this. Let them ALL lose money.

Obviously we're all thinking the same thing. This world is coming down around us. Those who are in place high up have ruined our jobs, have ruined our economy, and further try to bring the general populace down.

I'm beginning to wonder how many 15 year olds to 35 year olds want DRASTIC changes...why aren't we banding together on facebook and twitter and creating some type of new social evolution?

We barely question why we're even HERE to begin with. WHY DO HUMANS EXIST!? One of the foremost things we should be constantly thinking about is how to continue to lengthen our lives and create mobility for those who are unable to move anymore. We are all finite beings, destined for death, but somehow, within all this mess of a country, we forget it in our 9-5 jobs and are too lazy to do anything else.

I want ambition to come back. I want dreams to come back. I want to listen to music 24/7. I want experiences. I want all of us to finally get together and smell the coffee. I'm getting sick and tired of Americans' complacency...why aren't we writing our judges, our law makers, getting them out of office or revamping the system entirely?

Obviously it didn't work to begin with. And obviously now everyone is suffering the consequences. I really believe the young age group needs to get together online and figure out how to spark a change of greatness, of longevity, of trying to prosper as human beings rather than hoping to get that $20k paying job in a time of a bad economy...our minds are simply on the wrong things and it saddens me. If we were to do this, it will only ever mean good and it doesn't mean the system has to be thrown out.

But I'm sick of idiotic reality television shows, MTV which doesn't even play music anymore...the whole entertainment system practically governing the world...complaceny happened because of privacy, guys. When we started thinking of white picket fences, we closed ourselves out from everyone in the world. Finally, we have the internet and can TALK TO ANYONE WE WANT and stay in touch with anyone we've ever come into contact with. It's about who you know, what you know...and what I know is that we were put into this world by our parents, by those who believed they were doing the right thing for humanity, but instead made the whole idea of a social realm so infinitely complex that without the internet, nothing's possible anymore. CHANGE GUYS!!!! I WANT IT! I hope everyone else does too.

Hell, it'd also be a faster way for our economy to skyrocket...*sigh* I hope others think the same thing...

Seriously now? Are these the same people that wanted the PS2 banned because if you hook up like 1000 of them they can launch a missile because they had the same graphics driver or whatever? Apparently my car is illegal too them since I can do buy an illegal exhaust system for it or get a sub that violates a noise ordinance somewhere. Proper of taxpayer funds....very no.

Ridiculous law. Reminds me of the Tom Cruise movie where they could apprehend and prosecute people before they committed a crime. These kinds of laws are very "1984"

This is a perfect example of what will happen to health care if the Democrats continue to back a poorly written plan that they won't read and won't understand. Why is DHS worried about this? Because the Democrats are protecting their fund raisers in Hollywood instead of protecting America. Somehow, this administration can't get anything right!

I remember when i was in college. I barely made enough money to keep the lights on (in fact i remember having candles all over the apt. for when it did get cut off).. This kid isnt selling drugs. He's trying to make a couple of bucks modifying personal property. He should be commended for his efforts, he's not on foodstamps mooching off our tax dollars. (Its even more absurd that the department of homeland security got involved.

DHS should go back to hassling people for taking toothpaste onto airplanes bound for Portland. Admit it – the fascists and their corporate sponsors won.

Glad I don't live in the US.

The only way these corporations will ever change, is if we stop buying their products when they act in ways we dont agree with....

The problem starts when people are indifferent, and read about this happening, and still buy an xbox.... We may as well chip ourselves and have our every move tracked.

Shawn: Socialism? Do you have any idea what socialism actually means?

The most extreme form of socialism is communism, where everything belongs to everyone and a thing like copyright doesn't exist...

This is rather a case of right wing capitalism where governament agencies do their best to keep the buisnesses as profitable as possibile.

This is actually capitalistic facsim ala the USA...

I've known many people with modded Xbox's and they don't mod them to play back-up copies of games they already own. If anyone actually believes that's what people mod for, you're completely oblivious.

Modded Xbox's are used for two reasons. One, to run applications not normally used on an Xbox. You can put operating systems like Linux on them and use it as an internet browser, word processor, etc. But that is pretty much a waste of time seeing that it's a whole lot easier to do that on your computer.

The second reason, and the more common reason, is to steal, plain and simple. This can be done in one of two ways. First, you can rent or borrow a game, copy it, and return it. Second, you can download game files through a torrent and put it on a DVD.

