South Korea makes game modding illegal

[zMeul]

source: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/286852/South_Korea_cracks_down_on_cheaters_with_law_targeting_illicit_game_mods.php

 

 

there are two kinds of mods someone can make

• benign ones - like HD texture packs, sound mods ..
• cheats - aimbots

South Korea just passed an amendment to a law that promotes the game industry; the said amendment outright bans creation and distribution of software that are not allowed by the game's publisher / developer and their respective Terms of Service

Quote

In theory, this makes it easier for the creators of competitive games to crack down on things like hacking programs, aimbots, and other game mods that give players an unfair advantage in online play.

 

Violation of the amended law also comes with a hefty penalty; those found guilty could face up to 5 years in jail or roughly $43,000 in fines.

 

in practice, the law is so ambiguous that it also can be used to outright outlaw the said benign mods

[fiberzs is dad]

go homeland!

[ARikozuM]

2 minutes ago, zMeul said:

• benign ones - like HD texture packs, sound mods .

Might want to change this to say "cosmetic".

[Guest]

It is understandable as South Korea is one of the biggest country in esports.

But then, now I can not put my CS GO configs and scripts in Korea anymore

[zMeul]

Just now, ARikozuM said:

Might want to change this to say "cosmetic".

I gave examples as not all benign mods are cosmetic

sound mods aren't cosmetic

[Guest]

1 minute ago, zMeul said:

I gave examples as not all benign mods are cosmetic

sound mods aren't cosmetic

cosmetic to your ears

[zMeul]

Just now, deXxterlab97 said:

cosmetic to your ears

sorry, I don't wear earrings 

[Kinda Bottlenecked]

Phew, for a second i thought this was going to affect their skyrim modding.

[Belgarathian]

11 minutes ago, zMeul said:

I gave examples as not all benign mods are cosmetic

sound mods aren't cosmetic

Cosmetic mods can give an online advantage 

 

How about "Mods that don't advantage one player over another"

[Trik'Stari]

.................

 

This is what happens when you let old people who don't understand anything, pass laws and tell people what to do.

[zMeul]

55 minutes ago, Belgarathian said:

Cosmetic mods can give an online advantage 

 

How about "Mods that don't advantage one player over another"

this is not about on-line games, it's about crossing the ToS / EULA - the law amendment makes absolutely no distinction whatsoever

[Mooshi]

We're supposed to take a country with a feminist shadow government and exploding phones seriously? 

[zMeul]

2 minutes ago, Mooshi said:

We're supposed to take a country with a feminist shadow government and exploding phones seriously? 

as opposed to a country that voted Trum as president ?!

[goodtofufriday]

4 minutes ago, zMeul said:

as opposed to a country that voted Trum as president ?!

Touche

[handymanshandle]

I kinda think it's dumb, like I guess I understand for like online stuff. Though for private single player stuff it doesn't make sense to me. Does that mean third party airplanes in games like Xplane or FSX would be illegal, if so. Will want to be sure I don't travel to S. Korea with a computer that has third party airplanes on FSX or Xplane.

[samcool55]

What about games that allow modding like fallout 4? O_o

 

If the developer designed the game with modding in mind and released tools to do it, it would be silly that you can't use them from the gov >_>

[Fetzie]

39 minutes ago, samcool55 said:

What about games that allow modding like fallout 4? O_o

 

If the developer designed the game with modding in mind and released tools to do it, it would be silly that you can't use them from the gov >_>

the said amendment outright bans creation and distribution of software that are not allowed by the game's publisher / developer and their respective Terms of Service

 

 

 

So if the game developers allow modding then you can do it as long as you keep to the ToS.

[cesrai]

5 hours ago, Trik'Stari said:

.................

 

This is what happens when you let old people who don't understand anything, pass laws and tell people what to do.

Did you read the article ? This is actually a good thing.

