It's bad enough that rogue CIA agent Harold Nicholson (left) sold out his country for money. But it's simply unconscionable that Nicholson dragged his son into his traitorous world.

The New York Times reports that the FBI has charged Nicholson and his 24-year-old son Nathan with espionage.

From his jail cell, the elder Nicholson allegedly recruited his son to make contact with his former Russian handlers:

Prosecutors said Nathan Nicholson, a former Army paratrooper, had returned from his visits with the Russians with at least $35,000 in cash, some of it in a PlayStation video game case.

 

The money was intended in part to settle a “pension” that Harold Nicholson said was owed him from his days as a C.I.A. spy for the Russians before his arrest in 1996, the prosecutors said.

It appears that investigators in Portland, Oregon are not focusing on rampage shooter Erik Ayala's fondness for violent video games.

The Portland Mercury spoke with Detective Mark Slater of Portland P.D., who commented on reports that linked linked the 24-year-old Ayala to Left 4 Dead and Resistance: Fall of Man:

[Local newspaper] The Oregonian prompted controversy on Monday, January 26, when it reported that "one of the things that bought Ayala joy" was playing violent videogames. Slater said a copy of the videogame Grand Theft Auto III was found at Ayala's apartment, but said police were not pursuing a link between videogames and the shooting.

"There were a lot of videogames in the apartment," said Slater. "Of a wide variety of the kind you might find in any 24-year-old's apartment."

In regard to the video game angle, GamePolitics has learned that anti-game violence activist Jack Thompson unsuccessfully attempted to involve himself in the Ayala case. Thompson forwarded GP a copy of a January 26th e-mail in which the disbarred attorney complained to Portland Police Chief Rosie Sizer that detectives weren't acting on his theory that video games prompted the rampage:

Dear Chief Sizer:

I have information that would be useful to establish further the apparent causal link between the violent video game play of alleged killer Ayala and the recent incident at the teen club.

Some detective in the Bureau with whom I spoke has been compromised by the video game industry, and he was anticipating my call.

I think your Bureau and you put public safety ahead of the pro-video game bias and gaming activities of this detective.

Please have some responsible detective contact me on this, as these incidents tied to games are popping up all over the place.  Thanks.

As GamePolitics has documented over the years, Thompson characteristically makes contact with law enforcement personnel in the wake of shooting rampages to suggest that violent video games played a role.

Those contacts between Thompson and law enforcement officials have at times become contentious.

In 2007, for example, Thompson sued the Omaha Police Department for information concerning a troubled 18-year-old who opened fire at a local mall. Last year, Thompson threatened to sue the Public Safety Department of Northern Illinois University following a campus shooting spree committed by a 27-year-old man with a history of mental health problems. In both cases, the disbarred attorney sought evidence of video game play on the part of the shooters.

GP: Thanks to GP reader Cabel Sasser for the link to the Mercury story!

Police in Ohio have charged a 19-year-old Michigan man with traveling to Parma and raping a 12-year-old boy.

According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Codey Hawks (left) met his victim on Xbox Live where he played an unspecified online game with the boy and his father.

From the newspaper report:

Hawks... called the victim's family when he arrived [in Ohio] and asked if he could stay with them. Hawks said he'd joined the National Guard and was to ship out in February.

At some point, the parents became suspicious and confronted their son about his relationship with Hawks. They called police after learning its nature.

Compton said Parma detectives questioned Hawks and he admitted that he assaulted the boy while staying at the family's home when the parents weren't there. Hawks now is in the county jail.

Police are looking for other victims...

Erik Ayala (left), the 24-year-old Oregon man whose weekend shooting rampage  left two dead and seven wounded, willed his PlayStation 3 to a roommate before embarking his murderous mission.

The Oregonian reports that a suicide note found by police in Ayala's apartment even specified how much his roommate might earn by selling his PS3:

And to my friend, (redacted)

I am especially sorry. I know it's not much consolation but as my friend and roommate you are entitled to everything that I own. Maybe these things can bring in a few bucks.

Good luck in this shitty world...

You know my ps3 is special. Similiar USED ps3's go for AT LEAST $450-$500. Our landlord guy wants a ps3 like mine. Let him know that $400 would be a GOOD deal. If he doesn't want it, format the drive by going to Settings>System>Format Utility. You can say it "comes with the latest firmware software" to help market it on the internet. In case you don't know, it's the special "100% backwards compatible" (60 GB) ps3.