People are cheap. The Mod their Xbox's so they can steal a game instead of paying for it. It's the same people who are upset about mod banning that are upset about DRMs on PC games. DRMs don't screw up your gameplay. They stop people from stealing, so the people who get mad are the thieves who want an easy steal.

People who mod their Xbox's to copy games are just as bad as someone who walks into Best Buy and walks out with a game without paying for it.

This is coming from an avid gamer who thinks everyone should pay for the game developed by hard working people who spent a ton of money to bring you quality entertainment.

Doesn't Homeland Security have anything else better to do than to bust some nerd trying to make a few extra bucks modding Xbox's? This is absolutely ridiculous.

Stop propping up the legitimacy of Department Homeland Security as some kind of cohesive organization, it's just a new umbrella for existing departments, such as the US Customs Service, who I assume would be the actual arresting authority (despite the wrongness of the law that they are enforcing in this case). I certainly hope so, rather than some van full of guys in black with no specific authority or mission other than "Homeland Security", whatever that is.

Homeland Security issuing tickets for potentially speeding! Tonight at 11. WTF?

While modding does have it's legal purposes, let's not fool ourselves. The vast majority of people mod their consoles so that they can play stolen games.

While ski masks do have a legal purpose, let's not fool ourselves. The vast majority of people buy ski masks so that they can rob liquor stores.

While chocolate does have a legal purpose, let's not fool ourselves. The vast majority of people buy and eat chocolate to get fat and drive up the cost of health care.

While the air we breathe does have a legal purpose, let's not fool ourselves. The vast majority of people breathe so that they can continue to lie, cheat and steal.

I vote we outlaw and arrest people for modding their xboxes, buying ski masks, eating chocolate and breathing.

what ever happened to "america is a free country"?

the government acts all big and bad and this is what they waste they're time on

I AGREE WITH Mike D IF I WANT TO MAKE MY X-BOX A TRANSFORMER I CAN BECAUSE IT IS MINE SINCE I BUY IT OR IS IT REALLY? DO WE OWN ANY THING NOW

Everyone does these things... like who hasn't heard of glitching or cheating something so you don't have to buy it? It's like putting all the blame on one guy! Also doesn't homeland Security deal with things bigger than this? Like shouldn't they be looking to find all the top wanted dudes still running around?????

Really. I'm not a fan of people cracking games but for Homeland Security to be in on this type of thing seems a waste of time/money. If this type of activity falls under their jurisdiction then I feel some re-organization is needed as well as priority assessment.

this is a joke. unless he sold pirated games he's doing nothing wrong.

And DHS should try keeping drugs out of the country if its this bored.

Are you kidding me? He was simply reimbursing himself for buying the equipment at the local Bestbuy–come arrest me–I mod consoles all the time, and at no time to I say that I charge for that–I charge for the parts, as if you could just go and buy it yourself.

This is outrageous!

And what you are doing is illegal and you deserve to be arrested just the same.

There is nothing outrageous about Justice being served.

A few things to note:

1) Just because you have a gun doesn't mean you have to shoot someone. If it DOES enable piracy, it does not force it.
2) There's probably a lot more that you can do with a hacked/modded Xbox then just play digital copies of game discs. For example, you could run Linux or use homebrew. Both of these can potentially hurt Micro$oft (in their opinion) and cost them hundreds of thousands of pennies.
3) Somebody show me a law that makes a game console modder a terrorist. The Department of Homeland Security's job is to apprehend terrorists, not Xbox hackers.
4) The DMCA is highly unconstitutional. The DMCA makes a pair of pliers illegal because they can be used to steal cable. Also, the only ones that can charge for violation of the DMCA are the corporations. Violation of the DMCA is a federal offense. Add this all up and you have a law the violates the constitution in lots of places.

It all comes down to the fact that the corporations rule the country, not the people.

Waste of time, they should be busy with terrorists and keeping the REAL crime(murder, major thefts and what not) off the streets..
Another true waste of time, money/resources..

Asia/Middle East and Europe thrive on backups and illegal copies.
But yeah copying and selling backups is a crime, major game sellers and brands need to make their profit but then again how much are a few modders in the US gonna make..

This guy wasn't even cracking or pirating games. He was modding the console to play backups. I hope the jury sees how stupid this case is and cuts him some slack.

I don't want to rebuy a game because its to scratched to play. I have kids and no Im not trying to say that im not accepting responsibility for them scratching the games. I just don't want to rebuy a game I payed $60 for I am not going to give the developers more of my money in resells sorry.

I cant believe there going after small time operations like this. its not going to be long before they bust open my door for downloading a mp3 off limewire.

