Petteri Pyyny
23 Jan 2004 14:27
Italian court delivered the first major legal defeat to Sony by ruling that PS2 (Playstation 2) modchips are legal in Italy. Modchips are hardware modifications made to the original console that allow it to play games from other regions (Sony's games are region coded, a bit like DVD movies, meaning that normally you cannot play Japanese import games on a European console, etc), allow it to play game backups, self-made programs -- and also pirated copies of PS2 games.
The court went further than just declaring modchips legal, it also said that Sony's restrictions are "absurd" and said "It's a little like Fiat marketing its cars while banning them from being driven by non-European citizens or outside towns".
The court also stated that as the product, Playstation game console, has been purchased by a consumer, Sony doesn't have any legal ways to state what consumers can or can not do with the device as the consumer owns the device, not Sony.
The decision might prove to be difficult for other console manufacturers as well -- the prime example is Microsoft who doesn't allow users with "modded" Xbox consoles to access its Xbox Live online gaming platform.
Source: Silicon.com