Mod chips ruled legal in Australia
After a protracted case involving a couple of appeals, the High Court of Australia today ruled that 'mod-chips' are not breaches of copyright. Sony had been trying to push the line that they were a technology used to breach copyright.
Initially the defendant, Eddy Stevens, won the case in the Federal Court. Sony appealed and had the decision overturned. Stevens then appealed to the High Court and won.
All six judges of the High Court held that 'mod-chips' were legal.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission argued that Sony was using the copy control mechanism to erect artificial trade barriers between Australian and overseas games and DVD markets.
Region coding is a technology for segregating markets, not protecting copyright. Anything I can buy here I can get cheaper overseas. So if I pay for a genuine copy of a DVD in the USA why can't I watch it? Why do I have to pay a higher price?
In the end, as always, it is about money. Sony doesn't give a stuff about consumers. They just want to milk us for every dollar possible.