Wednesday, a UK judge threw out 26 charges against the self-styled "No. 1 name in console modifications," leaving MrModChips, as Neil Higgs is known, to freely do his business (from his parents' home.) More broadly, some are hailing the decision as effectively legalizing legalising console modifications in Great Britain, six years after a similar decision in Australia.
Higgs got into trouble because he sold modchips that allowed copied and overseas games to be played on Nintendo and Microsoft consoles. In October, Higgs was convicted of 26 antipiracy counts and faced a £1M fine and two years in jail. But a judge ruled in favor of his appeal, which is that any copyright infringement involved here had taken place before the use of the modchips Higgs had sold, and thus the chips themselves do not circumvent copyright protection. Thus, there was no basis for charging Higgs, and he's free, and his legal bills will be reimbursed.
His website is back up, replete with a posthumous Churchillian endorsement of his fight, though it doesn't look like he's taking orders just yet.
Gamespot points out Australia's de facto legalization of mod chips in 2002, when a judge found that mod chips prevented legal activities such as playing backed-up or imported games. That ruling also found that mod chips did not violate laws against circumventing copyright protections.
MrModchips wins appeal in £1million UK modchip case !!![Team-Xecuter, via Gamespot]