What there doing isn't right at all. Morally the kid wasn't doing anything wrong he gave the customer what they wanted a mod. its the customer that might of or could of done something morally wrong.

how about we arrest mechanics for installing faster engines or nos there giving the customer the ability to break the law. Lets ban dvd players there giving the customer the ability to break the law. The dmca is unconstitutional in so many ways. The united states shouldn't just protect the big corporations but also the consumer.

Im tired of **** who think that just because some idiot friend or relative of theres plays pirated games with a modded console everyone else does it.

**** response:
Omg your wrong everyone who has a modded xbox downloads hundreds of pirated games a day and then they cheat online and after that go kill kittens. They cost the gaming industry trillions and zillions of dollars a day.

Bottom line is This mod has legal applications but can be abused just like a dvd burner, gun or super charger can. and its stupid that they arrested someone for ONLY modding an xbox which in my opinion should be made legal.

Dmca = crappiest law ever made

Wow this is going to backfire on them big time and when it does I hope the heads of this operation are fired for being complete monkeys. I really doubt this kid cost the game industry a million dollars more like maybe around $1000 or less if even that. He didn't directly pirate anything he gave the customer a tool to PLAY backups just like a dvd burner enables us to MAKE backups of our digital media. Both can be used in the wrong ways both have legal applications yet one is illegal?

Hes being threatened with 10 years in jail for a thought crime
this is ridiculous. When is someone going to get rid of this law if we don't do anything now its going to get worse.

There probably going to fine him alot of money and probably put him behind bars. Rape murder drugs and other crimes like directly stealing can probably land you less time than this or the same.

To all the college students STOP modding those psps wiis xboxs and ps2s. Start selling drugs trust me you'll earn more money than modding and risk the same jailtime.

This is what is basically happening but im using something thats legal as of now to prove how stupid this really is. He was arrested on a thought crime apparently the people who wrote the Dmca were psychics and could predict the future.What there doing to this kid is far from justice.

DHS : Do you have a dvd burner in your home sir? You do? Your going to jail for 10 years you could of used that dvd burner to make
thousands of pirated games. You could of cost us millions of dollars.

Random guy: Why all I did was burn my music and dvds on to my computer for backup purposes and so I could stream them to my xbox wirelessly.

DHS: It doesn't matter does it look like a care about your rights as a consumer you could of used it to pirate games and it could
of cost us millions of dollars. Dmca is LAW were taking you in.
You should of never got something that enabled you to pirate media.
Is that a soldering iron and screwdriver? Were going to have to ad an extra 5 years to your sentence.

I think that maybe we should outlaw funnels because they modify anything with an opening that can hold fluid. That's right! Funnels.

I think anyone who owns or wants to buy a soldering iron should get a permit just like we do with guns. Anyone who doesn't have a permit while in possession with a soldering iron should get 15 years in prison minimum.

Thatll stick it to al qaeda and there xbox moddin solder iron wieldin job stealin terrorist.

Lets applaud!!! everyone applaud!!! the dhs for capturing one of these scum bag terrorist Lets all applaud them!!!. I feel healthier and safer already thanks for taking him off the streets. He was doing the most sinister thing a terrorist can do... modding an xbox.

We should really think about executing him maybe that will send a message to these filthy terrorist.

wow! that is the funnest thing i have every heard i know millions of people could do this cause its all over youtube if it wasnt on youtube i would understand because he would be able to do this and he will get alot of money but he doesnt even charge alot hes charging 30$ bucks!! its cheap i would let him off with a warning atleast. this is pretty messed up that him out of thousands of people that do this he is getting in trouble. what i also think is that they should remove the videos that show how to do this and who ever does do this gets banned off Xbox live forever! very odd homeland security would arrest him but i dont think its there fault they are trying to make the country a better place.

They do this to scare us. They take one person down and think "Ha, now those modders won't f*** with us!". m$ uses the same tactic on us. Remember the Halo 3 "ban wave" that was coming because of people playing early... They banned like 4 people or something. These people NEED to find something else to do. Maybe they could try to find terrorists in America, or take down the real dangerous hackers. Some CEO's and governments officials need to be pimp slapped.

This is stupid so much for freedom people charge for modded crontrolers are u gonna arrest them next wow

Are you kidding me!!!!! My friends just showed me this blog and I was like OMG. Good job Homeland Security for wasting our tax money.

Haha Devin, you're right. As a matter of fact I say we all mod our Xbox 360 consoles and just back up the legally purchased games and use the excuse that if the disc gets scratched I can just make another copy instead of paying $60 for a new one. If we did it in mass there is no way they could throw us all in jail. The jails in the US are overpopulated as it is.

