Cal State Student Arrested for Playing with Video Games

College student is accused of modifying consoles for personal financial gain

Updated 11:53 AM CST, Wed, Aug 5, 2009

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Feds charge that the man was living his own version of "Vice City"

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Playing with video games can lead to hard time, just ask Matthew Lloyd Crippen.

The Cal State Fullerton student was arrested Monday on federal charges that he illegally modified Xbox, Playstation, Wii and other video game consoles to enable the machines to play pirated video games.

Crippen, 27, of Anaheim, was taken into custody Monday morning by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. The arrest follows his indictment by a federal grand jury on two counts of violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

Specifically, the college student is accused of modifying for personal financial gain technology affecting control or access to a copyrighted work, according to an ICE statement.

Each criminal count carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

The charges against Crippen stem from an ICE investigation initiated late last year after the agency received a tip from the Entertainment Software Association.

Last May, ICE agents executed a federal search warrant at Crippen's home, where they seized more than a dozen Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony video game consoles.

“Playing with games in this way is not a game -- it is criminal,” said Robert Schoch, special agent in charge of the ICE investigations office in Los Angeles.

“Piracy, counterfeiting and other intellectual property rights violations not only cost U.S. businesses jobs and billions of dollars a year in lost revenue, they can also pose significant health and safety risks to consumers,” he said.

Counterfeiting and piracy have grown in recent years in both magnitude and complexity, according to ICE. Industry and trade associations estimate that counterfeiting and piracy now cost the U.S. economy as much as $250 billion a year and a total of 750,000 American jobs.

Some estimates indicate that 5 percent to 8 percent of all the goods and merchandise sold worldwide are counterfeit.

Crippen was expected to make his initial federal court appearance late Monday in Los Angeles.

Copyright City News Service

First Published: Aug 3, 2009 6:43 PM CST

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0 Comments

{"totSize":155,"payload_type":"json","status":"1","results":[{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"396489_52386872","adminTags":null,"views":10690,"createdBy":7918844,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"Cal State Student Faces 10 Year Prison Term for Playing with Video Games","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":1002214,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"4 Aug 2009 15:13:15 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":5,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"anonymous_user","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"529816","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"What the fu....\"Health risks\"? Bull."},{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"396489_52386872","adminTags":null,"views":10690,"createdBy":7918844,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"Cal State Student Faces 10 Year Prison Term for Playing with Video Games","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":1002214,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"4 Aug 2009 15:28:36 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":5,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"anonymous_user","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"529955","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"This is ridiculous. Health effects from modifying a game console? You have got to be kidding. And what the hell does 5 to 8 % of goods and merchandise sold world-wide being counterfeit have to do with this case in any way or shape? Who is selling counterfeit goods here? Nobody I can see.\n\nAnd why are ICE agents working at the behest of some entertainment association in a penny-ante case that should be a civil matter at worst?\n\nWe are letting too much DRM into our lives, and the recent case where Kindle customers had books surreptitiously deleted showed.\n\nmiddle of the night "},{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"396489_52386872","adminTags":null,"views":10690,"createdBy":7918844,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"Cal State Student Faces 10 Year Prison Term for Playing with Video Games","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":1002214,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"4 Aug 2009 15:30:55 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":5,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"anonymous_user","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"529974","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"This is totally insane. He's modding people's personal property. \nfirst, it's fair use to tinker or modify electronics you bought. Second, it's fair use to allow your system to run personal backups of video games. Third, These chips are used for everything from pirating games to running unsupported operating systems. Unless he was selling copied versions of the games with them, I think he's on fair legal ground. "},{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"396489_52386872","adminTags":null,"views":10690,"createdBy":7918844,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"Cal State Student Faces 10 Year Prison Term for Playing with Video Games","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":1002214,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"4 Aug 2009 15:31:05 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":5,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"anonymous_user","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"529978","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"this is ridiculous, his modified consoles contained no pirated works. be sure to start locking up anybody who unlocks phones, same thing.. i just hope i don't get arrested for modifying my toaster."},{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"396489_52386872","adminTags":null,"views":10690,"createdBy":7918844,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"Cal State Student Faces 10 Year Prison Term for Playing with Video Games","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":1002214,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"4 Aug 2009 15:32:35 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":5,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"anonymous_user","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"529984","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"LMFAO!!!! HEALTH RISKS? I'M LOLING SO HARD!! LOL!!!!!!! HAY GAIZ. MY TOY CAR MADE OF PLASTIC IS A HEALTH RISK I CAN ACCIDENTALLY SWALLOW IT. This scenario: *Brekas machine, pulls out mod chip* *Swallows it* \"GUYS HELP!!!!!!!!!!\""}],"error":"","totPages":31}