Jack Recider

Yeah, tell me your experience with either of these chips.

So the Messiah was a mod chip that you could solder onto a PlayStation 2, and it was created by Paul Owen. I believe it bypassed the anti-copy protections and that you play copied games. And then when the Xbox came out, Paul also made a mod chip for it called Enigma.

So the Messiah was a mod chip that you could solder onto a PlayStation 2, and it was created by Paul Owen. I believe it bypassed the anti-copy protections and that you play copied games. And then when the Xbox came out, Paul also made a mod chip for it called Enigma.

Did anybody ever get mad at you for that? Video game makers or anything? Like, hey, cease and desist that you're modding our stuff. We don't want you to.

Did anybody ever get mad at you for that? Video game makers or anything? Like, hey, cease and desist that you're modding our stuff. We don't want you to.

Yeah, the game makers were absolutely watching the video game modding forums, and they wanted to know what cheats and mods were out there for their systems and games. And when Paul Owen made these two chips, that's when Sony came in and threatened him with legal action.

Yeah, the game makers were absolutely watching the video game modding forums, and they wanted to know what cheats and mods were out there for their systems and games. And when Paul Owen made these two chips, that's when Sony came in and threatened him with legal action.

This forced Paul to stop importing Messiah chips for the PS2, but it didn't stop people from buying them directly from Taiwan, and it didn't stop Paul Owen from making more chips for the Xbox.

This forced Paul to stop importing Messiah chips for the PS2, but it didn't stop people from buying them directly from Taiwan, and it didn't stop Paul Owen from making more chips for the Xbox.

And in my opinion, it's really cool that someone is able to make a microchip to enhance the gaming system, because I hate it when these things are just so proprietary and secret and locked down that you can't even repair the game system if it breaks. In fact, I don't even want to call these things modchips. They're just accessories for your gaming system.

And in my opinion, it's really cool that someone is able to make a microchip to enhance the gaming system, because I hate it when these things are just so proprietary and secret and locked down that you can't even repair the game system if it breaks. In fact, I don't even want to call these things modchips. They're just accessories for your gaming system.

Like the other day, I wanted to put an M2 hard drive in my computer, but my motherboard didn't have a slot for it. So I had to go buy a PCIe card that enabled me to use the M2 drives. This is not against any rules. This is a perfectly fine accessory to buy for your computer. The Xbox is a little computer and it didn't let you add a hard drive.

Like the other day, I wanted to put an M2 hard drive in my computer, but my motherboard didn't have a slot for it. So I had to go buy a PCIe card that enabled me to use the M2 drives. This is not against any rules. This is a perfectly fine accessory to buy for your computer. The Xbox is a little computer and it didn't let you add a hard drive.

And so it was Paul Owen's release of the Enigma chip that allowed you to add an extra hard drive. Can you imagine if your PC was so locked down that you could not add a second hard drive if you wanted? Not even an external USB one? Paul made another mod for the Xbox, this time calling it the Executor.

And so it was Paul Owen's release of the Enigma chip that allowed you to add an extra hard drive. Can you imagine if your PC was so locked down that you could not add a second hard drive if you wanted? Not even an external USB one? Paul made another mod for the Xbox, this time calling it the Executor.

And he liked that name so much that he started calling his little group Team Executor, which is an important part of the story. I mean, it's the title of the episode, right? So even though he was threatened with legal action to stop producing the PS2 mod chips, it didn't stop him from making new Xbox mod chips and publishing them under the name Team Executor.

And he liked that name so much that he started calling his little group Team Executor, which is an important part of the story. I mean, it's the title of the episode, right? So even though he was threatened with legal action to stop producing the PS2 mod chips, it didn't stop him from making new Xbox mod chips and publishing them under the name Team Executor.

Now, the courts didn't think all this modding was cool like I do. In 1998, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, DMCA, was established, creating a whole new set of rules for copyright infringement in the digital age. And specifically, there were clauses that talked about circumvention. The DMCA criminalized the act of circumventing access controls.

Now, the courts didn't think all this modding was cool like I do. In 1998, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, DMCA, was established, creating a whole new set of rules for copyright infringement in the digital age. And specifically, there were clauses that talked about circumvention. The DMCA criminalized the act of circumventing access controls.

which is what video game makers were pointing at when trying to take down these mod chip makers. They were saying, look, you're going through great lengths to circumvent our anti-piracy controls. That's a DMCA violation. And video game makers were taking their cases to court and winning them.