Be realistic guys. People mod their xbox for one reason and one reason only – to play pirated games. Modding an xbox is expensive (especially if you mess it up and brick it) so why would someone do that to play back up copies of their own games, just in case they get scratched. I currently own close to 65 xbox 360 and ps3 games and have never scratched one. And if I did, I could go to the shop a few blocks away and have it resurfaced for about 2 bucks! The reason games are so expensive to buy is that they are expensive to make. If people stopped pirating them and actually bought a copy – games would be a heck of a lot cheaper. Console makers are going to get so fed up with pirating, they are going to start making game cartridges again or force us to download the game to our system to keep us from copying them.

remember the good old days when a new game came out it would only be 20$.. now a new game for xbox or ps3 is over 65$ thats ridicolous. the government should focus on more important things rather than stupid little modifications done to a gaming system

Sell cheaper games!!!!!!!!!!!

Sooner than not, Americans are going to take these retarded lobbied laws such as the DMCA and piss on them. The country is the peoples, not the corporations, and not the governments, the government is in place to listen to US, and protect the people (Thomas Jefferson), not the corporations or businesses. Hence the "We The People" part of the constitution. This whole thing with Xbox 360 modding, or any other technological modding is absurd, the guy was probably trying to make a quick buck probably to pay for another semester worth of classes in college, or for gas in his car. Then "big brother" has to go bashing in his door making life hell for the kid, and we Americans have to pay for this kids hell out of OUR tax dollars. We Americans need to grow balls against this kind of treatment from the gov't and law enforcement, and vote out these laws and ignorant politicians that are for the corps. and not the people as a whole. Don't get me wrong, I am for copyright, and protecting the works of others, but I am also for protecting my investments be it life/car insurance or backing up data that's LEGALLY mine that I PURCHASED. In all DHS needs to worry about counterfeiting money, terrorism, mafioso crime, Real Chinese and Middle Eastern hackers, etc. not a kid in his garage hacking a Xbox 360. This is just my 2 cents...

serous???? wtf i mode games so i can basicly do wat ever i want on them but this????? rly is it as serous as they are making it?????

Technically I guess I should report my xbox repair man. It voids the warranty to open it and he is modifying just about everything in it because MICROSOFT BUILT A PIECE OF EXPENSIVE JUNK and it refuses to work. He is "modding" how it disperses heat because it shuts down every 30 minutes, thanks MS for the shitty cooling thermal paste. "Modding" how the main chip is attatched because MS built it crappy and its coming off the motherboard. Upgrading internals that I dont even understand because all I want this stupid thing to do is WORK HOW IT IS SUPPOSED TO!!! How is this illegal? MS considers this "modding" the xbox. MS offered to fix all this for over $150...no thanks. He is fixing this for $50 (and "modding" it with a big clear window cut out with colored LED lights cause it just looks cool) and not so i can play illegal copies but just so I can play the few games I own (uncopied). Read online a bit, the 360 is amazing for online play but a piece of junk because they break ALL THE TIME.

I think its ludacris that the guy should be sent to prison for such a thing. It is a persons right to make a backup of their dvds/video games for protection on losing them.(especially on xbox 360s with their defective dvd drives that cause the discs to leave nasty round scratches on them). People make copies of theit audio cds all the time. if they decide to go out and sell them than THAT is piracy and they should be punished for that. But if someone simply wants to make theire xbox so that if they ever lose a game they can play their backup, than that seems perfectly innocent to me. i can understand people getting in trouble for selling only the burnt games without knowing that the customer has Legal Owners Rights to the game.

Thats our Lolly -gaggin good -for -nothin' Government for ya !

i always download games from bittorent and emule. ,:-

In response to Robert.
If you think positive about making this a crime of piracy then if you truly get down to everything. You can not buy a used game and you can not buy a game at a yard sale because it would hurt the gaming industry. If you get second hand stuff whether it come on an actual disk made by the company or not it is in violation of the industry. So no resales of the product because even tho someone bought the product. You must also pay the full price of the product new to get around the word stealing from the industry. So your philosophy of not stealing from the industry will also apply to second hand items also.

i download a lot of free games online and there are lots of it online."-~

[...] One possible exception to this would be if you tweak your last-generation system to make it better than originally designed. In order for this exception to keep you in the running for hardcore gamer status, the tweak in question must be made for the purpose of pushing the envelope – not as a an attempt to break the law. [...]

