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[Panajev2001a]

I thought to put my hands forward with the thread's title.

First of all, I do not want to play back-ups, I am not looking to see which solution is best not to ruin the laser playing a DVD-R/RW or something connected with any pirating stuff.

So, if you want to talk about pirating please do not do it here in this thread.

My problem is that I recently moved and all my U.S. games (which I have to get back next time I travel to the U.S.) for PlayStation 2 (about 20 games or so) and PSOne (more than 10 games) will not work on PAL Hardware and not too long ago (last week) I bought a PAL PSTwo.

Now, to say that the PSOne market is depressed in Italy is a big understatement and thus many of those PSOne games I have are practically unpurchaseable in stores and thanks to the great postal system here, ebay and online shopping are only worth it if you get stuff shipped the expensive way.

Even several PlayStation 2 games I have cannot be found well in the stores in my area, especially used or at discount price: buying all my titles once again in PAL version would mean an average of 45 Euros (many games would be above 55 Euros although there would be enough around 29 Euros to skew the average down) per title. This would be extremely expensive.

So, what are my alternatives ?

Well, the first one would be the "modchip + laser-fix" meal .

In regard to mod-chips there was a while ago an ordinance that basically allowed the use of mod-chips to play original imported games as that functionality should not be locked in the first place.

http://www.tvservice.it/articoli/ordinanza.htm

Issued decree the 31.12.03 from the Court of the re-examination of Bolzano
on the legittimità of the chip of modification



COURT OF BOLZANO
Section for the re-examination

The Court of Bolzano, re-united in Council Chamber,
composed from the Magistrates:

Dr. Edoardo Moors: President
Dr. Claudius Gottardi: Judge
Dr. Tullio Joppi: Judge

he has pronounced the following DECREE





The Edoardo judge Moors president of the court of the re-examination that has cancelled the seizure of the chip electronic uses you in order to eliminate the limitations taxes to the playstation

Seen the resource proposed from ** Salvatore inquired for the crime of which to the art. 171ter, of law 22 you open them 1941, n. 633, find how much follow.

In the course of a surveying carried out from the Financial police on the presupposed one that the commercialization constituted modified crime of playstations, the P.M. of Bolzano emanated a decree of search and seizure to cargo of companies that turned out to have acquired consoles modified from other company, already inquired from the Power of attorney of the Republic of Bassano of the Grappa. The action carried to the seizure in date 12-12-2003 of one playstation and some chip to use for the modifications, near the company of ** Salvatore of Rimini.

** Salvatore has proposed rituale resource to the Court of the re-examination against the seizure.
Read to the actions this College it observes how much follows.

The case in examination subtends the problem of bottom of the modificabilità of the circuits of the play­ stations and has been raised to international level from the Sony, important but not exclusive manufacturer of these "computers dedicates you" for the CD reading or analogous containing supports you play produced and distributed from the same producers of playstation or from companies with they the licence.

For these producers the profitable transaction is to sell the games, of the cost of approximately 30, and not sure the single station of the cost of approximately 200, often indeed sold below cost just for invogliare the purchase of the games.

For this reason the producers have inserted in the playstation of the limitations for which they they are in a position to only reading the supports develops to you from same they. Moreover, for pure strategy of market, the world has been divided in three zones (America, Asia, Europe and Australia), and the playstations distributed in America (and to connect to the televisori with system NTSC) does not accept supports produced for the European market while the playstations distributed in Europe for televisori PAL or SECAM do not accept supports previewed for the market American.

The supports moreover are record to you in such way that a copy of they does not come accepted from playstation in how much it recognizes only discs originates them (that in contrast with those Italian dispositions of law that they concur to every purchaser of software to execute a copy of emergency for the case of damaging of originates them).

Of forehead to such skillful limitations of the machine, the technicians have created the simplest one chip, of the cost of little euro, which he restores all the functions of the machine which therefore becomes suitable to read supports originates them coming from from other markets, to read copies of these supports, to read games created from independent producers or the same owner of the machine, to work, with some ulterior accessories, like a true computer and just.

It is not the case to face here the technical problems of like are constructed one consul and a chip; pack-saddles to say that the "mod Chips" or "converter Chips" are represent to you from a chip that it becomes part in the consul and supplies them the instruction that the territorial code and the code of the CD originates them must be accepted from the sub-bus controller.

