The EFF has started to talk to the US Copyright Office on making console mods legal, at least in the US. The group is currently seeking to have the Copyright Office broaden the exemptions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (The DMCA) to include the jailbreaking of phones, tablets and even game consoles. This would allow no legal recourse against those who run whatever operating system they want, or software for that matter, on their own purchased devices.

The EFF has said that the DMCA was supposed to block copyright infringement (which it only kinda does) but instead it has been misused to threaten the creators, innovaters and consumers of creative industries. EFF IP Director Corynne McSherry says that it "discourages" users from "making full and fair use of their own property...and hobbyists and tinkerers who want to modify their phones or [game] consoles to run software programs of their choice deserve protection under the law," which I could not agree more with.

I've always seen that people who have the choice, right and financial stability to own a console, have the right, foresight and nerve to do what they want with that console. They know the risks and responsibilities, more often than not technical rather than legal, and when they are making mods, they also have to purchase extra parts and will have the autonomy to do so. Why not let them mod their consoles if they are responsible for their own actions when it comes to modding?

However, any kind of legal hearings on the proposed exemptions will not take place till the spring of 2012, with any final ruling to be held later in October. 

Via [EFF]

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