Software pirate jailed for modifying XBox 360

UAE Authorities have convicted  an internet pirate  who established a website offering modified Xbox 360 consoles to play pirated games and who also sold  pirated Xbox 360 games, said a statement.

Local authorities were made aware that an internet pirate running a website was offering pirated Xbox 360 games and the console modification which makes the running of pirated games possible.

Dubai law enforcement authorities, with the support of the Arabian Anti-Piracy Alliance (AAA), provided an Xbox 360 console to the target for modification and enquiries were made about pirated Xbox 360 games. The console was modified by the target and he was willing to provide pirated games on the hard disk. A raid by the authorities followed and the site operator was arrested. Although an appeal is now pending, in a landmark decision for the UAE, the owner was sentenced to three-month imprisonment by the Court of First Instance in Dubai for copyright infringement and the illegal modification of the Xbox 360 consoles that were seized during the raid.

“The law enforcement authorities and judiciary in Dubai have made it very clear that intentionally bypassing game consoles piracy protection mechanisms and then offering for sale or selling pirated Xbox 360 games will not be tolerated in the UAE. As Microsoft, we fully support the actions by the authorities to level the playing field for legitimate resellers and ensure that our customers receive the rich experience provided by the Xbox 360 and Kinect platform,” said Savas Yucedag, Anti-Piracy Manager for Microsoft Gulf.

“As a distributor of genuine Microsoft Xbox games in the UAE, we welcome the actions by the local authorities to ensure that we are able to compete fairly  as a legitimate distributor,” said Arvind Agrawal, CEO - LS2 Pluto. “We hope that consumers understand the dangers of copyright infringement and urge them to report any illegal activity they come across,” Said Agrawal.

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