Nintendo has decided to make its policy on the practice of modding your Wii clear: don’t do it. The official site of Nintendo UK warned would-be modders that fooling with your Wii not only voids the warranty, but may lead to some unattractive consequences by the law as well.
In the official statement, Nintendo said, "The use of mod chips voids the manufacturer’s warranty. In addition, the installation of a mod chip can damage the functionality of a Nintendo console, sometimes rendering it incapable of repair.
"Mod chips have been adjudicated to be illegal in various countries around the world, including the Unites States, the United Kingdom and Hong Kong. Most European countries have also already adopted laws prohibiting the circumvention of technological measures for copyright protection. People caught installing or selling mod chips may be subject to criminal charges."
The American Bar Association, however, believes that making backup copies of your software is, for the most part, safe to do. Digitalconsumer.org states, "Your right to lend a physical book is protected by the ‘first sale doctrine., This law states that purchasers of copyrighted works such as music or books have the right to dispose of the works in any way that they wish: they can sell them, loan them, rent them, or give them away. But new copyright laws criminalize all of those activities for digital content such as electronic books."
But the ESA and other software organizations point to the reproduction of game software and other protected media as a violation of the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) which makes any device or service which defeats copyright measures illegal.
To date, Australia is the only nation that allows the modding of game consoles legally.
[via Next Gen]
