College students usually take odd jobs to make tuition payments and purchase vast amounts of alcohol. For one Cal State student, his after class work may land him in the slammer.
You have to have a lot of balls to stuff a CD under your jacket, brains are optional. However, you’d have to be bat-shit-crazy to modify and sell a gaming console. Modified PlayStation 3’s and Xbox 360’s – and to a lesser extent, Wii’s – allow everyday folks to pop in and play pirated games; they are surprisingly easy to acquire, and if you sell them – you have a good chance of landing in prison for 10 years.
Such is the case for 27 year old Cal State Fullerton student Matthew Lloyd Crippen, just a normal guy with a talent for electronics and an entire student body of customers. NBC Los Angeles reported Crippen was arrested Monday morning by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, having been indicted on two counts of violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The arrest stemmed from a search and seizure of Crippen’s home in May 2009, in which the feds confiscated a dozen or so PS3, 360, and Wii gaming consoles.
So, what does Mr. Anti-Static-Bracelet* have to look forward to? For starters, up to 10 years in prison. But if he’s anything like other pirates, he’ll also have to pay restitution for all the consoles he has modded. Finally, he’ll have to deal with his disappointed parents who wanted nothing more than to see a degree in his hand. Sniffle, sniffle…
Considering the number of consoles MLC had, he stood to make quite a bit of money; especially if he was also selling pirated games to accompany his modded systems – you know, like a gaming bundle. The problem with modded consoles is the same problem you’ll find in refurbished consoles, failure rate. The reputable company, GameStop, will buy your busted system, fix it up, and sell it at a discounted price as a refurbished console. On average, refurbished console won’t make it past the 5 month mark, which is about the same time a modded console will meet it’s end. Both refurbishers and modders capitalize on busted consoles, selling them for $50-$100 more than they paid for them. The difference lies in the piracy advantage that pads the wallet of the modder – if your game library mainly, if not solely, consists of pirated games – it stands to reason that you’ll want another modded console.
It remains to be seen if Crippen will be made an example of, though he wouldn’t be the first Copyright malcontents to sit in front of a judge and, well, be judged. According to ICE, industry and trade associations estimate that piracy cost the U.S. around $250 billion a year, losing 750,000 Americans their jobs (includes film, music, gaming, other medias). Considering the fact that last year the gaming industry murdered all other media industries by raking in $9 billion, it’s apparent that the pirates have devastated an already failing economy. In their defense, I’ll say this: Blu-Ray is fucking expensive.
*get it? Because he works with electronics, he needs an… anti-stat… you’ve already lost interest, haven’t you…
One Response
I added your blog to bookmarks. And i’ll read your articles more often!