i would really like to download games all the day long but most download sites are not free`'`

[...] I find it insane that people agree that $60 is a fair price for games these days. With the use of the EULA contracts, I am compelled to even play games sometimes. If I don't own the game, why do I have to pay full price for the game then? I've heard (possible rumors) that the EULA means jack squat in other countries, but in America, our corporations make the laws, and the laws say pay up. Or, in some cases, get sued. Or better yet, have Homeland Security knocking on your door for breaking a console's ToS. [...]

downloading different games is kind of my hobby, i love to play new java games–;

From operating systems to multimedia, PC & mobile games to anti-virus, from drivers to registry cleaners and internet tools our website features all the latest soft wares for safe and free downloading enjoy.

Xbox 360 Modding Community – http://www.teammindgames.com

[...] shambolic border security and rising cybercrime, the Department of Homeland Security decided that arresting a college student for modifying  Xbox 360 game consoles so they could play copied games was a top priority. And so it was that DHS apprehended Matthew [...]

I am a console modder . When I say console modder I have'em all and they are all modded.(Yes I do mean all,DS,psp,ps3,wii,xbox,xbox 360,and ps2) I mod mostly to back up my very large videogame library(you should see my game room closet). I have modded countless systems for friends family, family, and piratin.(yes pirating).Modding consoles is fun and it opens up tons of options that are for the most part better. The only bad thing that comes from it is piracy. If i pay $200 or more for a piece of equipment, I should be allowed to make it better. My wii now plays dvds, and it does no harm to nintendo but they do not want me to do it, but it made it better( cause the wii sucks).You could speculate how people could use alot of things but its how they actually use it that matters. I have had guys that want their system modded strictly for pirating and some that just wnat to run homebrew. its just your opinion. I personally have no problem pirating games from a company that makes billions of dollars a year. If you don't like it don't do it . If you do like F#@k the man!!!!

ehternet cables are still the ones that i use for my home networking applications .."

I seem to recall that there once was a time when taking an object and making it work better was called "Inventing" instead of "Illegal".

Dec 3rd, 2010 – Prosecutors have dropped the DMCA case !!!

NOW i CAN MOD MY CAR WITH NO FEAR!

soem sites that offer download games have viruses and spywares on it. so make sure to have some antivirus on your PC .-;

I thought we were allowed one personal backup of any software we purchase.. I know congress passed that many many years ago. ( under 17 U.S.C. § 117)

I don't law that well, but it sounds like we have the right to make one personal copy. NOW, if we have that right to make one to use in the event the original media no longer functions (scratched, broken, etc.), then the console is violating our rights and circumventing United States Law 17 U.S.C. § 117 by building in technology that prevents us from playing a "backed up" game. If that is the case, I hope OUR homeland Security, created to protect WE THE PEOLPE not we the imported CHINESE stuff (yes XBOX is owned by MS, but it is still imported Chinese stuff) will step up and raid MS, Sony, Nintendo.. arrest all the employees and bring them up on criminal charges.. i don't wanna see any CIVIL actions taken, because they do not take civil action against US THE PEOPLE, they arrest us and criminally prosecute us, so they better arrest and criminally prosecute them as well.

Sad people have to "MOD" their personal property to ensure they can enjoy their rights that are granted to them under UNITED STATES CODE passed by CONGRESS, even more sad they get arrested by Homeland security when they do.

I thought Homeland security is supposed to protect us from foreign invasion, instead they protect foreign invasion from us!!!! You do know the new foreign invasion is in the form of trade.. that is the new super weapon, financial war, the only way to defeat the US.... when are we gonna wake up...

I think if it is illegal to mod a game console, then the manufactures need to supply at no cost, one backup disc for each game sold, if not then we need to mod consoles so we can have our legal ONE BACKUP ALLOWED BY CONGRESS

Or maybe I am misunderstanding the law, either way I think Homeland Security should not be allowed and I fell ay pircay offense should be a CIVIL offense, not a CRIMINAL offense... unless we are talking huge organized operations doing some serious high volume, a one man operation.... criminal... really?... are our children not safe with these video game hacker on the streets??? Really? Maybe we can early release the murderers and child molestors to make more room for people that download a movie or song....

As an American i am appalled. Can't we put our tax dollars into something more useful like having the secret service cut down on jay walking.

Vastly exotic blog column.

Do you have a spam issue on this website; I also am a blogger, and I was wanting to know your situation; many of us have developed some nice procedures and we are looking to exchange techniques with others, why not shoot me an email if interested.