I'm sorry to put all this on you buddy, good luck.

As GamePolitics noted earlier today, Ayala, who remains in critical condition after shooting himself in the head, was reportedly a fan of FPS game Resistance: Fall of Man and Left 4 Dead.

UPDATE: Ayala has died, reports The Oregonian.

A man who killed two girls and wounded seven other people at a teen club in Portland, Oregon on Saturday night, was a player of two popular first-person shooter games, according to a report in The Oregonian.

24-year-old Erik Salvador Ayala, who remains in critical condition after shooting himself in the head, is described as quiet with an interest in video games and computers. Acquaintances said that had not previously exhibited violent tendencies and they were unaware that he owned a gun. From the report:

One of the things that brought him joy was playing video games such as "Resistance: Fall of Man," in which an Army Ranger fights an alien race that is trying to take over the world, or "Left 4 Dead," where the object is to slay fighting zombies.

Portland Police Chief Rosie Sizer told the press:

At first blush this incident appears to be a random act of violence of the kind that makes you despair for America.

A strategy game which challenges players to create and manage a private prison empire has outraged some observers.

Of ValuSoft's Prison Tycoon 4: Supermax, the Criminal Justice blog writes:

[Building] a private prison? Who would want to spend free time building an elaborate cage, allowing gang wars, drugs and racial violence to fester in an attempt to earn more money? This is the fourth version of the game, so apparently someone is playing it.

I guess there's a video game version of nearly everything one can imagine. But the existence of this game... highlights the disturbing prevalence of prisons in our society. This game takes for granted that prisons are everywhere and that they are simply a tool for profit. That's a sad place to be.

The architecturally-oriented BldgBlog couches its dismay in sarcasm:

The description of Prison Tycoon 4: SuperMax... urges players to experiment in the architectural framing and administrative implementation of prison life.

 

"Build a profitable privately run prison from the ground up... Grow your facility to SuperMax capabilities, housing the most dangerous and diabolical criminals on earth – all for the bottom line."

 

Putting moral limits on our imaginations temporarily aside, perhaps we could even conceive of Prison Tycoon 5: Guantánamo Bay, or Prison Tycoon 6: Austrian Basement Edition. Prison Tycoon 7: Gulag. Prison Tycoon 8: Escape from Abu Ghraib...

Prison Photography takes a more blunt view:

Prison Tycoon is less gratuitous than Grand Theft Auto and the like. But I don’t know if this is any comfort. To manipulate a virtual prison population with “friendly interaction and fighting between inmates dependent upon mood and gang affiliation” and to rely on “guards [who] will subdue aggressive prisoners, medical staff to treat injuries, chaplains administer to prisoner’s spiritual needs and therapists talk to prisoners to lift their spirits” seems a bit too sinister and calculated for an evening of gaming...

Really, why does this game exist? I suppose it is just completing the loop - the gamer, as a God of Pixels, can create criminals in his other games and then manipulate them in this one.

Irreverent video game site Destructoid is cleaning up a bit of a mess this morning.

According to an e-mail we received from Destructoid editor Niero, a hacker cracked the site's user database over the weekend:

This is the letter every web site operator hopes he never has to write: it seems a glitch in our web site allowed someone to exploit the database this weekend. We have confirmed that the intruder succesfully obtained everyone's username and password.

As soon as we were alerted we shut down all servers, changed all passwords, took our forums offline, and notified everyone via email... We're doing everything we can do prevent this from ever happening again and deeply apologize for this incovenience.

On the bright side, we intentionally store very little personally identifiable information. However, you may still be at risk: If you frequently use the same password for other web services... we strongly urge you to update your password ASAP...

Destructoid has reported the incident to IC3 (FBI's internet crime complaint
arm)... We are also offering a $1,000 award to anyone with information that leads us to prosecuting the intruder...

Lamar Roberts is going away for a long time.

In December, the 18-year-old pleaded guilty in the December, 2007 death of 7-year-old Zoe Garcia, the step-sister of Roberts' girlfriend, Heather Trujillo. Roberts and Trujillo reportedly acted out moves from Mortal Kombat on Zoe.

