Nintendo continues to crack down on piracy and modders. The latest to feel the heat is a Switch Modchip seller Ryan Daly who runs the store Modded Hardware, and a popular Switch piracy Reddit page moderated by James Williams.
As reported by TorrentFreak, Nintendo had earlier contacted Daly to stop selling modded Switch consoles and MIG Switches (which makes it possible to play pirated Switch games on unmodded hardware), threatening to sue him if he didn’t stop.
In the lawsuit, Nintendo claimed Daly agreed to stop selling the modded hardware in March but continued doing so. In the lawsuit filed at a federal court in Seattle, the Japanese video game giant accused Daly of six charges including “trafficking in circumvention devices” and copyright infringement.
Just like in the case of Tropic Haze, Nintendo tried to prove that Daly aided and benefited from the proceeds of piracy by saying in the lawsuit that Modded Hardware offered mail-in service that allowed Switch users to send in their consoles and have them returned modded, and sometimes with pirated games installed.
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“Defendant not only offers the hardware and firmware to create and play pirated games, but he also provides his customers with copies of pirated Nintendo games,” Nintendo said in the lawsuit.
“Typically, when a customer purchases a hacked console or the circumvention services, Defendant preinstalls on the console a portfolio of ready-to-play pirated games, including some of Nintendo’s most popular titles such as its Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda, and Metroid games.”
Nintendo is not only seeking financial compensation for damages but also wants the website to be shuttered. The platform holder also wants Daly “to deliver to NOA all circumvention devices, hacked consoles, and any other physical or digital copies of materials that infringe or violate any of NOA’s rights”.
Nintendo is also asking for the shutdown of pirate shops
In another lawsuit, Nintendo is asking a court to shutter the activities of James Williams who the platform holder accused of operating several pirate shops. Nintendo claimed the “operator, overseer, and driving force behind several Pirate Shops, through which Defendant has offered massive libraries of pirated Nintendo Switch games”.
Williams was the moderator of the SwitchPirates Reddit group using the name Archbox. While serving as the moderator of the group, he answered questions from users pertaining to modding their Switch consoles.
“Defendant became a leading (if not the primary) moderator of the SwitchPirates Reddit community, which he helped grow to nearly 190,000 members,” read Nintendo’s complaint.
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“Since 2019, Defendant has posted thousands of comments and messages to the SwitchPirates Reddit Group. Defendant’s posts have included, by way of example, messages directing users to the Pirate Shops […] and offering technical advice and encouragement to other users about how to use the Pirate Shops, how to download and install Circumvention Software, and how to play pirated copies of Nintendo Switch games.”
Like Modded Hardware, Nintendo is seeking compensation from William as well as asking for the shutdown of all his pirate shops and social media accounts related to Switch modding. In the lawsuit, Nintendo even quoted where Williams was bragging that he couldn’t pay for Switch games.
“Defendant is well aware that his conduct is unlawful and infringes Nintendo’s intellectual property rights,” read the lawsuit. “Indeed, Defendant has bragged publicly that he is a ‘pirate’ who ‘[isn’t] going to give Nintendo $50 for a game’.”
This is the third major lawsuit or DMCA notice that Nintendo has filed against people they believe to be infringing on their intellectual property rights this year—and they have succeeded in every one of them up to this point.
