Daytime television legal precedence was set earlier this year in a landmark case involving Wii mod chip shenanigans. More interesting than plaintiff Joseff Ben David suing defendant Eyal Levinshtein for gouging him on mod chip installation are the blatant displays of piracy broadcast on syndicated TV.
David went after Levinshtein after the cost of modding his Wii came back with a higher than expected price tag of $US160 USD. That mod would “allow him to get games for three dollars instead of 60 dollars,” according to the People’s Court case “Being A Gamer.” When David failed to pay that bill, Levinshtein held onto his modified Wii as collateral, countersuing David for the cost of services provided.
“You can download games and it doesn’t cost so much money,” Mr. David explains to actual Judge Marilyn Milian, who glosses over the obvious piracy of software without concern.
Like most episodes of daytime fodder The People’s Court, there’s a good deal of explanation, back and forth, yadda yadda yadda… enough to fill 13 minutes of programming. If you don’t feel like watching, Judge Milian ruled in the case that aired in February of this year that the modded Wii should be returned to Mr David and that he should pay Mr Levinshtein for services rendered.
Nintendo Wii Modchip Case on People’s Court [YouTube via Gamepolitics]
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