9News reports that a Colorado judge has sentenced Roberts to 36 years in prison. Of the sentence, Roberts told the court:

I do agree to get what I get. I'm not a monster, your honor. I'm truly sorry (for) what happened.

Roberts, who was 17 at the time of the slaying, was tried as an adult. Trujillo received 18 years, but her sentence will be suspended if she successfully completes a six-year program for youthful offenders.

As GamePolitics reported yesterday, a judge in Lorain County, Ohio ruled that 17-year-old Daniel Petric was guilty of shooting his parents in a dispute over whether or not the teen could play Halo 3. Petric's mother was killed in the 2007 incident.

A comment made by Judge James Burge during the delivery of his verdict in the case of gamer Petric is getting wide play in both the mainstream and gaming press:

I firmly believe that Daniel Petric had no idea at the time he hatched this plot that if he killed his parents, they would be dead forever.

Pretty negative toward games, right? But Burge's full remarks are much worse. GamePolitics created the transcript below from a video of the sentencingwhich is posted on the website of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

By way of context, Judge Burge explains that expert testimony during Petric's trial failed to establish an insanity defense, forcing him to find Petric guilty as charged. But the judge apparently believes that the young man is deeply troubled and that video games are a primary factor:

The Court must enter a finding of guilty on the counts set forth in the indictment. That being said, it's my firm belief as a human being - and not as a jurist - that Daniel does suffer from a serious defect of the mind.

 

This Court's opinion is that we don't know enough about these video games. In this particular case, not so much the violence of the game because I believe in the Halo 3, what it amounts to is a contest to see who can shoot the most aliens who attack.

 

It's my firm belief that after a while the same physiological responses occur that occur in the ingestion of some drugs. And I believe that an addiction to these games can do the same thing. The dopamine surge, the stimulation  of the nucleus accumbens - the same as an addiction. Such that when you stop, your brain won't stand for it.

 

The other dangerous thing about these games, in my opinion, is that when these changes occur, they occur in an environment that is delusional. Because you can shoot these aliens, and they're there again the next day. You have to shoot them again. And I firmly believe that Daniel Petric had no idea, at the time he hatched this plot, that if he killed his parents, they would be dead forever.

Burge's parting shot seems to indicate a belief on the judge's part that we haven't heard the last of Daniel Petric and his supposed video game issues:

But I believe there is hope here. I believe that it will start here and, uh, at some point when all is known about Daniel and what occurred here we will be able to achieve a greater sense of justice.

How awesome is your gaming rig’s sound system?
 
Hopefully it’s a little quieter than that of an unlucky 21-year-old Copenhagen man and his friend.
 
According to a report on QJ.net, the two gamer buddies were playing an unspecified PlayStation 3 title with the sound cranked up to 11.

A concerned neighbor called the local gendarmes in the belief that the sound of gunfire coming from next door was the real deal.  Perhaps thinking that a full-scale war had broken out, a Danish SWAT team was activated. The cops used a megaphone to order the men to come out and surrender.
 
The noisy gamers wisely put their controllers down without a fight and were arrested on suspicion of mayhem. They were soon released after a search of their apartment uncovered no firearms.
 
Thanks to: GP regular Shadow D. Darkman
 
-Reporting from San Diego, GamePolitics Correspondent Andrew Eisen isn’t sure what game his neighbors are playing but it’s definitely rated AO…

 

While there are those who would seek to link playing video games to crime and violence, the latest Federal Bureau of Investigation statistics seem to indicate otherwise.

A report released yesterday by the FBI shows that, nationwide, violent crime fell 3.5% during the first half of 2008.

At the same time that violent crime was on the decline, game console and game software sales experienced a sharp increase. NPD reports that console sales revenues jumped from $6.1 billion to $8.3 billion during the same January-June period reported on by the FBI.

Despite his lawyer's claim that a supposed addiction to Halo 3 turned Daniel Petric into a killer, an Ohio judge has found the 17-year-old guilty in the 2007 slaying of his mother and wounding of his father.

As GamePolitics reported during Petric's December trial, the young man ambushed his parents after they confiscated his copy of Halo 3. After shooting both, the troubled boy tried to frame his father by placing the gun in his hand.

The Associated Press is reporting this morning that Lorain County Common Pleas Judge James Burge said that video game addiction was not a defense. The judge also noted that there was evidence of premeditation on Petric's part.

