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Console modder faces up to 10 years in prison

  • By philonious_matt, GameSpot
  • Posted Aug 5, 2009 4:40 pm PT

When Matthew Crippen wasn't studying at Cal State Fullerton, he was allegedly modding and selling game consoles that played pirated software. Now, his purported illicit business venture could land him up to 10 years in prison. According to NBC Los Angeles, the 27-year-old college student was taken...

When Matthew Crippen wasn't studying at Cal State Fullerton, he was allegedly modding and selling game consoles that played pirated software. Now, his purported illicit business venture could land him up to 10 years in prison. According to NBC Los Angeles, the 27-year-old college student was taken into custody on Monday for suspected criminal extracurricular activities.

Crippen's arrest comes after a grand jury indicted him on two counts of violating the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, which forbids tampering with a device in order to circumvent copyright countermeasures. Immediately following his indictment, he pleaded not guilty and posted $5,000 bail, according to the Los Angeles Times.

In May 2009, agents from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement seized more than 10 Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo consoles from Crippen's home. The ICE officials were granted a search warrant to investigate his house, following a tip it received from the Entertainment Software Association.

A 2008 ICE report states that piracy and counterfeiting "cost the US economy in excess of $200 billion per year and more than 750,000 American jobs." According to the ESA, one criminal, Van Truong of San Jose, was sentenced to 10 months in prison and $5,000 in restitution earlier this year, after police seized about 4,000 pirated movie DVDs and over 300 pirated audio CDs in his residence.

Another notable bust occurred when a San Diego man was arrested in 2007 after a raid of his home yielded over 1,000 counterfeit discs and numerous modchips. He was charged with 10 felony-level counts, including grand theft, computer crime, and trafficking counterfeit marks.

556 Comments

  • Erics84

    Posted Feb 18, 2010 8:16 pm GMT

    Taegre: Ah, the old "This guy need to get a life". You know what? It's often the people criticizing others for *gasp* having a hobby, who don't have a life themselves.
    Why on Earth do you care if he owns ten consoles? That didn't prevent him from being a college student and having a job.

  • DSO_Traumahawk

    Posted Nov 12, 2009 8:19 pm GMT

    He wasnt just modifying the consoles, he was downloading copyrighted materials onto the consoles. In other words he was stealing. Last time i checked stealing was, and is illegal.

  • Kajiuro

    Posted Aug 27, 2009 8:54 am GMT

    @big-boss-91
    Dude, this guy was MODIFYING VIDEO GAME CONSOLES, not selling drugs or shooting people in the face. If modding a GAMING CONSOLE should result in jail-time with violent criminals, you need to re-check your morals.

  • Ryusennin

    Posted Aug 20, 2009 7:45 am GMT

    "agents seized more than 10 Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo consoles"

    More than 10!? Oh my God, this is a MASSIVE traffic!

  • thisranks

    Posted Aug 14, 2009 8:15 am GMT

    @delta3074-If people don't start putting a foot down on this issue, it's only going to continue to get worse. Messages need to be sent hard and heavy to piraters. You really think this is only about bonuses? We are talking BILLIONS of dollars yearly. They need to be put down hard period. Crime is crime.

  • Arturo84

    Posted Aug 11, 2009 2:47 pm GMT

    the problem is he was making a business out of it, and second if his modding allowed for easier hacking and cheating in online games well am glad he got caught since he was helping destroy the game experiences of many decent players by giving douchebags a unfair advantage

  • yman173

    Posted Aug 11, 2009 2:33 pm GMT

    What a crock! These people arent shooting guns in the middle of the night in drive-bys or selling kilos on the street. Hurting the economy? Please...the economy went in the tank because of the housing market and the oil companies (among other things).

    People like this arent hurting anyone, and its times like these Im ashamed to call myself an American. Let them mod...I hardly think its hurting EA, Sony, or Microsoft in a way thats limiting their company growth. Maybe just their CEO's pocketbooks!!

  • eddievh_5150

    Posted Aug 11, 2009 12:35 pm GMT

    I'm gonna go download all the software and music I can before the days out just to spite these wangs.

  • big-boss-91

    Posted Aug 11, 2009 7:20 am GMT

    If he was british, our police system would just fine him £50 and let him go. The USA system is much much better at punishing criminals like this guy. he deserves 10 years.

