A person selling modded Nintendo Switch in Japan was arrested within the scope of legal regulations.
Nintendohas taken an important step in the fight against pirated games. A 58-year-old man living in Japan’s Ibaraki Prefecture was arrested for selling modded Nintendo Switch consoles. This incident is noteworthy as it is the first time that the sale of a modded Switch has resulted in an arrest in Japan. The suspect was modding second-hand Switch devices and selling them with pirated games for 28,000 yen (about $180). Each of the consoles was delivered with 27 pirated games pre-installed.
Nintendo’s Legal Challenge
Nintendo often resorts to civil lawsuits in legal battles over pirated games. However, this arrest signals that a tougher stance will be taken against pirated games. The company’s chief patent lawyer, Koji Nishiura, emphasized in his statement at the Tokyo eSports Festival that emulators are technically legal, but distributing copyrighted games through emulators is illegal. Nishiura stated that the use of emulation often exceeds legal limits and causes the spread of pirated content.
In this context, modding and pirated game distribution violate Japan’s copyright laws. Nintendo has previously made legal threats against Switch emulators Yuzu and Ryujinx, but these cases were not brought to court. This new arrest shows that the company is taking a more aggressive approach against pirated games.
Although Nintendo acknowledges the legal limits of emulation, it maintains its stance against the distribution of pirated games. The company states that the Switch 2 console, which will be released soon, will offer a more secure system against pirated games. Although it has been announced that the new console will come with a larger screen and advanced graphics features, the official release date has not been determined yet.