Petric could be sentenced to life without parole.

A six-year-old Virginia boy who tried to drive his family car to school told police that he learned to drive from playing Grand Theft Auto and Monster Truck Jam.

As reported by the Associated Press, the boy missed his school bus and took the keys to the family ride, a 2005 Ford Taurus. His mother was sleeping at the time. From the AP report:

He made at least two 90-degree turns, passed several cars and ran off the rural two-lane road several times before hitting an embankment and utility pole about a mile and a half from school.

 

"He was very intent on getting to school," said Northumberland County Sheriff Chuck Wilkins. "When he got out of the car, he started walking to school. He did not want to miss breakfast and PE."

The boy's parents were subsequently charged with child endangerment by police. The boy and his four-year-old brother were placed in protective custody.

GP: Giving GTA to a six-year-old? Unbelievable...

A 17-year-old Ohio gamer found himself in hot water after he allegedly threatened to commit suicide while talking to a Blizzard rep about an online game (presumably, World of Warcraft).

The Middletown Journal reports:

The teen was having an online conversation with a representative of Blizzard Entertainment, an online video game company, when he typed that "he was suicidal and that the game is the only thing he has to live for," according to the report.

The company representative called 911.

The juvenile told police it was a joke "to try to get what he wanted for the game," according to the report. He was then handcuffed and placed in a patrol car.

According to the Dow-Jones Newswire, federal investigators charged four men with today insider stock trading. One of the transactions named in the indictments was EA's bid to acquire T2 earlier this year.

No one from either Take-Two Interactive or Electronic Arts has been charged and there is no indication that the publishers had any inkling of the illegal stock trades. If government regulators are correct, however, information leaks from the Brunswick Group, a P.R. firm working on behalf of Take-Two, contributed to the crime. From the Dow-Jones report:

Four people were charged criminally Thursday in an insider trading scheme involving information about mergers or stock buybacks obtained from a Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. broker's wife who worked at communications firm Brunswick Group LLC...

 

According to court documents, they were among a group of clients and friends tipped by Matthew C. Devlin, a Lehman Brothers broker, about 12 planned deals before their public announcements between 2005 and 2008...

 

Devlin allegedly obtained the information from his wife, who worked at communications firm Brunswick Group, according to court filings. The deals included... Electronic Arts Inc.'s (ERTS) hostile bid earlier this year for Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (TTWO)...

 

Devlin has been charged criminally and in the SEC case... [other defendants]... referred to Devlin or his wife as the "golden goose," according to court documents.

The Guardian reports that there is no suggestion that Devlin's wife, Nina, a partner at Brunswick, knew of her husband's alleged stock market manipulations.

We love it when the good guys win.

A clever student at Missouri State University used the Xbox 360 controller's wireless capabilities to track down his stolen console, reports school newspaper the Standard.

It seems that someone swiped Ryan Ketsenburg's 360 from his dorm room after the sophomore forgot to lock his door. He managed to recover his system, however, with a tidy piece of detective work:

Ketsenburg... turned on his wireless Xbox controller and found that it was still connecting to his Xbox. Based on this discovery, Ketsenburg said he realized that his Xbox must be nearby...

The controller connected to the Xbox on the fourth, fifth and sixth floors of Hutchens but not on the third floor and seventh floor, so through process of elimination, Ketsenburg said he figured out that the stolen Xbox must be on the fifth floor.

Following the controller's signal, Ketsenburg said he was able to pinpoint the room where his Xbox was stolen... The 5th floor resident assistant checked the alleged room where the stolen Xbox was and was able to find the Xbox, Ketsenburg said.

The controller was able to prove that the Xbox belonged to Ketsenburg, because the controller was able to turn on the console unit, he said.

A man whom prosecutors allege killed his girlfriend's stepsister in a re-enactment of the Mortal Kombat video game series pleaded guilty in a Colorado courtroom yesterday.

The Associated Press reports that 18-year-old Lamar Roberts (left) admitted to charges of child abuse and knowingly/recklessly causing death in the case.

Seven-year-old Zoe Garcia died in December after a night of babysitting at the hands of Roberts and Zoe's stepsister, 16-year-old Heather Trujillo (also at left). Trujillo received a suspended sentence earlier this year and was placed into a program for youthful offenders.

