EXCLUSIVE: Enteprising PSP Pirates Advertised on Craigslist, Says Sony

October 15, 2008 -

They say that you can sell just about anything on Craigslist. And if allegations by SCEA are correct, a pair of enterprising - if not especially bright - game pirates used the popular online service to advertise their illegal PSP modding operations.

In August SCEA filed suit in U.S. District Court in California, alleging that Gabriel Garcia and Timothy Joey Zoucha, Jr. modded PSPs and loaded them with over 500 pirated games. Both men live in San Jose, California.

In its complaint, Sony alleges that Garcia billed himself as: "THE ONLY TRUE FIRST PSP MODDER ON CRAIGSLIST," offering "cash only package deals" that included "500+ PSP games". Sony said that Garcia even went as far as to display a PlayStation logo in his Craigslist ad.

Sony apparently used private investigators to track the pair down. One P.I. met with Garcia at his residence, according to the complaint, and paid the alleged pirate $80 to mod a PSP and load it with 100 games. Garcia apparently advertised such a transaction as his "Super Spring Deal". The complaint further alleges that Garcia sold the investigator 11 DVD-Rs containing more games and then showed the investigator how to transfer the games to a PSP via PC. Ever-helpful, Garcia also gave the investigator a "How to Use Your PSP Mods" guide on DVD.

Among the pirated games allegedly sold by Garcia were Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, Parappa the Rapper and Twisted Metal: Head On.

Zoucha was taken down in similar fashion, according to the complaint, which alleges that he agreed to mod the P.I.'s PSP for $28 and supply a DVD containing 100 pirated games for another twenty bucks. The complaint also says that, like Garcia, Zoucha sold the investigator five DVD-Rs containing additional pirated games and told the investigator that he would give her a deal if she brought him more PSPs to mod.

Among the titles allegedly supplied by Zoucha are: Burnout: Legends, Call of Duty: Roads to Victory and Madden NFL 08.

From the complaint:

Defendants Gabriel Garcia and Timothy Joey Zoucha, Jr... brazenly offer their services on Craigslist.org to "mod" or "unbrick" PSP consoles so as to allow illegal unauthorized copies of SCEA's video game software to operate on the unlawfully modified PSP console... Defendants were caught red-handed...

A court date is scheduled later this month. Read the complaint here.

Comments

Re: EXCLUSIVE: Enteprising PSP Pirates Advertised on

Submitted by Father Time on Wed, 10/15/2008 - 17:58.

He did that with the Wii and 360 too. Seeing some of the hate mail they get is pretty amusing. Sadly though he was absent when the iPhone was released (odd though because he started with smashing ipods).
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Re: EXCLUSIVE: Enteprising PSP Pirates Advertised on

Submitted by GrimCW on Wed, 10/15/2008 - 22:34.

didn't somebody do that to the original Xbox and Gamecube as well?

bought it, went out to their car in front of the best buy they got them at, and smashed them to bits right there in the lot....

Re: EXCLUSIVE: Enteprising PSP Pirates Advertised on

Submitted by sirdarkat on Wed, 10/15/2008 - 11:48.

Thank you, good to see others have the same opinion as me.

Re: EXCLUSIVE: Enteprising PSP Pirates Advertised on

Submitted by strathmeyer on Wed, 10/15/2008 - 12:22.

Huh? Isn't a device with pirated software on it unlawfully modified? As in, modifications were made to the device that added pirated software to it?

Re: EXCLUSIVE: Enteprising PSP Pirates Advertised on

Submitted by mootyslayer on Thu, 10/16/2008 - 03:34.

The only reason why this was even mentioned was because they tried to sell the psp's with pirated games. Modding your psp system is just different code then what sony provides. A modded operating system so to speak. It unlocks the full potential of the psp. I do have a modded system but its used mainly for reading ebooks. And has not been used for games in months.

Essentialy it would be like if you decided to buy a laptop with vista on it. But you decided that you would rather have XP or Linux on it. Is that wrong of you to change something on your computer when you paid for it and now own it?

 

 

Re: EXCLUSIVE: Enteprising PSP Pirates Advertised on

Submitted by Keith K on Wed, 10/15/2008 - 13:11.

Posessing the means to run pirated software is no crime. Its not a crime to own a debug console. Its not a crime to have a software emulator. The software is not installed on the device, it is kept separate on disc or memory card. The means by which PSPs in particular can run pirated software is the same means by which it can run any unsigned code, open or closed-source.

