[Nonesuch]

This was hashed out pretty well on Slashdot.

Reading the article, the key factor is that they weren't just charging for the "mod chip", but also for pirated copies of dozens of games:

They charged from $225 to more than $500 for the modifications, depending on the extent of the modifications and the number of games preloaded onto the hard drive, according to a statement from prosecutors and the complaint affidavit obtained by Reuters.

During the investigation, undercover agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement paid $265 to have a modification chip, a hard drive and 77 pirated games installed on an Xbox, according to the criminal complaint.

So this isn't the pure "mod chip test case" that people are looking for, but rather your everyday bulk video game piracy bust.

[antiRepublicrat]

So this isn't the pure "mod chip test case" that people are looking for, but rather your everyday bulk video game piracy bust.

Let'em burn for the piracy, I have no sympathy. But you're right, it makes for a bad DMCA test case on the issue of circumvention simply because they're pirates. I'm sure Corely (2600) lost the DeCSS case partially because he could be portrayed as an evil hacker.

[GeronL]

So they were not only subborning violations of copyright or whatever but were also violating the copyrights themselves.

Hang them!