Nintendo Wins Piracy Case

Retailers selling R4 flash cards and Wii mod chips unsuccessfully argued against Nintendo in a Netherlands court case. The sellers of the popular Wii and DS piracy tools claimed Nintendo was attempting to stifle competition by objecting to the distribution of such items. Since the Dutch courts aren’t filled completely with massive idiots, this argument didn’t work.

“Nintendo protects its intellectual property rights globally and takes action to prevent the distribution of pirated software and devices that allow illegally downloaded software to be played,” a Nintendo statement proclaimed. “Nintendo takes this action not only for the company’s sake, but in the interests of its partners who spend time and money legitimately developing software for Nintendo video game consoles and systems, and customers who expect the highest standards and integrity from products bearing the Nintendo name.”

Piracy has been an issue for the Japanese developer lately, with even third-party developers growing hesitant to develop on the system due to the high rates of theft. THQ’s Executive VP of Global Publishing Ian Curran recently admitted that DS piracy made development on the handheld a risky affair, something the 3DS should solve.

This case sets a positive precedent for piracy cases, and hopefully developers will be able to successfully halt the operations of large-scale bootleggers in other areas of the world.

[MCV via Edge Online]