While prosecutors focused on the Mortal Kombat angle, some relatives of the victim questioned that theory. Child welfare reports indicate that Zoe lived in a highly dysfunctional household and that there was at least one prior incident in which Roberts was reportedly abusive toward the child when drinking.

Roberts will be sentenced in January.

The sorry tale of a 16-year-old who shot his parents and then tried to frame his dad for the crime is currently playing out in an Ohio court room.

Rather undeservedly, Halo 3 seems to be playing a central role in the case. Ironically, the youthful accused killer never got  a chance to actually play the game.

As the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports, testimony at the trial of Daniel Petric indicates that the boy shot his parents and tried to make it look like a murder-suicide after he was blocked from playing Halo 3 by his father. The elder Petric had confiscated the game from his son as the teen brought it into the house. Mr. Petric then locked it in a box - right next to his 9mm pistol. His son somehow got into the box and recoved the game - and the gun.

From the newspaper's coverage of testimony:

Mark Petric... testified that before the shooting... [Daniel] came into the room with a question:

"Would you guys close your eyes... I have a surprise for you."

Mark Petric said he expected a pleasant surprise. The next thing he knew... He had been shot in the head...

He said the next thing he remembers is his son shoving the gun in his hand and saying, "Hey Dad, here's your gun. Take it."

In his defense Daniel's lawyers argued that the boy was under an emotional strain at the time of the shootings because an illness had kept him housebound for a year. During that time, his lawyers argued, he had little to do but watch TV and play video games.

Could there be additional video game testimony coming up?

At least Kym Worthy has updated her list.

We last peeped the Wayne County Prosecutor during the 2007 holiday shopping season. At the time she was blaming games for the crime problem in Detroit and pushing an outdated list of ten games to avoid.

Ms. Worthy is back, reports the Detroit Free Press, with a brand-new list but the same old line:

The last year has convinced me more than ever that children are at risk of becoming desensitized to violence and can exhibit more aggressive behavior if they repeatedly play certain violent video games.

 

The [Sorensen murder] investigation revealed that the youths would often play violent video games. I believe that certain video games are connected to the proliferation of violent crimes being committed by youthful offenders such as Orlewicz and Letkemann.

Perhaps Worthy picked up on GP's criticism that last year's top ten list was embarrassingly outdated. This year's edition is cadged from the National Institute on Media and the Family's 2008 Annual Video Game Report Card:

• Blitz the League II
• Dead Space
• Fallout 3
• Far Cry 2
• Gears of War 2
• Left 4 Dead
• Legendary
• Resistance 2
• Saints Row 2
• Silent Hill: Homecoming

GP: If you think that this stuff is insignificant, consider that Worthy's 2007 list was picked up and subsequently regurgitated by the government of Thailand during its August video game crackdown.

The prosecution of a major California video game pirate has resulted in a comparatively light sentence.

The San Jose Mercury-News reports that Khuong Van Truong copped a plea in Santa Clara County Superior Court this week. Truong stood accused of counterfeiting and possessing more the 11,000bootleg video games, 4,000 DVDs and 300 audio CDs. The pirated goods were valued at an estimated $420,000.

The Entertainment Software Association, which represents the interests of US video game publishers, told the Mercury-News that the counterfiet games probably netted Truon thousands of dollars per month.

According to radio station KLIV, Truong ran the copying operation from his home. He also pleaded guilty to narcotics and child endangerment offenses.

In addition, KLIV reports that Truong, who will be sentenced on February 3rd, is expected to receive less than a year in jail. That seems a bit light considering the drug and child welfare counts as well as the SJ Merc's description of his operation as "one of the largest pirated video games cases on the West Coast."

There's no word on exactly what type of games Truong was pirating. We have a request into the ESA for additional information.

UPDATE: (via: Kotaku) The San Francisco Chronicle has more on the story:

The case came to light when Truong's 2-year-old son walked into a busy intersection while Truong was not home... A passing driver stopped to care for the boy and call police...

 

Truong returned home and allowed officers inside the house, where a pirating operation was discovered... and [Truong] was also found to be in possession of marijuana, illegal mushrooms, steroids and ecstasy...

It's so over-the-top awful that it almost sounds like a parody headline, but that's the report on AZfamily.com.