And that the consul is a true computer and just and of a simple consul from game is not, irony of the case, supported to sword draft from the same Sony which, of forehead to the European community that it wanted to impose the previewed customs taxes for consoles (the computers is instead free from customs) is rerun to the European court supporting that draft instead of computer; and the European Court of Justice, during appeal, has established that effectively of computer draft (decision of september 2003).

In short it is found to us therefore of forehead to producers that put in sale of blot some limited so that they can be only used for the uses to appreciate they.

To international level the problem has been faced with several turns out to you, employee obviously from the single interested legislations.

In Australia, after one first favorable decision, foretold and supported directly from the authority for the free competition that accused the Sony to embezzle to the Australians the advantages of the globalization (Kabushiki Kaisha Sony Computer Entertainment & Ors v. Eddy Stevens, N929 of 2002), the 23-7-2003 Supreme Court has established that violation of the copyright is one; analogous decision has been pronunziata in England (but they have been applied norms more restrictive than those Europeans). In Germany for hour the chip of modification they are considers lawyers you and in the same sense it is (insufficient) the Italian jurisprudence of merit (Trib. Vicenza 27/6/03 nr. 53/03).

It goes also said that the problem is in old part for the fact that the Sony is in order launch a new system PSPTM, with new optical discs that will render exceeded the modification with the chip.

Analogous to that one in examination it is the problem, to which it is only pointed out for thoroughness, that it rises from the fact that the playstations, with modest modifications and some accessory, can be transformed in a computer. The X-box of the Microsoft, the cost of approximately 200 and, has all the potentiality of a computer Pentium 3 and skillfully is limited consul. Endured the Xbox-Mod-Chip has appeared on the market that concurs to use in it many programs under Linux (the free operating system). Nevertheless this machine with wide possibilities skillfully is limited, cannot use games bought in America and, although it can read without problems DVD, it is necessary to pay others 30 euro in order to approach such option. But if the machine, with little modifications, turns also with Linux, because the purchaser would not never have to be able to use it for all the possible uses?
It would be a po' like if Fiat he sold an car with the prohibition of use for extracommunitarian and for extracity roads.

In our legislation the only norm that regulated the matter is the art. 171ter, of law 22 you open them 1941, n. 633, than, in performance of a communitarian directive, therefore recite exactly f-bis: (factory is punished anyone), imports, distributes, sells, rents, yields to whichever title it, pubblicizza for the sale or the chartering, or stops for scopes trades them, equipments, products or members that is lend services that have the prevailing purpose or the use trades them to elude effective technological measures of which to the article 102quater that is is mainly plans to you, products, it adapts to you or it realizes to you with the purpose to render possible or to facilitate the elusione of foretold measures.

Art the 102 quater, from part its, establishes that:

1. The holders of right let alone connected right and copyrights of which to the art. 102-bis codicil 3 can affix on the works or on the protected materials effective technological measures of protection that comprise all the technologies, the devices you or the members who, in the run normal school of their operation, are assign to prevent to you or to limit actions does not authorize to you from the holders of the rights.

2. The technological measures of protection are considered effective in the case in which the use of the work or the protected material it is controlled from the holders through the application of a device of access or a procedure of protection, which the coding, the distortion or whichever other transformation of the work or the protect material, that is are limited by means of a mechanism of control of the copies that realizes the protection objective.

Two points turn out therefore clear.

1) that the protection assured from the law is alone in the comparisons of the copyright and, in via only mediated, on the supports of the work (art. 102 q.).

2) that is only prohibited the equipments or members that are assign in prevailing and main way to the elusione of the measures of which to point 1 (art. 171 ter lett. f bis).
But a third party point, not regulated from the law on the copyright, is equally important: in which measure the vendor of a machine can prohibit of modifications in order to concur some I use for various scopes from those appreciate the vendor.

We see hour if the chip in commerce they can be considers you as it assigns to you in prevailing way and main alla elusione delle measures of contained protection del copyright nei supports goddesses you play.