Oh, by the way, screw adding another Wild Card team. The 2011 Braves are reason #1 why that's a crummy idea in concept.

Dude, WTF is wrong with America!!!! Why is Homeland Security trying to stop people from modding the XBOX or XBOX 360 to play LEGAL backups of games that they own!!! SEROUSLY!!! There are terrorists trying to destroy us, but they think money is more important than people's safety!! Don't they realize that less people means less money anyway!!! some people are just so ignorant and greedy... At least Obama has the guts to stop terrorists!

Lets go though this one step at a time. The government is run by people, people who are greedy for power. They get power (and keep it) when they are elected (and re-elected). However being elected requires people know about your current stance on politics so they can want to vote for you. To tell people about your political belief you need ads on TV. Ads cost money. Money comes from big campaign contributions from big corporations. Big corporations aren't going to sponsor candidates that they think will "go soft" on piracy. Therefore following this chain of logic, a politician ABSOLUTELY MUST make draconian anti-piracy laws to stay in power.

In short, the politician's own greed makes them puppets of big companies. And that means that the big companies (not the government officials) are the REAL people who run our country (even if only indirectly). The heads of companies don't have seats in congress, but they might as well, because the government officials in those seats will do EVERYTHING those companies want them to, even when it means completely ignoring 100% the petitions of ordinary Americans (even if every single American in the US signed onto such petitions).

I have no doubt that if the head of Microsoft wanted every single American in the US (except for MS employees and govt officials of course) do die, the very next day congress and the US president would order a nuclear ICBM strike on ALL major US cities, and that would be followed by the Army, Navy, Marines, and Airforce coming in and ruthlessly slaughtering every survivor of those nuked cities and also smaller cites (even in towns so small that they didn't bother to waste a nuke on). It would be a fullscale military invasion of EVERY city, town, and villiage in the US such that nobody survived except for the Microsoft employees, the government officials, and the soldiers; just as the head of Microsoft had ordered.

homeland security is ICE the coast gaurd and other things. Dont read to much into this

[...] just as with modding Xboxes (circumventing the built-in security mechanisms of the Xbox and Xbox 360 videogame consoles), [...]

[...] just as with modding Xboxes (circumventing the built-in security mechanisms of the Xbox [...]

You could definitely see your expertise in the paintings you write. The arena hopes for even more passionate writers like you who are not afraid to say how they believe. All the time follow your heart.

Hello very nice web site!! Man .. Excellent .. Wonderful .. I'll bookmark your website and take the feeds additionally?I'm happy to search out numerous helpful info right here in the put up, we want work out extra techniques on this regard, thank you for sharing. . . . . .

You already know thus considerably with regards to this topic, made me in my view believe it from a lot of numerous angles. Its like men and women aren't involved until it is one thing to do with Lady gaga! Your individual stuffs excellent. Always maintain it up!

Usually I do not learn post on blogs, however I would like to say that this write-up very pressured me to try and do so! Your writing style has been surprised me. Thank you, quite nice article.

あなたの子供がいじめに応答する方法を学習し、良好な自己イメージを開発する場合、彼らはいじめを防止するために、それが簡単になります。あなたの子供がいじめは、彼らがターゲットにされている場合、その故障ではありません、それが受け入れられないということを知っていることを確認してください。多くの子供たちは、助けを求めて大人に向けることを躊躇していますが、すぐに大人に伝えることは、将来的にいじめを防止するための最良の方法です。

http://www.raybantokyo.com/ レイバン
http://www.raybantokyo.com/ レイバンサングラス
http://www.raybantokyo.com/ レイバンメガネ
http://www.raybantokyo.com/ レイバン店舗
http://www.raybantokyo.com/ Ray Ban
レイバン: http://www.raybantokyo.com/

wow....serious.....out of everything in the world. "the feds fucks with a citizen modding xboxs". what ever happen to terrorist hunting, taking drugs off the streets, borderline security, etc..xbox 360 mod??!!! what a fuckin joke...

Pretty component to content. I just stumbled upon your weblog and in accession capital to say that I acquire actually enjoyed account your blog posts. Any way I will be subscribing for your augment and even I fulfillment you get admission to constantly fast.

http://5a535ceb.megaline.co

What I want to know is why more people aren't pissed our government is pimping out Homeland Security to get some guy flashing DVD drives for 30 bucks a pop. It probably cost 30 mil in taxpayer money to catch a guy that cost the game industry a couple thousand, and meanwhile some politician got his pockets lined. Talk about misappropriation of resources.