Apparently a pair of unsupervised boys, six and seven years-old, stoned a kitten and then strung it up following a Grand Theft Auto session. They reportedly used the controller cable in lieu of a rope.

The incident occurred in late October in Mesa, Arizona, but details are just beginning to emerge. Here's more from the AZfamily.com coverage:

The investigation began [when] deputies went to the neighborhood of one of the two boys... and found the kitten hanging by its neck from a backyard tree. The boys had apparently used a wire from the video game controller they were playing, Grand Theft Auto, to hoist up the kitten. The animal's head had been injured by blows from a rock.

[Maricopa County Sheriff Joe] Arpaio questions why these young children were allowed to play such a violent video game.

“This game allows players to kill cops and rape women,” Arpaio says. “It’s little wonder why they perpetrated such violence against that little animal.”

The boys are too young to prosecute under Arizona law and, for some reason, don't meet the guidelines for intervention by child protective services.

Customs officials in the UK have cautioned consumers regarding the appearance of counterfeit Nintendo DS and DS Lite systems on the market.

As reported by pocketgamer uk, hundreds have been seized already. Most were purchased from Asian websites which advertised "genuine Nintendo products."

Beyond the fact that the systems aren't the geniune article, officials report that some are packaged with faulty electric adaptors which could catch fire.

Pamela Rogers, head of IP enforcement for HM Revenue & Customs, commented:

UK consumers must be vigilant when purchasing goods online. Buy from a reputable or regulated site and, if purchasing from outside the UK or a new website, research the site – check all the facts before you buy.

 

At best, these consoles would have led to disappointment on Christmas morning; at worst, they could have caused serious harm or injury. Counterfeit goods also cause considerable damage the UK economy by undermining genuine UK retailers and small businesses who are honest and abide by the rules.

While game publishers group ELSPA lauded the seizures, pocketgamer had a bit of a whinge over its perception that industry-generated system shortages may drive frustrated parents to look beyond normal retail channels for their holiday shopping:

It's hard not to raise a cynical eyebrow... ELSPA's comments actually highlight a difficulty that these console-shopping parents – who typically aren't as aware what they're buying in a jargon-saturated market – suffer from when manufacturers continually imply, and even are accused of deliberately causing, product shortages on the run up to Christmas.

When a website offers a solution that Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft and others are unwilling to provide, it's hard to blame those parents for taking the chance at not disappointing their kids come Christmas morning.

Keeping a diligent eye peeled is always good advice, of course – we just recommend that eye is sometimes turned towards those big companies who appear to indirectly support the piracy industry through their own greed and attempts to play the consumers against the retailers. There, we've said it.

A pair of University of Minnesota roommates tracked down their stolen Xbox 360 following a recent break-in, reports MyFox Twin Cities.

Isaac Pacheco and Bobby Harris found their console missing after leaving a door unlocked. Fortunately, the thief wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed. A police investigator subpoenaed Microsoft for the IP address from which their 360 was connecting. It turned out to be the same as that of Pacheco and Harris, indicating that the crook was someone who shared their Internet connection.

The students monitored their account's Xbox Live activity and eventually recognized a name, which led police to recover the stolen console from a neighbor's room. Harris told Fox: 

[We] just felt violated and mad at whoever did it...

 

I don't think we could have figured it out without [the suspect's] stupidity. I think that's safe to say. Because,  if you had taken even the smart enough precautions, I really don't think we would have been able to track it down...

 

It's really nice to know they didn't get away with it.

A 2007 investigation by Homeland Security agents led them to conclude that a Texas company was raking in as much as $2.5 million per year through the importing and reselling of mod chips obtained from a supplier in China, GamePolitics has learned.

When installed in video game consoles, mod chips allow for the playing of pirated copies of games, but have other more legitimate uses as well. Although they are legal in some countries (Canada, Australia, UK), mod chips are prohibited in the United States under terms of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act.

To date, federal law enforcement officials have kept a tight lid on "Operation Tangled Web," their code name for a wide-ranging investigation into mod chip distribution in the United States which culminated in a series of raids in August, 2007. However, a detailed search of publicly-accessible court records by GamePolitics has turned up signed copies of warrants authorizing investigators from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to seize two accounts controlled by a Texas man, identified by investigators as Manuel S. Diaz-Marta of Dallas. The warrants were sworn to by ICE Agent Vaughn Johnson, an asset seizure specialist.