  • blkstr89

    Posted Aug 11, 2009 1:37 am GMT

    10 years! wat he do, kill everybody who works at the console making factories of microsoft, sony and nintendo. damn 10 years is along time. looks like those companies have done something to make his sentence longer. well i aint living in the states but at times i find sentences they give to some people toooo weird. its like zakkess said, criminals get silly sentences n a guy who mods consoles gets 10 years. hey who knows maybe when he went to work for those companies they shunned his skills and so he is doing this.

    to the companies out there "use his skills u crack-heads!" this is how crminals are curbed not by passing silly sentences

  • Vambran

    Posted Aug 10, 2009 8:39 pm GMT

    People should not pirate stuff. He got what was coming too him.

  • FlawlessViktory

    Posted Aug 10, 2009 6:28 pm GMT

    I think this can be directly linked to the state of the economy, money is tight and people these days are struggling to pay their bills let alone drop 60 plus for new titles for their consoles. Ive heard of some unscrupulous people in my community that make pirated copies of games and I almost understand why people buy them.

  • Ghetto_ninja

    Posted Aug 10, 2009 5:37 pm GMT

    Fact: Money is the most important item in existence. If you attempt to make money by selling copyrighted media for a price not dictated by conglomerate corporation expect to be arrested. However, feel free to film an Or-G starring anyone over 18 in your living room. Corporate executives love watching a good Or-G when they aren't having a Boo-cok-ee party to celebrate their latest business venture.

  • zakkess

    Posted Aug 10, 2009 5:35 pm GMT

    this is stupid considering people who murder and get caught using drugs and drunk drivers and almost every crime ppl commit is lower than 10 years..our system needs to change so much!!!

  • autoballer

    Posted Aug 10, 2009 3:31 pm GMT

    10 years for modding consoles = death penalty for speeding

  • aura_enchanted

    Posted Aug 10, 2009 1:04 pm GMT

    The Companies Copyright laws are more important then your Human Right Laws.
    this was made of win

  • Donnyp

    Posted Aug 10, 2009 11:40 am GMT

    i agree with chintikki. I think its stupid to give him time in jail period. Guess what. I mod Consoles and hack them. BUT when i do its not so people can play pirated games. Its so they can back they're games up and play homebrew. IF they do anything worse then that its their choice. At least thats what the visual statement i have them state says. Also remember. The Companies Copyright laws are more important then your Human Right Laws.

  • sophospeare

    Posted Aug 10, 2009 9:24 am GMT

    No, 10 years for selling modded consoles. If he was modding these for his buddies, they probably wouldn't have gone after him. But when you make a business out of something illegal, people tend to take notice.

  • shamarke

    Posted Aug 10, 2009 3:41 am GMT

    10 years for modding!?

  • boom_f15

    Posted Aug 9, 2009 8:26 pm GMT

    @ChinTikki

    I agree with you. The key is that he "could" face "upto 10 years." I doubt he will ever see time in jail and if he does it will be short.

  • ChinTikki

    Posted Aug 9, 2009 6:23 pm GMT

    @boom_f15

    ya your right what he did was a crime, but what you need to look at is does the punishment fit the crime. you cant tell me that this guy deserves to be in a federal prison for 10 years. people have gotten away with much worse and have served no time what so ever. i think he should just be fined an amount that they fell that each company is out and thats it.

  • RaymoII

    Posted Aug 9, 2009 10:18 am GMT

    Amen to that boom_f15. I cant believe all the justification i am reading here. Its ok to download software for personal use, its ok to burn a cd if its for a friend etc. Where does it end? who decides when the line is crossed? its ok to buy a burned copy but not to "steal" a copy from best buy, Why not? Either way the game was not purchased and the people who made it dont get payed. You know what I do when a game is to expensive? I wait until its cheaper or I save my money until I can afford it. I guess i dont understand all the "rules" about whats stealing and whats not?

  • boom_f15

    Posted Aug 9, 2009 6:25 am GMT

    I think that pirating is blown out of proportion and used as a scapegoat for crappy sales by the industry, but that doesnt mean that piracy is not a crime. All of you guys trying to justify it one way or another need to wake up and either pay for your games or at least stop complaining when someone gets in trouble for breaking the law.

  • autoballer

    Posted Aug 9, 2009 1:30 am GMT

    ESA employees have jobs because of piracy!!! all i can think of is the begining of the movie "the meaning of life" where they start shooting filing cabnets at eachother's skyscraper.

