Man Who Sold Modded Wiis Was In It for the Money
Posted by James Newton
Not a story from The Onion, we promise
It may not be a huge deal but Japanese police have arrested a 52-year old man for selling modified Wii consoles and copied games after he made over £20,000 (about $28,000) selling the units over a two-year period.
Selling the consoles for around ¥32,000 – ¥12,000 more than a standard Wii – the man reportedly made over ¥3,000,000 through the sale of consoles and DVD-R copies of games. Police seized a further six modified machines, 300 DVD-Rs and the PC used to do the copying.
Just another day in the war against piracy, right? Wait until the best part: the man, who was self-employed, told police he was selling the products because he was "hoping to make some extra money." Stay tuned to see if that watertight defence gets him off the hook.
[via andriasang.com]
#1
kevohki said:
Shocking. I thought he did it for the joy of piracy. The criminal mind is complicated.
#2
motang said:
Dang looks like he had a good business going.
#3
paulcmnt said:
I wonder: were the consoles soft-modded, or hard-modded? Also, I guess the thing that got him arrested was the copied games, not the modified consoles.
#4
EdEN said:
Ah, what greed and stupidity do for people these days...
#5
Will_Ireland said:
Do we know what way they were modded?
#6
Don said:
If he wanted to sell modified Wiis, just fly a few hundred miles west to China, where piracy is pretty much a standard practice and his business would grow ten fold.
#7
Egg_miester said:
scum like that should be beheaded on live t.v
#8
Koto said:
Huh, another pirate. No way would Nintendo let that guy get off the hook with all he did.
#9
Percentful said:
A person was selling fake things because he wanted money of all things? Zomg!
#10
Aviator said:
A case to call good old Phoenix Wright?
#11
Ski_Deuce said:
Selling modified consoles I can understand, but games are something people can do on their own. I bought a pre-modded Saturn. Well worth it and not worth going to jail for. I bought it just a couple of years ago, so I highly doubt it's harming anyone. Modding opens up the world of imports and allows you to not have to buy copies of games over again. This guy definitely overstepped the boundary though.
#12
LzQuacker said:
Copying games? For shame!
#13
HipsterDashie said:
@Egg
I like your thinking.
#14
jbrodack said:
At least he was honest about it. Though this is the one kind of case where pirates really deserve to be punished. Just copying games for yourself or friends is one thing but trying to make money of of others work is pretty low.
#15
Nintendoftw said:
I say they might let him off the hook if he gives all his earning to them.
#16
HanuKwanzMasBif said:
gasp For MONEY!? Oh dear, this is horrible!
#17
Collinhall said:
He was in for DA MONEYZ!
#18
Hyperstar96 said:
reads title of article
reads whole article
D:
#19
Rally said:
2 words....... you're screwed.
"Oh, I did it for the money!"
Policeman randomly says, "That's what she said"
#20
jhuhn said:
If he did it for money, he'll get life for his copyright infringment.
#21
Token_Girl said:
Well, looks like Ninty's going to be getting all that money now...and then some.
#22
Millie said:
wow, what a loser! i hope they lock him up for a loooooooooooooooong time >:[
#23
Sprace_Bot said:
What an idiot. I mean, sure, the money is good, but any one stupid enough to think they wont get caught is obviously not the brightest bulb on the tree.
#24
TLink9 said:
Wow he thought no one would catch him, it is a shame:(