Modding

Modding is a slang expression for the act of modifying a piece of hardware or software to perform a function not intended or authorized by the original manufacturer.

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Legal issues

Some nations have laws prohibiting modding and accuse modders of attempting to overcome copy prevention schemes. In the United States, the DMCA has set up stiff penalties for modding involving such circumvention. In the European Union, member states have agreed the EU Copyright Directive and are transposing it into national law. A man was convicted in the United Kingdom in July 2005 for modding an Xbox.

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Video game consoles

A common example is video game console mod chips, which can allow users to play games legitimately purchased in other regions or legal backup copies, but can also allow illegal unauthorized copies by allowing the player to play personally-recorded CD copies of video games. Modchips, in their current form, were first available for the Sony Playstation. Various other types of copyright circumvention systems existed for the older Nintendo 64 and Gameboy consoles, though.

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Game software

On the other side, some companies actively encouraging modding of their products. In cases such as TiVo and Google, there has been an informal agreement between the modders and the company in which the modders agree not to do anything that destroys the companies business model and the company agrees to support the modding community by providing technical specifications and information. Some commercial video games thrive through a modding community. In the case of Half-Life, a mod called Counter-Strike drove sales of the original software for years. Space Empires is also a series renowned for its modding capabilities; virtually anyone, even a trained monkey, can make a custom mod for the game, since almost all of the game's critical files are .txt or .bmp files, allowing anyone (any Windows user at least) to easily adapt the game to suit their own needs. Almost everyone who has played Space Empires IV, the latest installment in the series, has created at least a small custom modification, and everyone has, at one time, played a mod, whether self-made or created by someone else. For info on this see mod (computer gaming).

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Computer cases

Overclocking may also be termed as 'modding', and the overclocking of a graphics card using driver software to gain the performance of a more expensive model is known as 'soft-modding'.

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The term may also refer to the artistic modification of hardware for purely aesthetic reasons (especially computer cases). Modding in this sense is purely a creative act and is normally quite legal (although it may void your warranty or violate electromagnetic emission regulations). An example of this kind of modding may involve re-painting a case, cutting a hole in the side panel and installing a clear window so that the components are visible from outside.

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For more info see case modification.

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