Aussie PS3 mod chip ban upheld

Following last week's Federal Court of Australia decision to temporarily ban a handful of local retailers from selling or importing mod chips that allow unauthorised software to run on Sony's PlayStation 3, the judge in the case has ruled in favour of Sony and placed an indefinite ban on the retailers in question.

Sony Computer Entertainment's Australian and European arms initiated court action last week against three local retailers and an individual for selling and distributing PS3 mod chips. Following the temporary ban, the Federal Court of Australia judge Justice Dodds-Streeton ruled on Friday that OzModChips, Global Solutions International (trading as Quantronics), Ken Tolcher (trading as Mod Supplier) and Ryan Caruana can no longer import, distribute, offer to the public, provide to other parties, or deal with PS3 mod chips until further notice.

According to court documents filed on September 3, the retailers have also been ordered to hand over any existing mod chips to Sony, as well as redirect any preorders to Sony's legal representatives.

Last week, OzModChips responded to the lawsuit in a message posted on its site, saying: "This will affect everyone that plans to buy such a device worldwide. It already sets a dangerous precedent. Everyone that was using OtherOS, everyone that has had a faulty PS3 laser…and those interested in PS3 custom firmware and homebrew applications. We cannot do it alone; we need the support of everyone in the homebrew community, the media, engineers that understand the inner workings and anyone else that can provide support."

Quantronics also responded, saying that the injunction was "baseless" and that the retailers' ideal was to change Australia's views on copyright law, fair use, and freedom.

According to amendments made to the Australian Copyright Act in 2007, any device, including mod chips and Nintendo DS flash cards, that bypass the protection measures put in place within a console are illegal.

For more, check out GameSpot AU's feature on video game piracy, Copy Cats.