2 questions..

[[shojo kakumei stylin']]

Am I going to get arrested/fined if I buy a ddr pad to usb cord thing? I've been arguing with my mom about this all day. She doesn't want to buy one because you can't buy it in Radio Shack, or a comperable electronics/gaming store. So, what's the deal on it? Is it legal?

And one more thing. My arrow keypad has seemingly died.. I've cleaned it out with that can-of-air stuff, but it still doesn't work.. thus, frustration insues. should I give up on it?
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overplayed song of the week: er.. no song.
Stepmania Scores updated 11/14 || Tournament Pictures! || lj

[LaZZer]

They are not illigal at all and radio shack does sell them (they dont work though). I have not heard anything about the DDR police raiding somones house and arresting them for using one.

As for the keyboard: try taking a quater and poping out the keys. Look for any large pices of stuff, food, bugs, anything. If nothing still seems to work just gotta get another keyboard. Fellower's keyboards are good and should only cost about $15.

[DJzen]

PSX -> USB adapters are not illegal. They have no reason to be illegal. They are not black market items made by skeevy people with dodgy street names. They are made by electronics companies such as Mad Katz or Radio Shack. Some of them are imported but they are legal for sale and distribution in the US. Generally speaking, with electronics, there are only 2 concerns regarding legality. First, is it going to work in an American power outlet? This is only an issue for distribution, since you could get in trouble as a retailer for selling an item that does not work as is claimed. These PSX -> USB converters require no external power, and will therefore work just fine. The second is will anyone be losing money from the sale of this item? This is the main reason why illegal duplicates and imports aren't legal. If you have a bootleg version of, say, Eminem's new album, why would you need to buy the actual version? The record company and Eminem don't make a sale and blame you for ripping them off. Imports, however, are slightly different. American companies figure that if you buy the imported version of the product that they make locally (for example, a Japanese Playstation2 as opposed to an American Playstation2) you won't need to buy the American version, and have therefore ripped off the American company, causing their sales to drop. The reason many people have less of an objection to important games is because A) a lot of the text and/or speech will be in Japanese, meaning if you want the full experience of the game, you'll have to buy the American version anyway or take a college course, and B) because the VAST majority of Japanese games NEVER get released in America. Dance Dance Revolution is actually a great example of this. Sure, we may have DDR USA and and Konamix, but we really got the short end of the stick, just ask the many people on these boards who are upset about the American version of DDRMAX. Also, it is not ILLEGAL to own a Japanese product, it is illegal to PROFIT off of it. So, owning the Japanese DDR 5th Mix for your Playstation won't get you prison time, fines, community service or any such thing, but owning the arcade machine ("coin operated version") is slightly less kosher. I can't name any arcade owners who've ever gotten into any amount of trouble over this. Go forth and inform the world (and your mother) of said legal issues. It will put hearts at rest and afford you the chance to buy a swank PSX -> USB converter
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