Nintendo Can Disable a Pirate's 3DS Remotely

[Baresark]

Pirates are gonna get Owned.

More likely they'll just crack whatever security firmware their using, and they'll continue to pirate anyway. Legitimate customers will be the ones having to deal with the inevitable false positives that will undoubtedly appear, and any other problem inherent in to overly intrusive DRM. Also the legitimate customers will be having to fork over the legal fees when they sue Nintendo for vandalizing their product (Read: breaking it).

So really the only ones getting owned will be Nintendo's customers and Nintendo itself when it finally gets hit with a class-action suit.

To be fair to Nintendo, this particular Brand of DRM doesn't really impact the customers, only the pirates. No one likes DRM, but at least it's not all that intrusive as others.

What makes you think this will only affect the pirates? By definition, this is some of the most intrusive security ever potentially offered up by a company. It records everything you do with the system and is even capable of tracking where you have been. Then they decide if you have done something elicit with the system and decide whether you are allowed to play it or not. The people who get rid of these intrusive measures are going to be pirates.

True, however the only real way it can tell you've been doing something they would class under pirating, is basically by pirating or doing they've specifically announced not to do with the thing. It's a simple enough preocedure, if they see you've used something like an R4 cartridge, next time it's hooked up to the internet that information will become known and the thing will be disabled, and rightly so.

The issue is going to be transferring user data without permission. And you cannot say for sure their won't be false positives. More than likely there will be. It's easy to speculate with a degree of certainty that whatever they are using to figure this out, will make mistakes. After all, no one is paying anyone to sit there and watch data to make sure it's right. I don't think you can say with certainty that the only thing that will flag this security is, in fact, piracy. Historically, everyone has false positives with their security. I know the 360 did. And I have read that the PS3 has had false positives. This came in the form of emails sent out to people, threatening a system ban. What makes this an exception?

Also, if pirates do away with this security, and by all accounts they will, what does this security do? It's better to take your chance with pirates rather than effect paying customers, from a business standpoint. The level of piracy will not affect the bottom line for a console developer, unfortunately, it will only serve to enhance it. That is why DRM has to be under the jurisdiction of the software develop/publisher. And no matter what they do, it does not stop piracy. It's like trying stop the tides from rising.

 

[GiantRaven]

I think it's probably similar to the Wii's "always on" function which basically meant that if you had it turned on the Wii could get updates and messages even when in sleep mode as long as it was plugged in. You could always turn that off in the Wii though, will probably be the same in the 3DS.

Ah, ok. That is significantly less of an irritant.

 

[jp201]

Didn't Apple have a <url=http://www.cracked.com/article_18377_5-reasons-you-should-be-scared-apple.html>similar system for jailbroken iPhones? Wow, they're not just competing with Apple into the casual market (considering Nintendo doesn't consider the PS3 or XBox 360 to be competition any more), they're competing with them in the douchbaggery security as well...

Come to think of it, compared to how MS deals with piracy, Nintendo, Sony and Apple appear positively fascist...

yes there complete douches for protecting their products and trying to cut down on piracy /sarcasm

I would be fine with it as if I was gonna buy the system it wouldn't effect me anyway.

 

[Baresark]

I think it's probably similar to the Wii's "always on" function which basically meant that if you had it turned on the Wii could get updates and messages even when in sleep mode as long as it was plugged in. You could always turn that off in the Wii though, will probably be the same in the 3DS.

Ah, ok. That is significantly less of an irritant.

I figured it would be like this as well. I had to turn mine off because it lit up my room at night, haha. It took me forever to figure out what the light was, as well.

 

[Baresark]

yes there complete douches for protecting their products and trying to cut down on piracy /sarcasm

I would be fine with it as if I was gonna buy the system it wouldn't effect me anyway.

I am curious as to why whenever someone makes a comment about how draconian a security system is/may be, someone always has to jump in with this. The problem isn't because everyone wants pirates to succeed. It's because this, if true, will adversely affect everyone.

But, I'm with you. Piracy is a big topic, but I haven't seen any software that makes me want this. So far, we are greeted with a couple of nintendo titles and Sega is releasing a compilation of Game Gear title, big whoop. Piracy is only worth it if they are producing titles worth pirating.

The best security of all? Making software no one wants, haha.

 

[hippobu]

I love Nintendo, I really do, I still have my mario bed sheet though it repel all girl, and friend, and everyone I know, ...

But, I doubt that Nintendo can defeat the hacker, it's pretty much next to impossible. The more they challenge them, the more they will try, and the harder they will strike.

 

[ZombieGenesis]

I don't support companies controlling MY property after I've legally purchased it.
Stopping piracy I understand, the issue isn't what you're doing with your own console (since you bought it and SHOULD be able to pirate able it all you please) but the second you download a game which you haven't paid for, that's not your property, so playing it is theft.

So giving them control over something they don't own? Not happening. I'll buy a 3DS and I WILL have it hacked, and remove all their controls on it. Unless I decide to pirate on it, I've broken no laws.

