Nintendo sues two Switch pirates

The video games company Nintendo, determined to combat piracy of its popular Switch console, has filed two lawsuits in Washington federal court related to the promotion and distribution of pirated content.

The first lawsuit is against a Michigan resident, Ryan Daly, for violating the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) by selling mod chips and MIG devices through his online store "Modded Hardware". These devices allow users to play pirated copies of Nintendo Switch games on genuine consoles. Although Nintendo had previously contacted Mr. Ryan Daly and he had agreed to shut down the store, he never complied, which led Nintendo to take legal action.

The second lawsuit involves an Arizona resident, James Williams, known on Reddit as "Archbox". He is accused of running several pirate shops and facilitating piracy through the SwitchPirates subreddit, where he was a moderator. This Reddit community had around 190,000 members, highlighting the scope of his activities. Nintendo had sent a cease and desist letter to him in March, but he continued his activities.

These lawsuits coincide with the company's anti-piracy campaigns and the recent announcement by Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa on the company's stance on the use of artificial intelligence (AI). Mr Furukawa acknowledged the relationship between game development and AI technology, but warned that the use of generative AI could endanger intellectual property rights.