The court went further than just declaring modchips legal, it also said that Sony's restrictions are "absurd" and said "It's a little like Fiat marketing its cars while banning them from being driven by non-European citizens or outside towns".
The court also stated that as the product, Playstation game console, has been purchased by a consumer, Sony doesn't have any legal ways to state what consumers can or can not do with the device as the consumer owns the device, not Sony.
The decision might prove to be difficult for other console manufacturers as well -- the prime example is Microsoft who doesn't allow users with "modded" Xbox consoles to access its Xbox Live online gaming platform.
Source: Silicon.com
Written by: Petteri Pyyny @ 23 Jan 2004 14:27