Nintendo wins another battle against piracy in Australia
For some time now, Nintendo has been railing against the R4 mod cartridge for its Nintendo DS console. This cart allows users to download DS games to a mini-SD card, and then play them, via the R4, on their handhelds – and it’s become disturbingly popular amongst DS owners.
Now, DS owners in Australia may struggle to get their hands on one. That’s because Nintendo just won a lawsuit against an Aussie distributor of the device. RSJ IT Solutions has now been ordered to stop selling the R4, and pay Nintendo AU$520,000 (US$466,752) damages to Nintendo. Two other individuals named by Nintendo, Patrick Li and James Li, have been fined AU$100,000 (US$89,760).
This is the second time in the last few days that Nintendo has enjoyed success against game pirates. Last week, in a ludicrous example of a punishment not fitting the crime, James Burt – one man – was ordered to pay corporate behemoth Nintendo AU$1.5 million (US$1.3 million) for uploading a copy of New Super Mario Bros. Wii to a file-sharing site.
On the face of it, this decision seems more justifiable. After all, these guys were in it for profit (unlike poor Burt), and probably cost Nintendo a hell of a lot more game sales.
I would say it’s a blow for the DS homebrew scene, which produces plenty of legal, free, and excellent software, but if you’re knowledgeable about Nintendo DS homebrew, you probably know that other, similar cartridges are available.
