Nintendo Sues HackYourConsole.com

[Negatempest]

Just to give you guys a view of what was on the site. Found this and had a good laugh on those defending the "modding" site.

Remember, the ones buying the carts are just going delete the game copies that they do not own, right?

I take no credit for the Image.

 

[klaynexas3]

They're well within their rights to do this, I've seen worse copyright and trademark cases, but I still think the fines are a little hefty. "It's about sending a message." The message being, you steal a game that would otherwise cost maybe $40, it's now worth $150,000. And you don't get to keep the game. God dammit. With as much as people compare piracy and stealing, you'd think the fines wouldn't be so damn drastic. Stay consistent people, according to the way laws work now, piracy is far more worse than stealing anything. I doubt stealing a car would get you in this much trouble, and even then, someone lost a car in that situation, people can still buy video games even after an illegal copy is made. I think crimes of violence aren't even this drastic. This is not okay people.

 

[medv4380]

That said, $150,000.00 per infringement is ridiculous & an abuse of civil law. This is the same kind of boogeyman litigation that earned the MPAA it's glistening record (you know, those guys that publicly claimed that burning your own CD's to your own computer alone was piracy).

This is the kind of situation that the 150k fine exists for. The entire reason that the fine was set that high in the law was to combat pirates that actually sold goods, usually counterfeited goods. The MPAA is stupid for using the highest penalty for people who aren't profiting of the transactions. Nintendo is at least using the law as originally intended.

 

[Lightknight]

Everything was legal until the appropriation of the registered trademark.

 

[Tanis]

All the owner has to do is 'lose' all that financial information, and part of the lawsuit is out the window.

After that?
She'll lose in court, file for bankruptcy, and move on.

 

[-Dragmire-]

Nintendo doesn't get it, do they? The idea is to provide a better service, not fight the pirates. If they want to get it right, one idea they can try is to release an "all-in-one" console that plays all the previous games, carts, and discs from Nintendo, starting with the NES and ending with the Wii, built to support both NTSC and PAL versions of games. That's:
- NES/Famicom
- Game Boy
- FDS
- SNES/Super Famicom
- BS-X
- N64
- Game Boy Color
- 64DD
- Game Boy Advance
- Gamecube
- Wii
Note that while it might appear to be a lot of slots for these games, most of these can be merged into using the same one (i.e. Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance can all use the same slot). A few peripherals should allow easy conversion of a few items, mostly for those who prefer an actual SNES or Gamecube controller over whatever it ships with, or to continue a save on a Gamecube memory card. They can even expand on the controller use/detection by detecting the expansion slot on a N64 controller.

That's the kind of thing that will reduce "problems" like these, not through legal action. Nintendo is only fragmenting a focus, as if Nintendo wins and HYC is shut down, the only result is that it the base will splinter, and it will only be harder to stop these people from continuing.

Great idea but our world has many problems standing in the way of that.

Since Nintendo doesn't own all the games released for its' systems, they wouldn't be able to do that without the permission of the ip holder. Splitting the profits 100 ways wouldn't really net anyone any cash unless the price was ridiculously high. Even worse, many IPs are in limbo as far as ownership goes. I don't think Nintendo would want to risk selling a product that contained other people's IPs without legal and documented permission from the IP owners.

Ok, had to reread that. I had thought you were suggesting a rom attachment that had all the games released for a particular console.

The only issues I can see now is the current low availability of cartridge games, the high cost to produce more of them, and the low demand for older games at a high price. The reason they would need a high price is to justify the cost of creating new cartridges with 2+ decade old technology we don't use anymore.

Having a system that had the virtual console and a peripheral attachment to connect the original controller to use would be pretty damn cool though.

 

[Xman490]

Nintendo doesn't get it, do they? The idea is to provide a better service, not fight the pirates. If they want to get it right, one idea they can try is to release an "all-in-one" console that plays all the previous games, carts, and discs from Nintendo, starting with the NES and ending with the Wii, built to support both NTSC and PAL versions...
Note that while it might appear to be a lot of slots for these games, most of these can be merged into using the same one (i.e. Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance can all use the same slot). A few peripherals should allow easy conversion of a few items, mostly for those who prefer an actual SNES or Gamecube controller over whatever it ships with, or to continue a save on a Gamecube memory card. They can even expand on the controller use/detection by detecting the expansion slot on a N64 controller.

