Nintendo demonstrates an intuition like only Master Detective Pikachu. It has now become known how the Japanese company managed to find out who was behind the “Archbox” account, which sold pirated software for the Nintendo Switch.
What did the person do?? In July 2024 it was announced that Nintendo had filed a lawsuit against James “Archbox” W. The main moderator of the Reddit “SwitchPirates” (via torrentfreak).
He was accused of running several shops where pirated Nintendo games were available. The man also helped customers bypass Nintendo’s security measures and play the players.
The lawsuit states that “Archbox” described itself as a pirate who “won’t pay Nintendo $50 for a game.”
As Eurogamer magazine reports, the man was sued for millions of dollars in fines.
Nintendo likes to sue people, including the makers of PalWorld:
Nintendo files lawsuit against Palworld makers!
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9 year old reddit post became pirates’ downfall
That’s how Nintendo found him: It has now been revealed how Nintendo determined the identity of the man, known only by his Reddit name Archbox.
In 2023, Nintendo hired the law firm Mitchell Silbergberg & Knupp to investigate shops that sell pirated copies (via game files).
They found that Reddit user Archbox posted a message about an eye clinic in a subreddit for the US city of Phoenix in 2015. He had apparently had himself examined there.
Apparently, this 9-year-old information was enough for the lawyers to determine the man’s identity and connect him to two Nintendo accounts.
In February 2024, you already had two email addresses for the person and were able to find the person in your system who contacted customer service with repair orders and thus had their address.
A repaired item was now sent to his address, apparently to check whether he still lived there. Two days later, a cease-and-desist letter arrived via FedEx and ultimately the lawsuit.
What came out of it? As Nintendo reports, the man did not appear in court and stopped communicating. The deadlines have now been exceeded. And the judge made a ruling in favor of Nintendo. Once again, don’t mess with Mario: Indecent versions of Nintendo characters are in danger because someone asks the boss the wrong question