PC World – Feds Raid Video Game ‘Modders’ in 16 States — Are you kidding me? With drug dealers everywhere, murder, porous borders, terrorism the Feds are concerned about game mods?? Holy crap.
U.S. customs agents raided 32 homes and businesses early Wednesday, searching for hardware that allows pirated video games to play on the popular PlayStation 2, Xbox and Wii consoles.
According to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, the search warrants were served in 16 states, including California, Illinois, New York and Texas, as agents looked for evidence of the importation, sale and distribution of the modification devices made overseas and smuggled into the country.
The so-called “mod chips” and “swap discs” targeted by the searches let gamers play pirated titles or counterfeit copies on Sony Corp.’s PlayStation 2, Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox and Xbox 360, and Nintendo Co.’s Wii video game machines.
“Illicit devices like the ones targeted today are created with one purpose in mind, subverting copyright protections,” said Julie Myers, an assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, under which ICE operates. “These crimes cost legitimate businesses billions of dollars annually and facilitate multiple other layers of criminality, such as smuggling, software piracy and money laundering.”
Next I supposed they will be cracking heads over unlocked phones. Great.
Everytime I hear about something like this i getthe image of:
A bunch of geeks sitting in a little room full of computers and CD’s typing and soldering away, when suddenly 15 SWAT dudes with semi automatic weapons burst through the back door throwing smoke and tear gas grenades whilst shouting “DROP THE FUCKING NINTENDO!!!! NOW!!!!!!”
god that cracks me up.
so what the feds are saying is what? that when you buy something it doesn’t really belong to you?
If you have a pc with Windows, you don’t own the OS that’s on it.
#35 Mr Fusion – my comments were directed at the people seeming to complain about the Republicans all the time when they are not in charge. The President also appoints the justices on the Supreme Court but I wasn’t talking about who manages it.
My SO just got elected to her first office and yes I do vote but nothing you or I do is going to change anything with the politics in this country since there are way too many people who don’t care or are misinformed. So the government wins by default or apathy.
Soon the storm troopers will probably come knocking on your door for visiting ‘banned’ websites… you know… sites that post ‘real’ news instead of Faux News. For the most part, the government don’t even follow their own laws these days. I’m sure they will have a special FEMA camp just for us geeks. I”m so sick of the police state. =p
The feds don’t work for you and me, they work for whichever corporation happens to be issuing the orders at the moment – the MPAA, RIAA, defense, media, drug pushers etc. Prosecute white-collar gangsters? Why would they arrest their own bosses?
With drug dealers everywhere, murder, porous borders, terrorism the Feds are concerned about game mods?? Holy crap.
Don’t tell me you’re one of those pro drug war nuts.
Good thing I don’t live in the States. Viva Modders Pinata! I have no idea what I just said!
42,
Good comment…
When the US gov acknowledges, that they can only Scan >10% of cargo incoming from CERTAIN ports of call, for ANYTHING, which includes radioactive material, to explosives, to Smuggled in Terrorists(look for the holes in the Can).
They they cant control our borders, and dont PAY those that do, Very much…
When they take almost ALL of our national guard, air guard, coast guard, to Stock up on personnel in a war OUR GOV, is paying 10-100 times MORE to corps to supply goods that should have been made YEARS ago.(except the foods).
Outsourcing, of military Jobs for repair, and supply, insted of TRAINING our men to do the job.
FROM a nation that cant Support 1% of its people being in the military..
PS, and dont forget the RAISE that congress and the rep just got.
Or that the HEAD of the Veterans admin CUT everything back, and THEN got a raise…
firing A GOOd person in the role of FEMA head, and substituting someone ELSE, FIRING that person, and installing a military person, and FIRING them for someone ELSE….No wonder Louisiana is still in shambles.
and most of those that went IN with GWB, have been replaced at LEAST 1 time…
cutting the gov budget to ALL resources(they still got a raise) so that many gov facilities had to SHUT down offices, including the FDA, in California(major import DOCKS)…
#14/ #22
Pedro; Just a few Nazi Corporations you might know of; Krupp, Bayer, Volkswagen, Ford Werke AG (A German branch of Ford), Daimler-Benz, Siemens, Leica, Deutch Bank, BASF, Degussa-Huel, Hoechst ect.
Note: I am only including very large, still existent, companies that directly employed -slave labor- courtesy of Der Fuhrer. The number of complicit companies lists in the hundreds. None of the executives of these companies were significantly punished (many should have been executed for murder) and only a few slaves have been compensated. I am also not includine corporations outside germany that supported the regime (such as IBM)
Fascism is Corporatism. It is the control of the state by an economic elite. This is not and has not ever been contested. Period.
Here is just one source: http://www.religioustolerance.org/fin_nazi.htm
Xbox modders ??
What about the government of Iran.
Seem to be in a race to get the atomic bomb for no ( or our good purpose)
Pretty piddly stuff going after x box modders