piracy
December 10th, 2009 at 01:30pm
Under Wii / Nintendo
A Paris criminal court recently ruled in favor of Divineo, a company that sells DS flash carts. In a statement, Nintendo said that it was “extremely disappointed with the decision by Paris Criminal Court to find Max Louarn, his company, Divineo, and other co-defendants not guilty in the criminal case involving the sale and distribution of game copying devices,” and that the company “welcomes the prosecutor’s decision to appeal the judgment. As a victim Nintendo will join his appeal.”
In the statement, Nintendo noted that Divineo still owes the company damages from a ruling made in Nintendo’s favor in Hong Kong last year. Last month, a Spanish criminal case was dismissed against a company selling DS flash carts, with the judge in that case ruling that the carts are not illegal since they can be used for many non-infringing purposes.
Nintendo appealing French flash cart ruling originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 10 Dec 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: divineo, flashcart, france, piracy, Wii / Nintendo
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Nintendo appealing French flash cart ruling
November 23rd, 2009 at 08:45pm
Under DS
Judge D. Gregorio Alvarez Alvarez of Salamanca, Spain, dismissed a complaint brought by Nintendo against Grupo Movilquick, which sells the DSTT flash cart in Spain. The judge ruled that though the device does circumvent Nintendo’s DRM, and can be used for piracy, it can also be used to extend the functionality of the DS in other, legal ways — such as, according to Google’s translation of the judge’s statement, “backing up original games or other various functions such as managing photos, music or performance of (free software).”
The judge notes that Nintendo might still have grounds for a civil lawsuit if it can be proven that the DSTT infringes on a Nintendo industrial design patent. But his ruling is a far cry from the usual “flash carts are piracy machines” rhetoric that (understandably) angry companies like Nintendo perpetuate.
[Via GamePolitics]
Spanish judge throws out criminal case against DS flash cart seller originally appeared on Joystiq Nintendo on Mon, 23 Nov 2009 19:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: dstt, flash-cart, flashcart, homebrew, piracy, spain
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Spanish judge throws out criminal case against DS flash cart seller
November 22nd, 2009 at 06:00pm
Under Xbox 360
In response to a possible class action lawsuit resulting from a recent round of Xbox Live bans, Microsoft has now asserted the legality of its position. A spokesperson has told the Financial Post that piracy is a violation of the company’s terms of use and that Microsoft is “well within its legal rights” to ban users from its Xbox Live.
It was reported earlier this month that the law firm AlbingtonIP is “investigating” the possibility of a class action lawsuit against Microsoft over the bans. The firm argues that timing of the bans — shortly after the release of Halo 3: ODST and just prior to the launch of Modern Warfare 2 — was designed to get as much money from Xbox Live subscriptions as possible. In other words, the firm believes that Microsoft personally waited for a time when many people — modders in this case — would be purchasing Live subscriptions for popular games — money that probably wouldn’t be refunded after a ban.
Joystiq’s Law of the Game columnist, Mark Methenitis, classified the suit as a likely “cash grab,” explaining that anyone savvy enough to mod an Xbox would know to stay well away from Xbox Live. We might add that major releases, like ODST and Modern Warfare 2, are the biggest targets for piracy, and likely correspond with rises in illegal downloads. And that just might have something to do with the timing of the bans in question.
[Via Kotaku]
Microsoft says it’s ‘well within legal rights’ to ban consoles originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 22 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: ban, halo-3-odst, lawsuit, legal, microsoft, modding, modern-warfare-2, piracy, xbox-live
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Microsoft says it’s ‘well within legal rights’ to ban consoles
November 6th, 2009 at 10:00pm
Under Xbox 360
While it might be tempting to go straight to Craigslist with those Modern Warfare 2 Xbox 360 bundles you stole, it turns out that Activision notices exciting, high-profile offers just like your potential customers might. VentureBeat reports that when Activision noticed a listing for one of the bundles last Thursday, the company hired a private investigation firm, IPCyberCrime.com, to track down the seller.
When IPCyberCrime found the person behind the sale, the investigator discovered that he was an employee at a retailer, who, with friends, had stolen the bundles to sell on Craigslist. The sellers were turned over to the store’s loss prevention department.
That bust led to one of the prospective buyers, named Christian Del Amo, who was raising money on a forum to buy the bundle (allegedly) for the purpose of copying the game and selling the copies, along with other pirated games, on hard drives. IPCyberCrime turned that case over to the Miami-Dade Police Department, who arrested Del Amo.
Obviously, this demonstrates one reason (aside from the whole morality thing) why you shouldn’t try to make a business of selling pirated games. Activision has enough money to hire a private investigator, and is not afraid to use it.
Activision catches both pirates and thieves in Modern Warfare 2 investigation originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: activision, craigslist, infinity-ward, modern-warfare-2, piracy
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Activision catches both pirates and thieves in Modern Warfare 2 investigation
October 31st, 2009 at 07:00pm
Under Xbox 360
We hope your recent forays into piracy merely involve you donning a hook and eyepatch for a debaucherous costume party, or else you likely received a message from Microsoft like the headline of this post. The company recently dispatched a wave of bans to owners of modded Xbox 360s who’ve been playing pirated copies of games. A Microsoft spokesperson confirmed to IGN that “we have taken action against a small percentage of consoles that have been modified to play pirated game discs.”
The spokesperson went on to explain that this batch of console bans wasn’t conducted on any particular time frame, and that the company was merely following up on its standing policy against piracy. In other words, Microsoft isn’t trying to ruin your Halloween weekend — it just, you know, worked out that way.
[Image]
Happy Halloween! You’re banned from Xbox Live. originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 31 Oct 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: ban, burned, console-ban, microsoft, mod, piracy, pirates, xbox-live
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Happy Halloween! You’re banned from Xbox Live.