GamePolitics readers may recall that on August 1, 2007, ICE agents raided 32 locations in 16 states, seeking evidence of mod chip distribution. Federal agents received technical assistance in the case from video game publishers trade group the Entertainment Software Association.

According to the documents obtained by GamePolitics, the investigation into Diaz-Marta began in November, 2006 when ICE Agent William Engel of the agency's Cleveland Field Office made undercover purchases of PlayStation 2 mod chips from www.modchipstore.com. An ICE check of domain registration records showed that the URL was registered to a Dallas company, NonStop Technologies. Feds then traced a money order used to make their undercover purchase and found that it had been deposited into a Wells Fargo Bank account registered to NonStop Technologies and Diaz-Marta. ICE alleges that Diaz-Marta listed his gross annual sales as $1,800,000 on Wells Fargo account application forms. When investigators seized the Wells Fargo account on August 1, 2007 it contained $109,100.55.

ICE also alleges that, between August, 2006 and February, 2007, the Wells Fargo account was used to make forty wire transfers totalling more than $500,000 to Supreme Factory, a Chinese company which federal investigators say is known to them as a distributor of mod chips. During the same time period, more than $1.2 million was deposited into the Wells Fargo account, presumably from mod chip sales within the United States. At that rate, federal investigators calculated that modchipstore.com would have been generating roughly $2.5 million per year in sales.

During the August 1, 2007 raid, investigators searched Diaz-Marta's residence, according to one of the affidavits signed by Agent Johnson. At that time agents discovered more than 100 mod chips as well as invoices from Supreme Factory for additional devices. Agent Johnson estimated that 80% of NonStop Technologies' business derived from mod chip sales, writing in a seizure affidavit:

The business cycle for NonStop Technologies more closely resembles that of a drug dealer than that of a provider of legitimate consumer goods. The sales volume and turnover being conducted by NonStop Technologies is indicative of the sale of a highly sought after and scarce product...

As a result of the search of Diaz-Marta's residence, agents also moved to seize a Scottrade account. No funds were contained in that account, however.

GP: Today's GamePolitics exclusive coverage is the first public indication that 2007's Operation Tangled Web was a major investigative success for the feds, as well as something of a coup for the ESA's anti-piracy team. Heretofore, the only publicly available information on the case has consisted of scattered, largely unofficial reports concerning apparent small-fry who were caught up in the sweep. Now, with evidence of NonStop Technologies' impressive revenue stream and large wire transfers to China, the picture of the investigation has changed considerably.

It is important to point out, however, that no information has been released by the U.S. Attorney's Office regarding potential indictments of anyone involved in the case, including Diaz-Marta. ICE declined GP's request to comment for this story. We should also point out that 31 other places were raided on August 1, 2007. Very little is known so far about what was found at most of those locations.

Document dump:

1.) seizure warrant for Wells Fargo Bank account

2.) seizure warrant for Scottrade account

Yesterday GamePolitics reported that police in Australia and Winnipeg engaged in a bit of game bashing by relating stolen cars and reckless road behavior to driving games.

Today, the Peterborough Examiner reports that cops in Ontario are using a driving game in a positive way to help educate high school students about the dangers of drunk driving. Officers there have combined an unspecified game with the shell of an automobile to simulate a real-world driving experience. Students then don "beer goggles" which warp one's vision in a manner similar to a state of high intoxication. Sgt. John Ogrodnik commented:

If anyone actually did this they would never want to get behind the wheel of their car (while drunk).

Police in Winnipeg believe that a quartet of youthful offenders were acting out in video game-like fashion by stealing cars and fleeing from pursuing officers.

CBC reports on comments by Sgt. Doug Safioles:

They all play the game, they talk about the game, they tell their probation officers it's a game. It's a huge rush. They taunt the police on purpose to engage in chases.

Safioles, who did not link the teens to a specific game, made similar comments in May. At that time, however, a youth advocate linked the crimes to the region's high level of poverty.