  • autoballer

    Posted Aug 9, 2009 1:22 am GMT

    "thal shal not steal unless their is a direct victim"
    -scroobious pip

  • autoballer

    Posted Aug 9, 2009 1:21 am GMT

    it sounds as if he did nothing wrong, unless he pre-installed games their isnt anything really wrong with modding something. its really up to the end user to make the choice to steal. maybe nobody should be allowed to use a laptop or pc because they are capable of all sorts of piracy, crime and damage to others. thats where this is headed.

  • SWIN95

    Posted Aug 8, 2009 5:12 pm GMT

    I can't believe that if someone downloading for personal use; no one cares. But as soon as someone is making a profit from pirating it becomes a crime. Companys' and buisness's still lose money when software they've developed is downloaded for free from third party sites and programs. Weather someone sells it after download should'nt matter because the companys' still lose the same amount of money none the less.

  • TOMBRAIDERHADI

    Posted Aug 8, 2009 12:54 pm GMT

    10 Years!!!He is Human!!!they forgot This!!!!!!

  • division_9

    Posted Aug 8, 2009 12:42 pm GMT

    Al Capone was behind bars for 15 years, and as far as I'm concerned this pirate didn't do 2/3rd the damage Al Capone did. After all Al Capone did go around murdering people remember?.

  • -HaloHitman-

    Posted Aug 8, 2009 8:07 am GMT

    Fail!

  • Snipes_2

    Posted Aug 8, 2009 7:15 am GMT

    Finally! Hopefully this will help with the Pirating and what not going on in the game industry. (YOu know who you are, Lagg Switchers )

  • holypro

    Posted Aug 8, 2009 7:07 am GMT

    lol thats what i call epic fail

  • ClaTheNinja

    Posted Aug 8, 2009 6:41 am GMT

    He should only go to jail if he walked into a store and stole the actual physical copies of the games or systems. For modding systems and copying games, the most that should be done is make him pay back the companies that lost money in the process. It's ridiculous to say that ripping companies off is worse of a crime than raping and/or killing.

    Jail for crimes. Lawsuits for financial damage. It should be that simple.

    Does no one find it odd that the ESA was the one that gave the police the tip about this activity? I thought they were supposed to protect the gaming community from getting bullied by authorities?

  • anubite_gozen

    Posted Aug 8, 2009 2:04 am GMT

    software piracy is a crime but not being funny the authorities aint gonna give a dman if you just download a game or 2 yourself for personal use but if you start selling the stuff and making money for it that called organised crime theres more intent in it.

  • Nogard229

    Posted Aug 7, 2009 10:28 pm GMT

    Do people actually read the bias comments below me? Because I could care less what all of you think.

    -Bye bye

  • DiabloMayCry619

    Posted Aug 7, 2009 10:06 pm GMT

    wait........ he gets 10 years in jail but someone like mike vick (killed dogs) gets less..... B.S

  • ottumatic

    Posted Aug 7, 2009 8:44 pm GMT

    @Skylander7 3rd party VPN? You don't think those pirates aren't smart enough to add in a 3rd party VPN compatibility with the pirated games do you?

  • MagicOneUp

    Posted Aug 7, 2009 8:30 pm GMT

    "cost the US economy in excess of $200 billion per year and more than 750,000 American jobs." According to the ESA. what the...?? is there someone with a calculator counting all the stuff thats on the black market? 750 000 jobs in the US being lost to piracy... i can't figure out... can someone explain!

  • MagicOneUp

    Posted Aug 7, 2009 8:27 pm GMT

    @ Skylander7
    well said dude. i hopes this guy get ten years and there will be NO more piracy. My local game store sells a lot of second hand games and hard wares and he's doing great. He's making all the profits to himself!

  • Skylander7

    Posted Aug 7, 2009 7:28 pm GMT

    Andrew_ribbons, that's incorrect. Many indie games sell very well on Steam. Huge blockbusters sell millions (just look at Spore, Half Life 2, or even what Starcraft II will do.. WoW generates more than many countries' GNP!). What killed the PC gaming industry was 3 separate things.. 1) The EXTREMELY high cost of entry. Go price what it costs to build a gaming rig.. then price the constant cost to keep it up-to-date with video cards that are overpriced and gaining smaller performance margins. Many devs don't optimize for legacy hardware well.. forcing consumers to have to pay for the hardware to play it comfortably, whereas a console gamer just buys software. 2) Games are incomplete upon release, laden with bugs, and need a patch way after release date to realize their potential (once again, lazy developers and poor QA). 3) The generation that grew up playing PC games now have to sit at a computer all day for work.. it's more comfortable to do it in the living room with a controller.