October 15th, 2009 at 12:15pm
Under Wii / Nintendo
Faced with The Truth that – regardless of what sorts of anti-piracy technology it folds into its DS platform – pirates will invariably hack the dual-screened handheld, Nintendo has buddied up with Capcom and 53 other video game publishers in Japan to file suit against four resellers of the popular R4 flash cartridge.
Earlier this year, a Tokyo court banned the sale of the devices; however, Capcom now says that “legal action has had no meaningful effect in the intervening period” and that sellers would “ignore” its warnings. Enter: a new lawsuit, which Capcom hopes leads to a ruling that acknowledges “our company and other software manufactures have sustained [extreme] damages from proliferation of illegal instruments.” Seems pretty cut and dry to us, but we’ll let the courts decide.
Nintendo, Capcom, friends file suit over DS piracy-enabling R4 sales originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 15 Oct 2009 11:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: capcom, lawsuit, nintendo, piracy, r4, Wii / Nintendo
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Nintendo, Capcom, friends file suit over DS piracy-enabling R4 sales
October 5th, 2009 at 06:00pm
Under DS
Police officers often employ the aid of criminal informants, a kind of double agent that works behind enemy lines to get all of the dirt on the lowlifes breaking the rules. That’s the new strategy for Nintendo and the 54 other companies that have again jointly filed suit in a Tokyo District Court to thwart the sale of devices used by pirates, such as the R4.
digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/nintendo/Nintendo_tackling_pirates_with_the_aid_of_consumer_snitches’; Despite winning the initial filing, Japanese retailers still sell the R4 and other flash carts, so Nintendo and (presumably) the same 54 companies have again filed suit. This latest filing aims for damages from those reselling the devices. See, Nintendo and the participating companies sent a letter to these resellers back in February requesting that they cease selling the device, but these resellers failed to comply.
Back to the snitching: Nintendo has opened a consumer website to report offenders and retailers hocking the devices. There, folks can fill out a web form with the appropriate information and submit it direct to Nintendo for follow-up. In exchange from Big N, you ask? You don’t really expect freebies for doing the right thing, do you? Also, there’s nothing.
[Via Andriasang]
Nintendo tackling pirates again (with the aid of consumer snitches) originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 05 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: babypirates, majicon, piracy, r4, r4-ds
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Nintendo tackling pirates again (with the aid of consumer snitches)
August 31st, 2009 at 08:59pm
Under DS
Though Nintendo already has a pretty solid system in place for combating piracy — the persistent threat that Reggie Fils-Aime will crush any software buccaneers between his mighty jaws — the company recently increased its piracy-preventing ranks. Neil Boyd was recently appointed European anti-piracy counsel for the company. Boyd, along with a pair of Nintendo’s legal advisors, will “take action against criminals who are making money out of the infringement of games developers’ copyright,” according to Nintendo anti-piracy director Jodi Daugherty.
Sony’s also increasing its piracy prevention efforts, albeit through more technological means. The PSP Go will contain a non-removable internal battery, which keeps would-be hackers from implementing the popular, homebrew-enabled Pandora battery. Also, we hear the PSP Go’s boot-up screen displays a pouty, doe-eyed Jack Tretton that’s said to strike crippling pangs of guilt into anyone who tries to conduct dubious dealings on the handheld. Consider PSPiracy beaten, friends.
Sony and Nintendo increasing effort in fight against piracy originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 31 Aug 2009 19:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: dsi, europe, illegal, pandora, piracy, pirates, psp-go
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Sony and Nintendo increasing effort in fight against piracy
August 6th, 2009 at 07:14pm
Under Wii / Nintendo
The site for the R4i DSi flash cart posted a video (see it after the break) demonstrating what appears to be the R4i running on a DSi system with the 1.4 firmware. You know, the firmware that was released not even a week ago, and removed flash cart compatibility? Yeah, that one. The video demonstrates a retail game ROM, which is not particularly awesome, but does serve as evidence of flash cart compatibility. The site currently doesn’t mention whether this is accomplished through an R4i firmware update or through new hardware. We’ll find out more as more flash carts pick up on whatever technique is in use.
If 1.4 has truly been defeated, homebrew users will be able to upload photos to Facebook and play Magnetic Shaving Derby! Magical.
[YouTube video via GBATemp]
Continue reading Looks like DSi firmware 1.4 is defeated already
Looks like DSi firmware 1.4 is defeated already originally appeared on Joystiq Nintendo on Thu, 06 Aug 2009 18:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: dsi, firmware, homebrew, piracy, r4, r4i, Wii / Nintendo
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Looks like DSi firmware 1.4 is defeated already
August 3rd, 2009 at 03:10pm
Under Wii / Nintendo
DS pirates in Japan aren’t just at risk of having to forgo Facebook — there could also be jail time involved. Yoshiaki Asagiri has been found guilty of copyright violations by a Kyoto district court, and sentenced to two and a half years of jail, plus over nine million yen (almost $100,000) in fines.
Judge Junichi Tochigi said that “This crime is an insult to the efforts of the rights holders who spent great amounts in the production of the games. It’s clear that the rights holders suffered great losses.”
Asagiri was more than just a casual downloader of DS ROMS. Along with friends, he created a website to distributed copied DS game files. He also participated in other forms of piracy, including selling designer knockoff goods. But even with those extra circumstances, that jail time is enough to send a chill down the spine (and peg leg) of even the most casual downloader.
DS piracy leads to 2.5-year prison sentence originally appeared on Joystiq Nintendo on Mon, 03 Aug 2009 14:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: japan, piracy, Wii / Nintendo, yoshiaki-asagiri
By Mister-X
Continue Reading DS piracy leads to 2.5-year prison sentence
