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First Xbox chipping conviction

A Cambridge graduate's just been charged in Wales for selling chipped 200GB Xboxes with 80 games pre-loaded on the hard drives

Dan Grabham Dan Grabham

Still thinking of getting your Xbox chipped? It’s been illegal to chip consoles in Europe since late 2003, and now the first case has been brought against a bloke who was selling modded Xboxes for £380 online.

The Cambridge graduate was sentenced to 140 hours’ community service and fined £750 at Caerphilly Magistrates’ Court. The UK games association, ELSPA, called the conviction “a milestone in the fight against piracy”.

Sounds like it’s time to put that hard drive upgrade on hold and save the cash for the upcoming Xbox 360.

Profile image of Dan Grabham Dan Grabham Editor-in-Chief

About

Dan is Editor-in-chief of Stuff, working across the magazine and the Stuff.tv website.  Our Editor-in-Chief is a regular at tech shows such as CES in Las Vegas, IFA in Berlin and Mobile World Congress in Barcelona as well as at other launches and events. He has been a CES Innovation Awards judge. Dan is completely platform agnostic and very at home using and writing about Windows, macOS, Android and iOS/iPadOS plus lots and lots of gadgets including audio and smart home gear, laptops and smartphones. He's also been interviewed and quoted in a wide variety of places including The Sun, BBC World Service, BBC News Online, BBC Radio 5Live, BBC Radio 4, Sky News Radio and BBC Local Radio.

Areas of expertise

Computing, mobile, audio, smart home