Italian Court Rules PlayStation Modchips Are Legal

cabalamat2 writes "An Italian court has ruled that PlayStation modchips are legal under the Italian version of the EUCD, because the modchips are not primarily intended to circumvent copyright protection measures, but to allow people to make backup copies of games (legal in Italy), play games not authorised by Sony, etc. The judge evidently wasn't impressed by what he called Sony's 'Absurd Restrictions' on usage."

Why this judgement is good

[cabalamat2]

A modchip is a chip that modifies how a game box works. This is good news for consumers, because it means that people using Playstations can now do what they want to do with them (at least if they live in Italy), and aren't just restricted to what Sony wants to allow them to do.

There's also the wider issue. The judge in this case clearly thought Sony were being unreasonable, so he allowed circumvention of a TPM (which the EUCD and DMCA supposedly forbid), because the intention was other than to circumvent; the intention was to allow people to make backups, play games with different region codes, etc.

I expect if a similar case regarding DVDs came before an Italian court, that circumventing the DVD CSS may well be ruled legal. People are starting to wake up to the fact that what the media corporations are trying to do is out of order.

sooo?

[iamjim]

This means that next time I am in Italy I can play games from China?

Note for Commonwealth and US Slashdot readers

[simonecaldana]

Italy does not have a "common law" law system, so this doesn't mean "from now on in Italy it is fully legal to produce, sell, install and use modchips". It means these people were not found guilty (and set s a "guideline, too, but this guideline is not enforceable in court)

Re:Note for Commonwealth and US Slashdot readers

[wesmills]

So Italian courts do not have the concept of precedent, where the rulings of a prior court are used as justification when a similar issue comes up again? (I.e. Person A is found not guilty in regards to modchips, but Person B can be tried again the next day and concievably be found guilty)

Re:Note for Commonwealth and US Slashdot readers

[glopk]

Wrong. Italian courts do use legal precedents (or jurisprudence) and common social customs as authorities when deciding an issue. In fact, part of the [alcei.it]
judge's argument in dismissing the case (the bit about FIAT absurdly trying to sell a car and imposing it can't be used out of town) is based on a common notion of "absurdity". Another item of note in the ruling [alcei.it] is the invalidation of "shrink-wrap" licenses.

However, the original poster is partially correct in saying that the Italian legal system is based on civil law, rather than common law. This implies that jurisprudence is of lesser importance in legal proceedings. Roughly speaking, the order of importance of the legal sources in a civil law system (e.g. Italy, France, Germany) is as follows (from highest to lowest):
1) Constitution and Consitutional Laws
2) National laws (passed by the national parliament) and Government Executive Orders ("Decreti Legge").
3) Regional laws (passed by the regional parliaments) within a region's territory.
4) Government regulations
5) Jurisprudence, customs.

So, yes, Person B can be tried again the next day, in theory. In practice what happens is that, if the court (a) recognizes that the new case is *very* similar to the previous one and (b) the previous ruling is within the scope of the law, then the case will be may dismissed upon jurisprudential authority.

Re:Mafia

[sfjoe]

...since the mob still controls everything in Italy anyway.

In the USA, the corporations control everything. It remains to be seen which is better for the end-user.

Re:Mafia

[Sklivvz]

In the USA, the corporations control everything. It remains to be seen which is better for the end-user.

Actaully the Italian PM is also Italy's biggest enterpreneur, so in Italy the government IS a corporation! :-O

Re:Mafia

[Darth23]

Well I know Id take Cosa Nostra Pizza over Dominos any day.

Re:Mafia

[macdaddy357]

US corporations are organized crime syndicates. They are really not very different than the mafia. Insurance companies are most like the mafia. You pay protection to them.

Huh?

[Quattro Vezina]

I thought they were the same thing...

Reading the judgement makes me feel all warm and f

[SmallFurryCreature]

Reading the judgement makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. The judge involved seems to have understood perfectly what this case is really all about.

