Is modding or "hacking" your 360 illegal?

[AdladUK]

Hi,

Illegal is a strong word, what I mean is... Does modding your 360 (specifically updating your DVD drive firmware) break any agreements or laws?

No one seems to have mentioned the subject on these forums which is rather odd.

 

[AdladUK]

Im pretty sure its against Microsoft's Terms of Use.

Right. I know if you remove certain parts of your 360 you invalidate your warranty, but does that mean the process itself is against the law? I'm pretty certain it's not (although who knows these days). The reason I'm asking is because firstly no one on here is talking about how to do it and secondly there are only a couple of sites showing you how it's done.

 

[AdladUK]

In itself its not illegal but the slightly grey legal area and the pirate games its usually used to play are which is why its not allowed to be talked about on here

The games side are a completely different process though... Aren't they?

I mean... Learning how to firmware your 360 drive and being able to download valid 7GB game files (and knowing what to do with them once you have them) are a world apart, surely?

 

[AdladUK]

Theres only one or 2 other reasons I can think of wanting to change the firmware of a drive, the major reason for most people pure and simply is so they dont have to buy games and if you can flash a drive you can download and burn a pirate iso

You can't pre-empt an illegal act by stopping someone doing something completely legal.

And that is my question. Is modding your 360 drive firmware illegal? It would seem not. So why ban talk on it?

I know downloading copyrighted material and burning it is, but I'm not asking that.

 

[AdladUK]

I have to ask, what does modding the firmware achieve other than allowing you to play pirated games? I can't think of anything.

Playing backed up games you already own.

For example, say you have invested £500 in all the latest titles... You have a 2 year old that likes to bite and wreck anything he can get his hands on (including your precious 360 titles)... So you back up your games (to protect them) and want to play them on your console.

That's 1 example I can think of.

 

[AdladUK]

ultimately its a privately funded forum, and as such doesnt have to be a democracy. they say not to talk about, you dont.

a valid reason used to be to quiten the dvd drive.

Well sure I understand that. My question wasn't just OcUK specific though. It seems hardly any where talks about it. I was wondering if MSFT pressure had something to do with that

 

[AdladUK]

99% of people will use it to pirate illegally obtained copy write material, that results in it becoming a taboo subject.

And you know this precise % fact how exactly?

 

[AdladUK]

Let's not quibble over paltry figures. Any logical mind would be able to realize that the vast majority of people flashing their 360s drive firmware will be doing it to download, burn and play illegally obtained games.

You're making a pre-determined assumption that people will break the law, based on a % "fact" you have made up in your head.

I disagree with you. I know plenty of people that don't want to get their prized 360 collection of discs damaged by frequent usage.

But yeah... No point in quibbling.

 

[AdladUK]

It is possible (although I am not certain) that a copyright/IP law of some sort exists in EU/USA that prevents people from making modifications to patented software (which firmware falls under). Plus you sign some sort of EULA when you join upto xbox live (I know u could change firmware and never use Live, but in practice people are not doing this!!).

rp2000

Thanks for the comprehensive response. That answered my question nicely

 

[AdladUK]

agree with you there rp2000

in the apple section of the forum they have various guides on how to hack the firmware so you can run pirated software and rob o2 from contracts

yet in here anything mentioning psp firmware that does the same thing dissapears within hours :/

It seems British people LIKE to be controlled