On the point it can be asserted with tranquillity that the primary function and prevailing of the chip it is not at all that one to concur the use of copies pirata, but but to exceed obstacle monopolistic and better to use the playstation, in how much chip the servants:

- to read to discs of import (and that it will be able not to make it appeal to to the European distributors, but viola some copyright; indeed it is the differentiation adopted from the distributors who could violare norms on the competition); it is considered that all the present games on the market American are not rinvenibili with codify it European and that therefore is interest to procurarseli directly and that their cost is inferior also of 20% to that European;

- to read discs produced from various societies from that it has produced playstation (and the these the software or the licence could perhaps and sometimes violare of the licences on they granted, but it is problem that cannot interest the purchaser of the product on the market);

- to read the copy of emergency of the software that the Italian law concurs of procurarsi;

- to read supports of various content from that one originally previewed, but sure lawyers;

- to concur to take advantage of all the abilities to the playstation like computer.

We see finally if the producer of the machine can prohibit of a various use from that from intentional he.
Based on our civilistiche norms, the answer is senz' other negative: who is owner of a good can enjoy of in the wider and exclusive way.

Conscious of that the producers have tried to avoid obstacle inserting in the confection of the object a sheet in which it asserts that if is removed sure it seals gets lost the right to the guarantee (and null it can prohibit to the owner of the object of rinunziare to the guarantee!) and that it is prohibited to decode or to disassemblare the software of the consul in how much only granted place setting from copyright or in use licence.

Well, it is clearly that for our right these conditions are of all the lacking ones in value; who goes in a store and acquires one scato it with within a program or a consul acquires unconditioned and without limitations because in that moment it does not know how much is written (even in English) within the box it. He just says the Civil code that the conditions generates them of the contract is opponibili to the contracting other if it knew them at the moment of the stipulazione in the contract; how can know them the purchaser if the vendor gliele ago not to read and to underwrite before delivering the object and to embed the corrispettivo?

Therefore all the tried ones you to bind the purchaser with successive communications to the purchase they are simply ridicules; the phrases "who opens this envelope chip ax the conditions" "who wants to use the program here clicchi and chip axes the conditions" are nonexistent for the customer of the program. He of the rest very of I shave knows them because of usual the program comes installed from more expert technicians of the normal final customer and therefore the opening of the envelope, the violation of seals, the OK to the conditions appeared on the screen, are riferibili to various subjects from the purchaser and the final customer.

It is concluded therefore that the arranged seizure is illegittimo because the invocata law is not applicable to the fattispecie.

PQM

In acceptation of the proposed resource R-come.sopra, it declares the illegittimità of the seizure of date 12-12-03 to cargo of ** Salvatore and orders the restitution of how much in seizure.

Bolzano 31 Decembers 2003

The east President.
Edoardo Moors

Illegalita' == Abusiveness (something not being legal)


What is avaliable to me ?

The only shop that installs mod-chips in my area offers this solution:

TitanSX2 Programmed con Codice IceRev FINAL + Laser Fix

They ask about 98 Euros for the job and they give 3 months of warranty on the installation and on the modchip and although they install this laser-fix (it is useful because in all the PSTwo's the laser's coils can get burned out by the excessive current that arrives there and is exacerbated when there are Disc Read Errors/Problems if the model is affected by this weakness).

The mod-chip might not be as popular as the Matrix chips, but in my research (which is probably not as good as the one many people can do here) it resulted to be a reliable solution that does the advertised job.

New PSTwo's still cost 149 Euros until Sony decides to cut the price (20% VAT is included so the final price is not that distant from the price people in the States have to pay: of course I cannot offload the IVA for the PSTwo at the end of the year, but... hey, it is tax-o-land).

The warranty on new PSTwo's is 1 year now, so although the modchip would be quickly installed (1-2 days) and would allow easy use of my imported games, well... it voids the warranty and I would like to avoid this.


The other two solutions (flip-top is not one of them as if I void the warranty I might as well put the mod-chip and the laser-fix) are centered around the use of two software packages: Breaker Pro (which allows to play imported PSOne games on PlayStation 2 and PSOne systems) and Swap Magic 3.6 (which allows me to play imported PlayStation 2 games on a PlayStation 2 system).

These pieces of software cannot be used as they are: to be able to swap the games you need to be able to trick the PSTwo's lid sensors (two sensors and the disc brake mechanism).

Here arrive the two solutions that I was mentioning.

The first one is a set of pieces that often arrives with the Swap Magic package: a set of three pieces (A, B, C) that are put on the PSTwo to block the sensors.