Restriction of free trade. Sony is free to have the parts made in cheap countries. So why are constumers not allowed to buy in cheap countries?

Right to make a backup. I live in holland were the law allows the samething yet many games activily try to deny this right.

He gets many other points as well. Just read it. I don't know if the text has been humanized but for a legal ruling it is very readable and points out many of the things /. been saying for years. Except this is being said by a judge who has to be listened to.

Oh and as for the question of what this means for other countries. The judge does seem to have taken notice of the australian ruling and a german ruling I never heard off. So the next judge might now take a look at yet another ruling saying that modchips are legal.

Great news.

Re:Reading the judgement makes me feel all warm an

[ianezz]

I don't know if the text has been humanized

Apparently not, the translation contains errors, but it attempts to be faithful: I may assure that the Italian version sounds pleasingly clear as well (which is not bad for a language where the same word is used both for "advanced" and for "leftover" :-).

And yes, that's exactly the word being used: "ridiculous" (about shrink-wrap notices). Let's hope the meme is spread among other judges.

Re:Reading the judgement makes me feel all warm an

[obeythefist]

Well you know what they say, translation is like a mistress. Beautiful, or faithful, never both.

Anyway, this isn't so amazing, we've been region-free and mod-chip friendly in Australia for ages. Hasn't destroyed Sony or Microsoft's gaming sales here, either.

Re:Reading the judgement makes me feel all warm an

[Kris_J]

Restriction of free trade. Sony is free to have the parts made in cheap countries. So why are constumers not allowed to buy in cheap countries?

Ah, the very essence of the globalisation debate. Companies fight for "free trade" so they can abuse workers in countries with no human rights, but if you suggest that perhaps you'd like to take advantage of the retail prices that exist in one of these countries and it's "an illegal parallel import". Welcome to capitalism, who would you like to sell your soul to today?

Re:Reading the judgement makes me feel all warm an

[Alsee]

who would you like to sell your soul to today?
--
ANYONE BUT Bush

Chuckle.

-

Re:Reading the judgement makes me feel all warm an

[gg510]

Exactly! We have got to start insisting on the Kantian "categorical imperative," which is nothing more or less than a demand for logical consistency in rule-sets. It is (was?) also the basis for the American Constitutional provision for equality before the law, and the rejection of arbitrary exceptions based on social status.

My favoite paragraph

[parliboy]

It is clear that under our legal system these conditions totally lacks of any value; whoever enter a shop and purchases a box with a software or a console inside, purchases without limits or conditions because he doesn't know what has been written (in English, maybe) into the box. States correctly the Civil Code that General Agreement Terms can be used against to the other contractor if the latter knew it before entering into the agreement; how could the purchaser know it if the seller didn't make it read and sign before give away the object and get the money?

Rough translation: EULA's are bullshit.

Interesting read ...

[Rip!ey]

There's an absolute gem buried at the bottom of the linked court ruling. It's worth picking your way through the rather poor Italian-to-English translation to find it it.

Specifically, "So all the attempt to bind the purchaser with after-purchase statements are simply ridiculous ..."

It would appear from this and the surrounding paragraphs that the Italian courts would take a less than favourable view of the enforcability of shrink-wrap/click-through agreements such as your average EULA.

Re:Interesting read ...

[alefbet]

It would appear from this and the surrounding paragraphs that the Italian courts would take a less than favourable view of the enforcability of shrink-wrap/click-through agreements such as your average EULA.

Not necessarily. It isn't that hard to find a distinction between purchasing hardware (an actual physical device, where using it for the purchaser's intentions seems natural) and purchasing a license to use copyrighted materials (where the material is information only and usage of the materials is a

Is it a console or is it not?

[DrewBeavis]

I liked the part where Sony told the EU is was a computer so it woulnd't have to pay the import duty on it as a game console, but now they told the court it was a console and that modding it to make it a computer is wrong. Which one is right, Sony?