And Nintendo can fuck itself. (Bit harsh, more like "can accept my disagreement").

 

[Korzack]

How much says the pirates manage to create a work-around inside of 2 weeks, like they did with Ubisoft's "always on" DRM?

 

[v3n0mat3]

Wasn't planning on getting a 3DS, anyhow. This really isn't helping me go reevaluate my decision.

 

[gigastrike]

/clap clap clap

Good show, Nintendo.

 

[Echo136]

Im all for fighting piracy but thats a bit harsh. I see some lawsuits coming their way.

 

[Nephilium]

I am not a criminal. I will not pay for the pleasure of being put under surveillance like one. Sorry, Nintendo. It's been fun. Maybe I'll buy one used when the system has been hacked to death and I can disable your ridiculous DRM. Either way, you won't see a cent from me while this policy persists.

Seconded.

Also i do beleave somthing similar to this has been tryed in the past and resulted in the company in question loosing a multi million doller lawsuit and being forced to remove the feature. I can never remember if it was Sony or Microsoft that did it, but they where bricking Consoles not hand helds. Either way, i see a lawsuit and a similar result as soon 3DS units start getting bricked outside of Japan.

 

[JediMB]

*reads the source articles*

Destructoid's Dale North is merely speculating on the possibilities of the 3DS' playtime logging feature.

GoNintendo's RawmeatCowboy shows us that retailers are worried that unsupported modifications might lead to firmware updates "bricking" the machines, as the updates might be incompatible with the modifications. This has always been an issue with the Wii as well, and is in no way a sign of Nintendo having plans to disable 3DS units remotely!

 

[Vibhor]

All the overbearing, completely OTT control freak/anti-piracy thing aside..... can I say?

Pirates are gonna get Owned.

Its gonna get hacked sooner than the Ass creed 2 DRM

Also, anyone who actually is a pirate would rather use an emulator.
So with this scheme they are losing the sales of the console from the people who bought the DS to pirate the games.
This means their loss.
Wow, was thinking this that hard?

 

[BabySinclair]

Any counter to R4 card users trying to sue, "read the nice little papers and terms of use, checkmate."

 

[jp201]

All the overbearing, completely OTT control freak/anti-piracy thing aside..... can I say?

Pirates are gonna get Owned.

Its gonna get hacked sooner than the Ass creed 2 DRM

Also, anyone who actually is a pirate would rather use an emulator.
So with this scheme they are losing the sales of the console from the people who bought the DS to pirate the games.
This means their loss.
Wow, was thinking this that hard?

losing sales? seriously?

the system will succeed based upon how well it works and the titles that will be released on it not by some anti pirating scheme.

I'm pretty sure Nintendo is not a company full of idiots and wouldn't be doing this if they believed it would help them in the long run.

I can't believe just how many of you people think that all these "lost sales" from pirates is going to cause them to lose any money.

Every major company not just Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony but also movie and music industries do some kind of anti pirating methods to at least make it harder on them.

I don't have the words to say just how stupid that post was.

 

[bam13302]

ok, not buying that until there is a set way to disable that function, i dont pirate, but programs like that have a torrid history of disabling devices of people that dont pirate just because they did something 'suspicious'
gah, ninja'd

Pirates are gonna get Owned.

More likely they'll just crack whatever security firmware their using, and they'll continue to pirate anyway. Legitimate customers will be the ones having to deal with the inevitable false positives that will undoubtedly appear, and any other problem inherent in to overly intrusive DRM. Also the legitimate customers will be having to fork over the legal fees when they sue Nintendo for vandalizing their product (Read: breaking it).

So really the only ones getting owned will be Nintendo's customers and Nintendo itself when it finally gets hit with a class-action suit.

To be fair to Nintendo, this particular Brand of DRM doesn't really impact the customers, only the pirates. No one likes DRM, but at least it's not all that intrusive as others.

What makes you think this will only affect the pirates? By definition, this is some of the most intrusive security ever potentially offered up by a company. It records everything you do with the system and is even capable of tracking where you have been. Then they decide if you have done something elicit with the system and decide whether you are allowed to play it or not. The people who get rid of these intrusive measures are going to be pirates.

 

[DancePuppets]

Well I definitely won't be getting one then. I don't play pirated games at all and think that pirating games is immoral; however, I'm not convinced that any firm should be able to monitor your usage of YOUR device to quite these levels.

 

[Gxas]

I wouldn't be at all surprised if Nintendo has to fight one or more lawsuit over this decision sometime in the future.

A well crafted EULA fixes this entirely. It's a contract that is signed, technically, on purchase. If you don't abide by the contract, then thats your fault.

That being said, I don't really agree with how they are doing this, especially because companies mess up all the time with their "tracking" systems. I won't be surprised if Nintendo runs into a few times where they have banned someone who didn't deserve it. Then you get into the sticky situations.

 

[Zoe Castillo]

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