What is the problem with this set-up ? Well, it would seem to be the one that you cannot close the lid of the PSTwo as the piece "C" (the long one put on the sensor right under the hinge on the top left of the lid) would stick out quite a bit and would not allow you to close the lid. The positive thing is that you are not modding the console and you are not breaking your warranty.

There is another solution as I said and it revolves around using a similar set of tools to block the sensors and this set is called PSTwo-Fix.

As you see this device allows you to close the console lid (or so they seem to show... well they state you can do it too) while you play.

Does it work ?

Does it leave marks and stuff that cause Sony reps to spit on my console and my warranty if I happen by any chance to send it to them for repairs (sigh, what a horrible thought to have a sick PSTwo ) ?

What would you advise me to do ?

 

[Panajev2001a]

Cougha-bump.

 

[dock]

Wow, those PStwo fix things look interesting, I wasn't aware of firms manufacturing plastic pieces to allow for easier modding. I'd like to know if anyone has any experience of these too.

 

[Troidal]

Well you can open the PSTwo up without breaking the seal at the back, just make sure when you open it up, you "fold" the upper and lower parts like you were opening a book. The seal would still be intact and you can proceed on taping the two sensors. Worked perfectly for me, still looks like I didn't open it.

 

[Panajev2001a]

Well you can open the PSTwo up without breaking the seal at the back, just make sure when you open it up, you "fold" the upper and lower parts like you were opening a book. The seal would still be intact and you can proceed on taping the two sensors. Worked perfectly for me, still looks like I didn't open it.

Are you sure that the sticker, when it gets bent will not be stretched or look weird (I heard the "VOID" text can get a little faded when doing that) and won't you risk leaving tape or other traces of the "modding" on the sensors even when you take them off ?

 

[Shompola]

not to sound like an evil troll or anything but why didnt yiou bring your us ps2 with you?

 

[Troidal]

Are you sure that the sticker, when it gets bent will not be stretched or look weird (I heard the "VOID" text can get a little faded when doing that) and won't you risk leaving tape or other traces of the "modding" on the sensors even when you take them off ?

The seal now has a line in the middle but it could look like as if I just pressed the sticker (along the dents) to create that line. I used duct tapes on the switch but one of those tapes where the adhesive wont really stick. Should be ok if I ever decide to yank it out.

A suspicious game store clerk might know what I've done, but if I probably go to some non-gaming place (ie. video rental store, pawnshop), they'll prolly just take it without any hassle ;-)

 

[MrDaravon]

I'm curious about this as well. I have both an old and new PS2, and I was thinking about getting the Swap Magic discs, does anyone here have either version, and how has it worked out for you?

 

[Panajev2001a]

not to sound like an evil troll or anything but why didnt yiou bring your us ps2 with you?

Because my ex-gf and I agreed she would keep that one (long story: I had my first PlayStation 2 when I purchased it in between December 2000 and January 2001: I still remember it... Circuit City... lots of snow on the ground... in the hunt for a PlayStation 2... I go in the store and see a clerk going back and forth the store's back and I ask him if he got any shipment and he says that he just got one and he still had 4-5 left That one died a few years later... my gf decides to buy another one for us and when that one died not many months ago I got us one of the last SCPH-50000 PlayStation 2 sold at the local Best Buy as PSTwo was coming really shortly... that PlayStation 2 is not the only thing I am leaving there with her... amongst the other things is the cute Samsung 2797HF HDTV flat-screen TV set as there is no way I can use it here and we can avoid to argue about it and how she would be for a while without TV).

Technically I have another PlayStation 2, the PAL SCPH-39000 that we got my brother when we were on vacation here: so, I have basically purchased 4 PlayStation 2's (5 if you count the one I split with my gf for her father's birthday).

Do I need to give you more details ?

 

[shuri]

Don't waste time with shitty swap solutions. Get a real modchip and be done with it

 

[Panajev2001a]

I am ordering:

PSTWO SLIM TOOL 6,00

PS2 SWAP MAGIC V3.6 PLUS 26,00

PS/PS2 BREAKER PRO 18,00

Spedizione: 12,00


TOTALE: 62,00

Price is in Euros and includes 20% VAT as well as shipping.

Thanks go to mr. Dave Long for the tip.


Edit: Naked Shuriken: this is a brand new PSTwo, not even taken out of its box so I am not voiding my 1 year warranty just yet .