That's a nice pipe dream, but irrelevant. The problem here is people fully pirating Wii games from a trademark-infringing site. Nintendo, for once, has good reasoning for its claims.

 

[Infernal Lawyer]

Nintendo doesn't get it, do they? The idea is to provide a better service, not fight the pirates. If they want to get it right, one idea they can try is to release an "all-in-one" console that plays all the previous games, carts, and discs from Nintendo, starting with the NES and ending with the Wii, built to support both NTSC and PAL versions of games. That's:
- NES/Famicom
- Game Boy
- FDS
- SNES/Super Famicom
- BS-X
- N64
- Game Boy Color
- 64DD
- Game Boy Advance
- Gamecube
- Wii
Note that while it might appear to be a lot of slots for these games, most of these can be merged into using the same one (i.e. Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance can all use the same slot). A few peripherals should allow easy conversion of a few items, mostly for those who prefer an actual SNES or Gamecube controller over whatever it ships with, or to continue a save on a Gamecube memory card. They can even expand on the controller use/detection by detecting the expansion slot on a N64 controller.

That's the kind of thing that will reduce "problems" like these, not through legal action. Nintendo is only fragmenting a focus, as if Nintendo wins and HYC is shut down, the only result is that it the base will splinter, and it will only be harder to stop these people from continuing.

If Nintendo wants to fight piracy (not even that, people making money off stealing their property) by tackling the root of the issue rather than implement shitty practices like DRM, always online and mandatory firmware updates (Not updating will only restrict using the online shop last time I checked) that inconvenience the user, I'm okay with that. (Yes, I know about region locking, that shit needs to be cut).

Plus, don't Nintendo consoles already have backwards compatibility and the virtual console down pat? This 'all-in-one' idea you have kinda already exist, albeit to a slightly lesser extent.

OT: Not sure why Nintendo is angrier over Mario being used inappropriately over the actual blatant thievery going on. I don't think this is the kind of message corporations should be giving...

 

[IshimaruHayato]

This is what happens when nintendo isnt making enough money, they throw a temper tantrum.

 

[Infernal Lawyer]

If Nintendo wants to fight piracy (not even that, people making money off stealing their property) by tackling the root of the issue rather than implement shitty practices like DRM, always online and mandatory firmware updates (Not updating will only restrict using the online shop last time I checked) that inconvenience the user, I'm okay with that. (Yes, I know about region locking, that shit needs to be cut).

Plus, don't Nintendo consoles already have backwards compatibility and the virtual console down pat? This 'all-in-one' idea you have kinda already exist, albeit to a slightly lesser extent.

OT: Not sure why Nintendo is angrier over Mario being used inappropriately over the actual blatant thievery going on. I don't think this is the kind of message corporations should be giving...

Thing is, I already bought game X once, I don't want to have to pay for it a second time even though I still own it. It's BS that Nintendo wants to make you do so.

That's a very good point, one I overlooked. Still, I get kinda skeptical with the whole BC thing when people start talking about games from multiple generations ago. You can still play games you already own from two generation ago without having to buy them again. Older consoles have a track record of being insanely durable, so either you still have the original console and games so you can still play them anyway, or you've sold them, though certainly exceptions apply (namely I'm not sure how reliable the PS1/N64 consoles were/still are), in which case you're right.

As my first 'console' was an NDS, which games are still compatible with the 3DS, I'll confess that I've never fallen into the 'my games are too old to work unless I pay more money' situation to feel too strongly about it.

 

[Gilhelmi]

Good for Nintendo. Piracy is theft. If you do not want to pay for the content, then you do not get the content. No one will ever convince me that it is not stealing to illegally download.

Heck, I think it is stealing to use an ad-blocker. How can a website maintain its server, or pay their employees a living wage, if not for advertising?

 

[Gilhelmi]

All the owner has to do is 'lose' all that financial information, and part of the lawsuit is out the window.