Re: EXCLUSIVE: Enteprising PSP Pirates Advertised on

Submitted by strathmeyer on Wed, 10/15/2008 - 19:54.

Huh? The devices in question had pirated software on them. What are you guys talking about?

Re: EXCLUSIVE: Enteprising PSP Pirates Advertised on

Submitted by Kaiselius on Thu, 10/16/2008 - 03:09.

the PSP themselves did not have pirated software on them, they were on burned DVDs.

Re: EXCLUSIVE: Enteprising PSP Pirates Advertised on

Submitted by E. Zachary Knight on Wed, 10/15/2008 - 11:35.

There are pirates all over Craigslist. Just about everytime I go on it, there is a pirate advertising a Wii with 40 games or a 360 with 100 games.

No big surprise.

E. Zachary Knight
Oklahoma City Chapter of the ECA
MySpace Page: http://www.myspace.com/okceca
Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1325674091

E. Zachary Knight
Divine Knight Gaming
OK Game Devs
Random Tower

 
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Technogeek: If the developer were male there wouldn't have been a "conversation" in the first place.10/19/2014 - 2:27am
Monte: trolls are just at their absolute worst when it comes to women and feminist. You could bet good money that if the developer were male the trolls would be silent and the conversation would actually focus on the journalism.10/18/2014 - 9:18pm
Monte: Papa: Not the first time we've had a journalism scandals before, but the harassment never got close to this level; the difference with this scandal is that feminists are involved. Without the feminist angle, their would be A LOT less harrassment10/18/2014 - 9:15pm
Papa Midnight: Monte: That's honestly rather short-sighted. As has been proven with other persons who have been targeted, if it wasn't Quinn, it would be someone else.10/18/2014 - 6:26pm
Avalongod: I think that's part of what gives an esoteric news story like this real life...it taps into a larger narrative about misogyny in society outside of games.10/18/2014 - 3:29pm
Avalongod: @Monte, well the trolls made death threats that came to police (and media attention). I think this is tapping into a larger issue outside of games about how women are treated in society (like all the "real rape" stuff during the last election)10/18/2014 - 3:28pm
Wonderkarp: Zippy : Havent tried the PS4 controller. might later.10/18/2014 - 2:37pm
Monte: Seirously, If Quinn was not involved and GG was instead about something like the Mordor Marketing contracts, the trolling would have never grown so vile and disgusting. There have been plenty of movements in the past that never sufferred from behavior..10/18/2014 - 1:57pm
Monte: We have seen scandel's before but the trolling has never been as vile as what we see with GG. Trolls usually have such a tiny voice you can barely notice them, but its like moths to a flame whenever femistist are involved.10/18/2014 - 1:53pm
ZippyDSMlee: Wonderkarp: You might be able to if you had a PS4 controller.10/18/2014 - 1:00pm
MaskedPixelante: http://store.steampowered.com/app/327940/ Night Dive starts charging for freeware.10/18/2014 - 12:21pm
Matthew Wilson: the sad thing is there are trolls on both sides of this. people need to stop acting like their side is so pure.10/18/2014 - 12:19pm
MechaTama31: So, only speak out on a scandal that hasn't attracted trolls? I wouldn't hold my breath...10/18/2014 - 10:49am
Monte: I feel like GG just needs to die. The movement is FAR to tainted by hatred and BS for it to be useful for any conversation. Let GG die, and then rally behind the NEXT gaming journalism scandal, and start the conversation fresh.10/18/2014 - 10:33am
quiknkold: and we dont have a Dovakin to call a cease fire10/17/2014 - 7:37pm
quiknkold: The whole thing is Futile. Both sides are so buried deep in their trenchs that there isnt a conversation. Its just Finger Pointing, Name Calling, Doxxing, Threats. there needs to be a serious conversation, and GG isnt it.10/17/2014 - 7:37pm
quiknkold: I thought it was a good article. Jeff is right. I feel like GamerGate did destroy its message. I am for Ethics in game journalism, but man. so much hate. and its on both sides. I've seen some awful stuff spewed on twitter. Its a big reason why I exited..10/17/2014 - 7:34pm
Matthew Wilson: while he focused on gg, he did call out both sides crap.10/17/2014 - 7:18pm
Papa Midnight: That was a damn good read offered by Jeff Gertsmann.10/17/2014 - 7:17pm
Matthew Wilson: http://www.giantbomb.com/articles/letter-from-the-editor-10-17-2014/1100-5049/ deferentially a nice write up.10/17/2014 - 6:44pm
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