Judge Berates Prosecutors In Xbox Modding Trial 285
mrbongo writes with this excerpt from Wired:
"Opening statements in the first-of-its-kind Xbox 360 criminal hacking trial were delayed here Wednesday after a federal judge unleashed a 30-minute tirade at prosecutors in open court, saying he had 'serious concerns about the government's case.' ... Gutierrez slammed the prosecution over everything from alleged unlawful behavior by government witnesses, to proposed jury instructions harmful to the defense. When the verbal assault finally subsided, federal prosecutors asked for a recess to determine whether they would offer the defendant a deal, dismiss or move forward with the case that was slated to become the first jury trial of its type. A jury was seated Tuesday."
Re:And tomorrow... (Score:2, Informative)
you know... precedent is only set by cases they (judges) choose to publish. They can rule anyway they want and then not let the case be published in the proper way which then prevents it from ever being referenced in future trials.
Most people are also unaware that judges regularly edit the transcripts after the fact. (The reason they don't let you tape record proceedings without permission.)
Re: No Rage Allowed (Score:4, Informative)
Lets get the facts straight :-) (Score:5, Informative)
The judge initially dismissed fair use arguments by the defense, but now seems to be reevaluating that decision. Probably because he too the time needed to understand all the technical and legal details of the case. The DMCA is not a 1-pager you read overnight and its implication on other lega areas is huge.
And the kid absolutley did not just hack his X-box. He had a small business selling modded X-boxes to other people, and was recorded by an agent doing exactly that.
I absolutely think that modding should be allowed for several reasons - so I am not siding with the prosecution here. I am just trying to make the facts clear to everyone.
- Jesper
Prosecution Moves Forward Despite Judge's Outburst (Score:2, Informative)
I didn't see it shared in the comments, but regardless of the tirade, the prosecution has decided to move forward with the case:
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/12/no-deal-in-xbox-modding-case-trial-begins/
Re:And tomorrow... (Score:4, Informative)
you know... precedent is only set by cases they (judges) choose to publish. They can rule anyway they want and then not let the case be published in the proper way which then prevents it from ever being referenced in future trials.
Most people are also unaware that judges regularly edit the transcripts after the fact. (The reason they don't let you tape record proceedings without permission.)
Actually, precedent is set at the appellate level. The trial court level does not set precedent. And, even then, the precedent is only binding on lower courts. Although, other appellate courts at the same level sometimes use those decisions as "persuasive authority" in their own decisions, even though they are not strictly bound by them.
Re:And tomorrow... (Score:5, Informative)
No.
First, thanks to the ease of putting and accessing cases on the computer, some federal courts now accept the citing of 'unpublished' opinions.
Second, all previously-decided cases establish precedents, but only some are binding precedents, which a court must follow, while most are merely persuasive, which a court may or may not follow as it sees fit. It's perfectly acceptable to cite the opinions of trial courts, if that's the best thing you've got.
Re:Xbox 360 vs. Wii and original Xbox (Score:2, Informative)
A modded X360 cannot run new, non-infringing content; content still needs to be signed by Microsoft's key. Modding just tricks the disc drive into thinking DVD-Rs are pressed DVDs.
Re:And tomorrow... (Score:4, Informative)
Actually, double jeopardy applies to trials regardless whether it was an acquittal or conviction. The defense cannot ask "for another trial" when found guilty, they can appeal. There has to be a basis for the appeal but an appeal is not another trial of the same kind, you go to the court of appeals and a judge or judges will determine if something was done wrong during a trial in order to warrant a change in the decision.
Also, the only way a trial can be retried over different charges that cover the same actions is if they are significantly different charges (you can't charge someone with manslaughter and then later charge them with murder for the same death. You can however charge them later with robbery if the murder arose from the robbery).
And from wikipedia: "Nor can the state voluntarily dismiss a case after trial has begun in order to start over." If there is declared a mistrial, or if the Judge dismisses without prejudice then yes, they can start over. But a prosecutor cannot voluntarily drop a case and then restart it. Double jeopardy forbids it.