---

Quote

 

 manufacturing and distributing programs that are not allowed by the game company and its Terms of Service is now directly illegal.

 

So what's not to like here ? I guess cheaters may not like this. I guess I should expect much less hacks from South Korea.

 

source: https://pvplive.net/c/south-korea-passes-bill-to-directly-punish-hack-ma ( gamasutra article is pos )

[cesrai]

1 hour ago, huilun02 said:

Cheat in test, expelled. 

Cheat in video game, arrested. 

 

Young man, please make your statement at the police station.

 

I... i... just wanted to make my horse pink. 

A developer isn't gonna go and sue you for making your horse pink. This law is made to make the life of riot and blizzard easier in suing cheat makers and distributors. 

2 hours ago, wcreek said:

I kinda think it's dumb, like I guess I understand for like online stuff. Though for private single player stuff it doesn't make sense to me. Does that mean third party airplanes in games like Xplane or FSX would be illegal, if so. Will want to be sure I don't travel to S. Korea with a computer that has third party airplanes on FSX or Xplane.

This law won't effect you then. Do you actually think MS will go and sue you for using third party airplanes in FSX ?  Why do you think it's dump ??

[zMeul]

3 minutes ago, cesrai said:

Did you read the article ? This is actually a good thing.

---

 

So what's not to like here ? I guess cheaters may not like this. I guess I should expect much less hacks from South Korea.

 

source: https://pvplive.net/c/south-korea-passes-bill-to-directly-punish-hack-ma ( gamasutra article is pos )

the original PVPLive article is a one sided piece of shit, that's why I didn't linked it in the OP

[zMeul]

3 minutes ago, cesrai said:

This law won't effect you then. Do you actually think MS will go and sue you for using third party airplanes in FSX ?  Why do you think it's dump ??

see, that's where you fell off the cliff

MS won't sue you, the SK gov will send you to jail

[cesrai]

2 minutes ago, zMeul said:

the original PVPLive article is a one sided piece of shit, that's why I didn't linked it in the OP

And it's one sided because ? 

 

1 minute ago, zMeul said:

see, that's where you fell off the cliff

MS won't sue you, the SK gov will send you to jail

Yeah sure thing. Link me a case where the SK government goes after someone and sues them for mooding FSX or games like it.

[Castdeath97]

10 minutes ago, cesrai said:

Did you read the article ? This is actually a good thing.

---

 

So what's not to like here ? I guess cheaters may not like this. I guess I should expect much less hacks from South Korea.

 

source: https://pvplive.net/c/south-korea-passes-bill-to-directly-punish-hack-ma ( gamasutra article is pos )

Still has a lot of potential of abuse, we are in a world where patent trolls exist after all. Won't be surprised if some developer or publisher decides to sue someone because he modded his game just for money rather than preventing hacks.

[zMeul]

Just now, cesrai said:

And it's one sided because ? 

 

Yeah sure thing. Link me a case where the SK government goes after someone and sues them for mooding FSX or games like it.

it's a 43000$ fine - hell yeah they will

 

please tell me, how bad you have to screw up in your country to get fined 43k USD or be sent to jail?

[cesrai]

4 minutes ago, Castdeath97 said:

Still has a lot of potential of abuse, we are in a world where patent trolls exist after all. Won't be surprised if some developer or publisher decides to sue someone because he modded his game just for money rather than preventing hacks.

We will have to wait and see then. Personally I don't think it will happen and I'm not sure it's gonna be this easy to abuse as you and zemul picture it.

3 minutes ago, zMeul said:

it's a 43000$ fine - hell yeah they will

 

please tell me, how bad you have to screw up in your country to get fined 43k USD or be sent to jail?

Maybe where you live your government would go after pocket change. But I don't think it will happen in SK and when that does please tell me and I will eat my words happily.

 

In UAE you would have to fuck up really badly or commit a cyber crime like hacking and such ( as the government are kinda cracking down on cyber crimes )