The First Pirate Bust Of 2009

[Playbahnosh]

Once again, police prove they are more interested in protecting corporate interests than public ones.

QFT! Thats what I was rambling about, only a shorter version.

 

[Bored Tomatoe]

That guy deserves what he got if he was profiting off of piracy.

 

[Unusual_Bulge]

Anyone else depressed by the level of support for piracy in this thread?

 

[Playbahnosh]

Anyone else depressed by the level of support for piracy in this thread?

It's not support for piracy, its more like a resistance against corporate exploitation, the selfish usage of public services and the misinformation of the public itself. Don't tell me you do believe, that copied disks are a hazard to your health and have anything to do with a game's quality testing...

 

[Unusual_Bulge]

They didn't say copied discs are a hazard to anyone, nor did they mention that the quality of the games is reduced. What I expect the report is referring to, and what I have heard in several news reports in the UK over the christmas period, is that if you have some guy, credentials unknown, cracking open consoles and soldering on extra parts with nobody quality controlling this work (as they would in a legitimate factory where the consoles are made), there is most definitely the potential for danger.

I don't really understand this anti-corporate thing either, who exactly are you raging against? For all we know, the police were tipped off by a jealous neighbour who saw how much money the guy was making. Once tipped off, police inform the appropriate bodies so they can send a powerful joint message to all folks doing such things.

 

[Sixties Spidey]

*in Nelson Muntz voice* HA HA!

 

[Chaos Marine]

So...

Gaming piracy is a PC only thing then?

 

[Lord_Ascendant]

You've somehow found a way to track me? Again? *rumbles* stupid tracking devise in my shoe....I'll have to incinerate them again.

Incinerate all you want - We know where you live. and where you keep your shoes. And where you buy your shoes.
YOU WILL NEVER ESCAPE US!!

*yells at sky* Darn you PurpleRain and your oompah loopahs!!!!

 

[chronobreak]

Agreed. This guy is a scumbag thief and deserves to go to prison. Perhaps the article should have mentioned "counterfeiter" in the title since that's really what he is.

Wow, that's going pretty far buddy. Wonder if he had kids to feed, a mortgage to pay, maybe he just got laid off from a steady job, maybe he is disabled and struggling to make it with his government compensation. On the other hand, maybe he has a sick twisted fetish for pirating games, maybe he sacrifices a cat for every system he chips, we don't know. But, we do know that calling a software pirate a "scumbag" is a little too much.

Times are tough on a lot of people right now, and we don't know his circumstances. I guess I'm just one of those "bleeding hearts" I hear people talk about, but I wouldn't want to see this guy in a prison next to people that have comitted atrocities.

 

[Archereus]

man that is one uge scale of piracy but her deserves since he was making a black market typed business off of it all

 

[Brian Name]

And in my book, piracy is stealing. You wouldn't walk into a shop and pick up a copy of Gears o' Death 5 without paying. Profit or not, pirates are criminals.

The problem is that there's is a grey area, pirates are not stealing a physical copy of the product, they are copying it and distributing it, which while copyright infringement isn't exactly theft. Since the only thing the producer of the product loses is 'potential profit' which is difficult to count as 99% of pirates would not pay money for what they are downloading anyway. A better analogy would be:

You walk into a shop, pick up something of some sort, copy down the ingredients/content etc. on paper you've brought then you go home and reproduce the original product. The problem is that you're not really stealing anything, as you're not stealing a tangible product from the owner, but reproducing the object and distributing it freely.

Piracy is copyright infringement, but as far as classifying it as actual theft? Would be quite difficult to do.

Surely that analogy is flawed. Finished games and music are not recipes which can be made by anybody. Somebody has put tons and tons of work into creating the code, textures, models, landscapes etc (or with music - lyrics, notes, orchestration) and pirates who download a complete game or album to play or listen to and do not pay for it are depriving the creators and artists of money that they rightfully deserve.

More importantly, pirates should face the fact that by downloading games for free without paying developers and publishers they are only harming the industry (and leading to ridiculous counter-measures like DRM). They aren't doing gamers any favours, which makes me wonder why so many people defend them!

 

[nathan-dts]

Would have to agree, piracy is ripping stuff to give for free, this guy is making a 100% profit, almost.

Huh 100%? People pirate stuff from these guys to get things cheaper so it would be about 25%.

Just to avoid any confusion, I also disagree with piracy. Even if nobody gains a profit because devolopers are still losing money.

 

[Combined]

Normally, I'm all for "piracy". But when you make money off it, you don't even get my sympathy.
Neither does this guy.

 

[QuadrAlien]

Health dangers from a modded console? Wait a minute... a bit of work here and there to retrieve IP addresses, a few illicit additions inside X360 casings, and... Yes! The fabled device to stab people in the face over the Internet will be mine!

 

[Teachingaddict]

Personally, 10 years, when i hit and run driver gets less is fecking ridiculous.

I wont admit to whether or not i pirate, but ill say if i like it i buy it, hence my 60 360 games and DVD collection over 300 strong.

However, individual piracy I can kinda understand, but selling to make money, man that dude got what he deserves.

 

[fullautomatic555]

...defraud corporations or the government and the justice system will be all over you, but if you rape, murder or steal from innocent people the police and the courts couldn't give a shit.

Exactly.

I sure am glad this man is behind bars, I feel much safer. Besides the fact that there are still countless drug dealers, murderers, and other folk that are ignored roam the streets. To me, the priorities of many law enforcement agencies are particularly fuct; it seems as if they said, "well we can't stop the big players, might as well get some work done though." A "sting" on a video game pirate, give me a break.

 

[Samah]

Prior to the official raid, investigators set up a sting operation where they visited him to have their Xbox chipped and purchase pirated games. The console and games were then forensically examined to provide the evidence needed to obtain a search warrant.

Entrapment.

I *think* chipping is legal in Australia. Given that there's a store down the road from me that advertises it...

The problem with an entrapment defense is that, in order for it to work, in most countries you have to show the accused would not have committed a crime in the absence of actions taken by law enforcement. It isn't entrapment if you are willing/planning to commit a crime, and the police convince you to incriminate yourself. Entrapment only covers a situation where the actions of law enforcement cause a person who would not otherwise commit a crime to commit one, with the intention of arresting them for it when they do. [N.B. Not a laywer, just a layman's understanding of entrapment.]

Interesting... but did they prosecute the investigator who bought the pirated games?

 

[CanadianWolverine]

So, was anyone else reminded of a Decker in Shadowrun getting caught by Lone Star?