Calif. man pleads guilty to Xbox tampering (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A co-owner of a Hollywood videogame store that caters to celebrity clients on Wednesdaypleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to violatefederal copyright laws by selling video game consolesmodified to play pirated games.

Jason Jones, a co-owner of ACME Game Store, entered aguilty plea in federal court in Los Angeles. His businesspartner, Jonathan Bryant, has signed a plea agreement and isscheduled to plead guilty to a conspiracy count on Monday,prosecutors said.

Jones pleaded guilty, and Bryant agreed to plead guilty, toone felony count of conspiring to traffic in a technology usedto circumvent a copyright protection system, conspiring toinfringe on a valid copyright for financial gain, and willfullyinfringing a copyrighted work by reproducing and distributingpirated works worth more than $1,000.

Jones, reached at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3),said he does not know how to modify an Xbox and that he pleadedguilty to the broad set of charges in order to reach anagreement with prosecutors.

"I don't know how to modify a f---ing Xbox," Jones said. Headded that performing such modifications requires significanttraining and that the prevalence of such tampering has notreached epidemic proportions.

A third defendant, Pei "Patrick" Cai -- who allegedly madethe modifications to Microsoft Corp.'s (Nasdaq: - ) original videogame console to allow users to copy rented or borrowed gamesonto the console for future play -- has missed his courtappearances and the government considers him a fugitive.

Cai is charged with conspiracy, two felony violations ofthe -- which prohibitstrafficking in technology designed to circumvent digitalcopyright protection technology -- copyright infringement andcopyright infringement for profit.

Prosecutors said the defendants, who reportedly count starssuch as actor David Arquette and rapper Snoop Dogg among thepeople who have visited their fashionable Melrose Avenue store,sold the modified consoles for $225 to $500. Pricing dependedon the extent of the modifications and the number of gamespreloaded to the hard drive.

"We're like the Heidi Fleiss of video games," said Jones,referring to the famed "Hollywood Madam." He added that hissupporters have stood by throughout the ordeal and that heplans to open a bigger, better store in another Los Angeleslocation.

"Overall, its been good ... provided we don't go to jail,"said Jones, who is scheduled for sentencing on August 7. Hefaces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison and afine of $250,000, or twice the gross gain or gross lossresulting from the offense.

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