] In the first case of its kind, a California video game
] maker is suing an entire community of software tinkerers
] for reverse engineering and modifying Xbox games that
] they legally purchased.

] The harm isn't just to the wholesome values of Dead or
] Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball, hinted Tecmo spokesperson
] Melody Pfeiffer. There's a principle at stake. "Hackers,
] if they're allowed to do this kind of thing, will be
] allowed to hack into any game, anywhere," Pfeiffer warns.
] "We spent millions of dollars to develop these games, and
] people are coming in and changing the code to their
] liking, and that's illegal."

Ok, so let me make sure I have this straight... Because a very small segment of the user market is making and using game modifications that modify characters, we gotta make a trip to the fair use rights grinder. This has been going on for over a decade, going back to the dawn of computer games. How is an after-market for video game mods is such a threat? Unless people are selling the mods, they can only attract more people to buying the game.

If the characters being inserted into the game were in violation of someone's trademark, I could see it as being a reasonable thing to get in a huff over. Otherwise, this is trivial and an undue attempt to restrict users' rights and privileges.

] A message on ninjahacker.net reports the site was taken
] down on January 25th, a few days after the lawsuit was
] filed. Greiling did not return a phone message Wednesday.
] In a telephone interview, Glynn said he hosted
] ninjahacker.net as a favor to Greiling, but that he had
] no other interaction with the site or its users.
] "Basically, I was hosting this website," Glynn says. "I
] don't own an Xbox and I wasn't into modding or skinning
] things."

And your bonus chilling effect of the day is the loss of another online community, and a reminder to anyone who runs one, that we are the bitch of anyone with a team of lawyers and large cash flow.

Hackers sued for tinkering with Xbox games