R4 Cartridges Declared Illegal in the U.K.

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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R4 Cartridges Declared Illegal in the U.K.


The London High Court has ruled that the R4 cartridge for the Nintendo DS is illegal in the U.K.

The ruling against Playables Ltd. is another victory for Nintendo, which has moved aggressively against importers and sellers of the R4 cartridge. Despite the fact that the device enables the use of legal "homebrew" applications, the court sided with Nintendo because the cartridge must bypass the security measures built into the DS in order to work, which is against the law.

"In the UK alone, there have been over 100,000 game copying devices seized since 2009," Nintendo said in a statement. "Nintendo initiates these actions not only on its own behalf, but also on behalf of over 1,400 video game development companies that depend on legitimate sales of games for their survival."

If that last bit sounds familiar, it's because it's very close to a statement the company released following a Australia [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/102265-Nintendo-Wins-Another-R4-Lawsuit] and also claimed "20 successful prosecutions" of people selling circumvention devices in Germany.

But as not unlawful [http://www.mcvuk.com/news/40185/R4-made-illegal-in-UK]. That decision has been most commonly referenced in the context of "jailbreaking" iPhones but presumably could also be applied to mobile gaming devices like the DS.


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ultimateownage

This name was cool in 2008.
Feb 11, 2009
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Oh god, first this and then that law about removing your internet connection for piracy. I for one don't pirate, I hate piracy, but even I think they're getting a little too strict over it.
 

nelsonr100

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Apr 15, 2009
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Oh no, I hope they don't find my ....friend's R4.... that definitely wasn't bought in Hong Kong
 

Terramax

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Jan 11, 2008
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Well, if it makes Nintendo think they're going to make more money out of this, then good for them. Ignorance is bliss.
 

Arcane Azmadi

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Jan 23, 2009
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Furburt said:
ultimateownage said:
Oh god, first this and then that law about removing your internet connection for piracy. I for one don't pirate, I hate piracy, but even I think they're getting a little too strict over it.
Uh huh.

Still, it doesn't really matter, they'll still make R4's and you'll still be able to buy them, just the same as something like Mephedrone being banned. It just moves underground.

I can see which position they're coming from, but like all prohibitions, I can't see this one working.
So what you're saying is... we are not required to obey the law if we don't feel like it?
 

DazZ.

Elite Member
Jun 4, 2009
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Arcane Azmadi said:
So what you're saying is... we are not required to obey the law if we don't feel like it?
He's saying people still won't obey the law, not whether or not you're required to.

OT: I thought these were illegal here already, but fair enough.
Is it just R4s that are banned, what about Cyclo cards and what not?
 

eljawa

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Nov 20, 2009
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Arcane Azmadi said:
Furburt said:
ultimateownage said:
Oh god, first this and then that law about removing your internet connection for piracy. I for one don't pirate, I hate piracy, but even I think they're getting a little too strict over it.
Uh huh.

Still, it doesn't really matter, they'll still make R4's and you'll still be able to buy them, just the same as something like Mephedrone being banned. It just moves underground.

I can see which position they're coming from, but like all prohibitions, I can't see this one working.
So what you're saying is... we are not required to obey the law if we don't feel like it?
Rather, you should break all unjust laws
 

Cabisco

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May 7, 2009
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I'm glad their banned, everyone I know uses them to be cheap bastards and i'm betting 99.9% of people are the same. Still, it's not like it's going to really change anything I don't think unless you actively add software to new DS games to fuck up R4 cards somehow.
 

Danpascooch

Zombie Specialist
Apr 16, 2009
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Furburt said:
ultimateownage said:
Oh god, first this and then that law about removing your internet connection for piracy. I for one don't pirate, I hate piracy, but even I think they're getting a little too strict over it.
Uh huh.

Still, it doesn't really matter, they'll still make R4's and you'll still be able to buy them, just the same as something like Mephedrone being banned. It just moves underground.

I can see which position they're coming from, but like all prohibitions, I can't see this one working.

I agree, they'll always be available.


Still, it's really stupid that this is illegal. The reason R4's are so notoriously immune to the law is because having backups of games (roms) is legal if you own the game. I think it's stupid to make this cartridge illegal, why is that piece of plastic illegal? It's not physically dangerous, it has perfectly legal uses.

Oh well, guess I'll just pop in my Acekard 2i and forget about it (CHILL mods, I'm using it for perfectly legal uses...)
 

KEM10

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Oct 22, 2008
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danpascooch said:
I think it's stupid to make this cartridge illegal, why is that piece of plastic illegal? It's not physically dangerous, it has perfectly legal uses.
Guns have a perfectly legal use, they are still outlawed in England.
On the flip side, the people who pirate the games get them from the internet. They should make that illegal too.
 

night_chrono

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Mar 13, 2008
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Nintendo is to stupid to realize that no one has given a shit about the R4 in years. The original R4 team shut down over two years ago and every card on the market is a cheap knock off capitalizing on the name.

So go ahead and ban the shitty out dated carts with no features. I will keep my CycloDS.

generic gamer said:
I hate draconian security and locked software but I hate piracy more. It's theft and the thief's usual response is to shrug and basically say "You shouldn't have made something I wanted then".
"theft (θɛft)

? n
1. criminal law the dishonest taking of property belonging to another person with the intention of depriving the owner permanently of its possession "

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/theft

Piracy is not theft, the original owner is not deprived of their product.
 

Pipotchi

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Jan 17, 2008
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night_chrono said:
Nintendo is to stupid to realize that no one has given a shit about the R4 in years. The original R4 team shut down over two years ago and every card on the market is a cheap knock off capitalizing on the name.

So go ahead and ban the shitty out dated carts with no features. I will keep my CycloDS.
This I bought my DS, my GF's DS and a load of games but I still use my Supercard DSTwo because I cannot be bothered to lug 25 cartridges around. Besides as said above R4s arent even the cutting edge any more. They have Snes emulators Homebrew games, cheats all kinds of stuff
 

WilliamRLBaker

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Jan 8, 2010
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R4 is old there are far more and other and better carts out there...so does this law apply to those carts or just r4 carts?
 

dochmbi

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Sep 15, 2008
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Good, ban the R4 it sucks anyway, it is outdated and there are now much better cards on the market.
 

Jared

The British Paladin
Jul 14, 2009
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I suppose it was inevitable it was going to happen...but, uit will jsut send it underground now