Month: November 2024

Nintendo is doing everything in its power to stop the public from playing pirated games on the Switch console.

This involves sending a steady stream of cease and desist letters and takedown notices. If those don’t work, Nintendo is prepared to go to court as well.

Nintendo Sues r/SwitchPirates Mod

In July, Nintendo filed a lawsuit at a Washington federal court against Arizona-resident J. Williams, known online as ‘Archbox’. Nintendo accused Archbox of being involved in several ‘pirate shops’ through which copies of unauthorized games are distributed.

“Defendant is the operator, overseer, and driving force behind several Pirate Shops, through which Defendant has offered massive libraries of pirated Nintendo Switch games,” the complaint read.

Nintendo specifically named ‘Jack-in-the-Shop’, ‘Turtle in the Shop’ and ‘NekoDrive’, which were shut down following a cease and desist letter Nintendo sent in March. A fourth shop, LiberaShop, remained on Telegram, but shut down soon after the complaint was filed.

In addition to running these pirate shops, the defendant allegedly helped people to obtain and use circumvention software, so they could play pirated games. Nintendo says that this activity was boosted through the SwitchPirates subreddit, where Archbox was a moderator.

“Defendant became a leading (if not the primary) moderator of the SwitchPirates Reddit community, which he helped grow to nearly 190,000 members,” the complaint read.

According to Nintendo, the moderator used Reddit to direct people to pirate shops, show them how to download and install circumvention software, and guide them on playing pirated Nintendo Switch games.

Nintendo Seeks Info From Reddit, Discord, Google, and Others

After filing the lawsuit, Nintendo had trouble serving the defendant, but it eventually managed to do so in August. However, Mr. Williams didn’t file an answer to the complaint, which led to an entry of default earlier this month.

In the absence of a defense, Nintendo can now request a default judgment, ideally based on additional evidence not yet in its possession. As a result, Nintendo is requesting a subpoena to obtain information from Reddit, Discord, Google, GitHub, Namecheap and other third party services.

These companies may hold evidence to strengthen the claims against Mr. Williams and may be able to help identify additional defendants, including members of the r/SwitchPirates subreddit who were also involved in the pirate shops.

“[W]ithout third party discovery it will be impossible for [Nintendo] to ascertain the identity of the unnamed individuals who worked with Mr. Williams in operating the Pirate Shops or otherwise making available to the public pirated Nintendo games,” the company writes.

Nintendo says that it’s looking for limited information that can help to identify account holders and payment streams, as well as traffic and access statistics for the pirate shops.

Namecheap, Tucows, GoDaddy, Cloudflare, GitHub, Discord, Google and Reddit

Identifying More Reddit Users?

In addition to revealing the owners of various accounts, some companies can likely provide more detailed information. GitHub, for example, may know how often ‘circumvention’ software was downloaded, and Google can share Gmail data and traffic statistics for the files it stored.

Reddit may also hold key information, as the SwitchPirates subreddit plays a central role in the accusations. Nintendo believes that the defendant was a moderator there and may have controlled other user handles, or collaborated with other potential defendants.

Through the requested subpoenas, Nintendo hopes to get more clarity and potentially identify any additional defendants.

“Reddit is therefore likely to be in possession of information that will aid in preparation of Nintendo’s anticipated motion for a default judgment against Defendant, and that will assist in identifying any other individuals appropriate to name in an amended complaint.

“Reddit is also expected to have information pertaining to the growth of, and traffic to, the SwitchPirates subreddit during the relevant period of Defendant’s activities,” Nintendo adds.

Reddit Info

At the time of writing, the court has yet to grant the motion. If Nintendo is allowed to proceed, it’s possible that additionally defendants will eventually be added to the lawsuit.

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A copy of Nintendo’s ex parte motion for leave to take limited early discovery is available here (pdf)

From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Künftig sollen E-Autos an öffentlichen Säulen mit dem Strom des eigenen Anbieters laden. Doch die Stromwirtschaft warnt vor Problemen. (Elektroauto, Auto)

Schon vor dem Koalitionsbruch war die Ampel mit Gesetzen zur IT-Sicherheit im Verzug. Nun gibt es Nachfragen aus Brüssel. (Security, Politik)

Im kommenden Bundestagswahlkampf positionieren sich die Parteien auch zur E-Mobilität. Dabei zeichnen sich schon große Unterschiede ab. (Elektroauto, Auto)

If you aren’t yet worried about the multitude of ways you inadvertently inflict suffering onto other living creatures, you will be after reading The Edge of Sentience by Jonathan Birch. And for good reason. Birch, a Professor of Philosophy at the London College of Economics and Political Science, was one of a team of experts chosen by the UK government to establish the Animal Welfare Act (or Sentience Act) in 2022—a law that protects animals whose sentience status is unclear.

According to Birch, even insects may possess sentience, which he defines as the capacity to have valenced experiences, or experiences that feel good or bad. At the very least, Birch explains, insects (as well as all vertebrates and a selection of invertebrates) are sentience candidates: animals that may be conscious and, until proven otherwise, should be regarded as such.

Although it might be a stretch to wrap our mammalian minds around insect sentience, it is not difficult to imagine that fellow vertebrates have the capacity to experience life, nor does it come as a surprise that even some invertebrates, such as octopuses and other cephalopod mollusks (squid, cuttlefish, and nautilus) qualify for sentience candidature. In fact, one species of octopus, Octopus vulgaris, has been protected by the UK’s Animal Scientific Procedures Act (ASPA) since 1986, which illustrates how long we have been aware of the possibility that invertebrates might be capable of experiencing valenced states of awareness, such as contentment, fear, pleasure, and pain.

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