Meanwhile, in Australia, the Daily Telegraph reports that Superintendent Dave Evans of the New South Wales police has blamed video games for a lack of responsibility on the part of teen drivers:

Video games can have a negative impact on young drivers because it increases their complacency and their indulgence in risk-taking behaviour. In games you race, you crash and it is a matter of pressing the buttons and off you go again. In real life it doesn't work that way, you can be killed.

As of next month, officials in the Canadian province of New Brunswick will require video game retailers to be licensed. The move is intended to keep violent games away from younger players.

As reported by local newspaper the Times and Transcript, the new regulation will make it easier for inspectors to ensure that the game shops are complying with ESRB ratings at point of sale. DVD sellers are already subject to licensing in the province. Lisa Harrity, a spokeswoman for New Brunswick Public Safety Department, commented:

We license and regulate the retailers only. Up until now, this did not include videogames... [The ESRB provides] a video game rating system that's used throughout North America. The issue is ensuring that our retailers are complying.

GP: This system would be unworkable in the United States. Here, court decisions have held that it is unconstitutional to base government enforcement actions on a private standard such as the ESRB ratings.

The issue of whether or not to allow violent video games in prisons has surfaced as a controversy in Australia.

Perth Now reports that the Homicide Victims Support Group plans to lobby government officials to keep violent games out of jails in Western Australia. Inmates in WA are permitted to purchase M-rated (15+) games, while prisons in Victoria restrict inmates to what the article describes as "PG" games.

Support Group spokeswoman Jean Wilby told the newspaper:

The people who commit these horrific crimes are faring far better than other people in our community. Jails are supposed to be places of punishment, not places where you can play games. Where is the deterrent? If they get these concessions, then they won't see jail as a place where they don't want to be.

However, an official of the prison guards' union cautioned against making prison life too bleak. John Welch said:

No one is saying that prisons should be the lap of luxury, but you have to have some way of managing prisoners. You can't have a system where you lock them up 23 hours a day in a cell without the ability to entertain themselves.

So you torrented Spore and Fallout 3?

Shame on you. But, among pirates, you're a lightweight.

PC World reports that Somali buccaneers have been pirating games the old-fashioned way - on the high seas, with guns.

Pirates in the vicinity of Somalia have been stepping up attacks on trade ships beyond the Horn of Africa into the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, imperiling access to the Suez Canal. Those attacks are up from one every few weeks to four in a single day, according to Sam Dawson of the International Transport Workers' Federation... "This is not just guys in little fishing boats anymore," says Dawson. "We know there are three probably ex-Soviet trawlers acting as mother ships..."

 

"Despite all the publicity over piracy it will really hit home when consumers in the West find they haven't got their Nintendo gifts this Christmas..."

Japanese game company Famista will place the picture of a fugitive murder suspect in an upcoming PC game.

Sky News reports that Tatsuya Ichihashiis (far left) is wanted for the sadistic murder of Lindsay Hawker, a 22-year-old English tutor. Her body was found in the suspect's apartment in March. The young woman had been bound, strangled, and beaten over the course of a 36-hour ordeal.

Ichihashi's face, along with those of other wanted men, will appear in a slot machine game. Hitting the jackpot will reveal detailed information about the fugitives and explain how to report tips. Famista spokesperson Takashi Saito commented:

We thought this could be a new way to contribute to the community. There are many internet sites that display photos of those on the wanted list, but they are not necessarily visited frequently. By mixing it with entertainment, we thought we could make some contribution to the police efforts.

UPDATE: Sky News is now reporting that the family of victim Lindsay Hawker is upset about Famista's  plans to include information about her murder in the game. Julia Hawker, Lindsay's mother, said:

We have not been consulted about this - the first we heard about it was through the Sky News website and we are not happy about this. We have contacted the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and have asked them to contact the Japanese Police to find out what they know about it and why we have not been consulted.

I also want to know if this is a commercial venture, as if it is, then it is in extremely poor taste. The whole thing is distasteful and not befitting Lindsay's memory.

The family has established a website devoted to finding Lindsay's killer.

UPDATE 2: Big in Japan identifies the Famista offering as Slot Detective, a Pachinko-style game:

Famista have tried to justify the release of this machine by saying it is providing a valuable social service. This game, playable online, through your mobile phone or in pachinko parlours, will give information about the wanted people if you get a jackpot, the crimes they are suspected of and what to do if you see them (probably something along the lines of, “Just have one more gamble before you report them”).