    The PC gaming industry has literally cornered itself into being a niche market. Piracy is a small part of it, as many PC gamers do multiplayer (and you won't be doing much of that with a pirated key).

  • Skylander7

    Posted Aug 7, 2009 7:17 pm GMT

    No way will this guy get 10 years, he'll probably get less than a year in prison and restitution. Police don't "sting" guys that copy games. I'm willing to bet someone reported this guy for a) having a huge piece of the market on campus, and wanted him to "go away" for his own bootleg business.. or b) one of those really psychotic video game fanboys that think they are keepers of video game business ethiics (aka "tools"). The thing that sucks about this is that the ESA (entertainment software association) is an interest group (or trade group to be more exact). Think lobbyists, but yeah. They take a story like this and saturate the media with it. Why? They're an interest group, that's what they do. Now if they were truly worried about gaming sales/profit.. wouldn't they try to nail retailers that sell used games (where all profit is returned to said retailer)?? Nooooo, they want to scare people by making some out to be scapegoats. It's the same thing the RIAA is doing. Some guy with 10 modded systems must be the source of all software pirating.. gotta love that logic.

    Will my comment be deleted? Most likely, God forbid someone bash the ESA. However, setting a high MSRP (price floor) for software will create illegal counterfeits. Consumers do not think that most games warrant the high cost forced upon them. It's something that has been really harming this industry for a while. Good job ESA! 10 mod chips=no more piracy!! You win!

  • andrew_ribbons

    Posted Aug 7, 2009 6:23 pm GMT

    Lol well good riddance. I have special vitriol aimed at pirates, as i've seen what it does to industries, despite what people claim in defense. PC Gaming anyone?

  • AnelZukic

    Posted Aug 7, 2009 1:29 pm GMT

    to bad that there aren't any such laws in my country. Even in computers shops and supermarkets you can buy modified (with 2 chips, one which will allow to read piraticed games and the other to overcome the regional lockout) PS2 (and that since it came out), find through newspapers people who can modifie a Wii or X360 and then they sell the games for: if normal DVD $3, DL DVD $7-8, 2 DL DVD $14. When it comes to DS you can easily find flash cards and for PSP there are people who will unbrick and unflash it so that you can play your games from a memory stick and downloading them from net. It's really sad to see such a situation. Only few people buy original games and those are only games for PS3 or games with a great multyplayer 'cause you can't play online multiplayer with a piraticed game on console. Hopefully that situation will change one day

  • sleath_hunter33

    Posted Aug 7, 2009 8:48 am GMT

    pirating a game isnt a crime as much as selling stolen merchandise if your selling pirated games the you already bought the original. come on pay 60 dollars for one game is too much if it was a collector edition then maybe but just the game disk is a ripoff cd are only worth 5 bucks blank and 20 if filled when he gets released he'll only be a better criminal and be more aware of how t brake the law. honesty jail makes more crooks than it brakes

  • aura_enchanted

    Posted Aug 7, 2009 8:12 am GMT

    well hes going to be spending a while modding himself a way out of prison piracy FTL

  • MrHatnClogs

    Posted Aug 7, 2009 7:44 am GMT

    Mathew is gonna play another game called "Don't Drop the Soap".

  • XeonForce

    Posted Aug 7, 2009 6:23 am GMT

    buffdaddy69 - "If the video game industry and the movie industry and the music industry really wanted to crack down on piracy then i dunno...maybe they should stop selling blank CD's and DVD? Just a thought. I mean they are basically saying "heres a Sony brand blank CD/DVD, you can copy music movies and video games on it, but you can only use it for pictures and work so dont make illegal copies of music cds and video games and movies ok?"

    There is a difference between copying what you own for personal use and copying what you own and selling it. I'm sure if you had spent three million dollars and two and a half years making a game and you found out someone was selling it to their friends, you'd be pretty pissed off too.

  • ottumatic

    Posted Aug 7, 2009 6:13 am GMT

    And then a strange fat man will come out behind the modder during his shower in jail... well you know the rest.

  • JackBurton

    Posted Aug 7, 2009 6:08 am GMT

    Do the Time, Matthew - Don't Let the Time Do You. Enjoy your new roommate!

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