After that?
She'll lose in court, file for bankruptcy, and move on.

"Lost" information like that usually leads to Contempt of Court.

I remember a case a few years back. A person was suing the Police for Brutality (or something on those lines). The Plaintiffs Lawyer got a court order for the video tape of the incident. The police officer in question said the tape was 'accidentally' erased, "sorry". The Judge (who was too nice in my opinion) told the Jury to assume that the tape was incriminating. In other words, the Judge told the Jury "go ahead and find the police officer guilty".

You are right on the rest, but even in Bankruptcy (assuming this is a 'home' based business and I understand the law) she may still have to sell everything. If she owns a house, SOLD. If she owns a car, SOLD. and so on.

OT: She deserves everything that is coming to her. Priacy is theft. You did not pay for the service then you do not get the service. I even think "ad-blockers" are theft because you are denying the website of much needed revenue. Nothing in life is free, someone had to work to bring it to the world.

Now if the software developer says "No problem, this is free. I give it to all freely" then that is fine, that is the workers choice.
BUT if the software developer says "I need to make money to feed my family, put a roof over our head, and continue to make games." Then you are stealing.

It is that simple people, pay the people who make your entertainment.

 

[Ken Sapp]

Nintendo doesn't get it, do they? The idea is to provide a better service, not fight the pirates. /snip

Nintendo doesn't have much choice legally. It is necessary under copyright law for the holder to defend their rights, if they fail to do so they can lose them public domain. And in this case I really have to side with the "evil" corporation if they can show that she was selling pirate/bootleg copies of games in addition to instructions for modifying hardware. Precedent has already been set that modifying your hardware is not illegal. But distributing pirated software is, even if it is listed as a freebie add-on to another, legitimate, service or product.

 

[Malisteen]

The fines requested are over the top, and hopefully a sane judge will knock them down to something reasonable - though even still it's likely to bankrupt the person in question.

I'm all for people cracking their systems, and mario in the logo is worth a C&D at best, but openly selling pirated copies of hundreds of games? Especially new games still on the shelves? I agree that the threat of piracy is overblown (though, if you want evidence of the damage it can potentially cause, you need only look at the sega saturn), but that's a bit flagrant there. As much as I think nintendo's behavior has been pretty terrible of late (between locked down consoles, sub-par digital store, and baffling attempts to shut down lets plays and video reviews), but it's hard to argue with them in this case.

 

[Ken Sapp]

Everything was legal until the appropriation of the registered trademark.

and offered to preload pirated software.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Nintendo doesn't get it, do they? The idea is to provide a better service, not fight the pirates. /snip

Nintendo doesn't have much choice legally. It is necessary under copyright law for the holder to defend their rights, if they fail to do so they can lose them public domain. And in this case I really have to side with the "evil" corporation if they can show that she was selling pirate/bootleg copies of games in addition to instructions for modifying hardware. Precedent has already been set that modifying your hardware is not illegal. But distributing pirated software is, even if it is listed as a freebie add-on to another, legitimate, service or product.

Correction: it's necessary under /trademark/ law, not copyright law. The only reason to defend your copyright is to stop someone specific from using it without your permission, you don't lose the actual ownership of it because of pirates the way you do a trademark. Incidentally, it's their trademark on Mario that they're suing the site over. Copyright claims might be involved, but it would be for the way the site makes money through software piracy, not because it uses Mario in the logo.

It seems to be a small distinction, but you'd be amazed at how important it is, and how obnoxious it is to see people going "well they legally had to" when some major company shuts down a fan project or sues smaller companies because the name of the project is something kind of similar (and usually not really similar at all, just containing some word that gets the lawyers salivating). Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, they didn't actually "need" to do anything, because they're suing over copyrights or patents, not trademarks.

 

[LordLundar]

Well now, what took them so long?

You get one shot to shut them down so you have to make sure your opponent can't get back up. When it comes to lawsuits, this means getting enough irrefutable evidence and knowledge of the laws for that region. This takes time.

 

[Zeckt]

I'm going with nintendo on this one, she had it coming and deserves to be financially ruined.