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[The Stig]

Prison time AND a stupid fine he will never be able to pay? Talk about double fucking jeapordy

Dude's life is ruined. This is not appropriate punishment and fuck you sociopaths who think it is.

 

[Bojji]

The large fine is the kind alternative to prison. He is out and has student loans basically.

Never heard about 14m student loan, hahaha.

You told me to read trough papers but do YOU know numbers yourself? You said his sentence should be worse than that and Nintendo didn't even get "justice".

You really like your corporate overlords, don't you? Let's hope no big corporation or institution will ever want something from you because you will be fucked, normal human beings have no chance against big entities.

 

[Guilty_AI]

Can't say I feel any sympathy here. Hope Nintendo does this to more people who enable mass piracy of their games. $10 million is a tiny, tiny fraction of what they actually lose, and they won't even see the $10 million. Nintendo basically gets no justice while this guy gets sob stories about his rent. He's lucky he's not in jail considering he can't actually pay this in his lifetime.

 

[Punished Miku]

They won the case lol. They're doing fine.

Leave the convicted pirate alone is more like it.

 

[ReBurn]

Prison time AND a stupid fine he will never be able to pay? Talk about double fucking jeapordy

Dude's life is ruined. This is not appropriate punishment and fuck you sociopaths who think it is.

That's not what double jeopardy means. Prison plus restitution is almost always how it works. In this case he agreed to the restitution as part of his plea deal. He agreed to $4.5 million in his federal plea plus another $10 million in a civil settlement with Nintendo.

It's hard to feel bad for the guy considering he was part of a group blatantly selling Switch piracy tools for profit. It would be easier to muster more sympathy if they released their stuff for free, but he knew what he did was ilegal and he fled to the Dominican Republic to try to avoid answering for it.

 

[calistan]

The Guardian's strapline was written by somebody who doesn't have a clue about the terminology here:

"The hacker whose involvement with anti-piracy software ended in a jail sentence"

 

[The Stig]

That's not what double jeopardy means. Prison plus restitution is almost always how it works. In this case he agreed to the restitution as part of his plea deal. He agreed to $4.5 million in his federal plea plus another $10 million in a civil settlement with Nintendo.

It's hard to feel bad for the guy considering he was part of a group blatantly selling Switch piracy tools for profit. It would be easier to muster more sympathy if they released their stuff for free, but he knew what he did was ilegal and he fled to the Dominican Republic to try to avoid answering for it.

Dude's life is ruined. All over some potential lost money?

I don't feel it's appropriate.

 

[ZoukGalaxy]

Pirates are usually fined in court, but Bowser’s case was meant to draw attention

And does it stopped piracy, dear Nintendo ?
No, you just ruined someone life and piracy is going STRONG: you can play any switch game before it's even out and buy chips to mod your switch, as before.

AWESOME job Nintendo

 

[Punished Miku]

And does it stopped piracy, dear Nintendo ?
No, you just ruined someone life and piracy is going STRONG: you can play any switch game before it's even out and buy chips to mod your switch, as before.

AWESOME job Nintendo

Why do you think they feel the need to send a message? They don't have the ability to make you receive it. But they definitely sent it, and this is obviously the reason why.

 

[diffusionx]

Yea, this sentence is insane. Some sort of fine is reasonable but not one that essentially makes him Nintendo's slave for life. It is excessive and especially crazy when you realize that not a single banker went to prison following the mass fraud that caused the 2008 collapse and led to losses of untold billions and trillions of dollars.

 

[Saber]

40-month jailtime and 14 million dollar fine is absolute insanity and it blows my mind how many of you think this is a suitable punishment.

40 months jail is already quite hefty, but crippling someone financially for the rest of their lives with a completely unrealistic 14 million dollar fine is just brutal. This is piracy of a videogame we're talking about. The man is kneecapped for the rest of his life. Extremely cruel and excessive punishment that does not befit the crime in any way.

Imagine siding with the billion dollar conglomerate and cheering for this. Sociopathic behavior.

Until this day I still don't understand how people can side with companies. The last thing a company do is thinking good of you. For all purposes, you're nothing but a sack of money for them. Companies would do dirty illegal to each one of them if there weren't laws protecting consumers(some still do though).
The last thing I will do in life is side with a company, no matter how much I love a product or service. Consumers means nothing to them.

 

[Krathoon]

One thing I don't get is how archive.org does not get shut down. It has tons of roms and isos of games.

I supect it is funded by the government and that is why.

 

[The Stig]

And does it stopped piracy, dear Nintendo ?
No, you just ruined someone life and piracy is going STRONG: you can play any switch game before it's even out and buy chips to mod your switch, as before.

AWESOME job Nintendo

 

[RhyDin]

How many $60 foldable cardboard kits and last-gen remakes do they have to sell to make up for all the money this man cost them?

Bowser was literally a PR dude -- a patsy. They would have sold the same amount of modchips with or without him. They have no shame in nickle and dime-ing their fans with AAA games that run at 20fps and crash on last-gen hardware for $60, so it doesn't surprise me that they'd ruin someone's life as a PR statement.

 

[Krathoon]

Do not get on the bad side of Nintendo.

 

[SkylineRKR]

I get piracy is a crime and infringement, etc. But the sentence does sound extreme to me, I also get this is likely a message. But I can't say it makes Nintendo look exactly good or something.

 

[DaciaJC]

To all the people cheering this on.

Dont act like you payed for WinRAR.

Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.

 

[Alebrije]

The only way to.pay that money is that he joins Billy Mitchel and sell their story rights for a Movie called "The Dark Side of Gaming"

 

[Futaleufu]

Nintendo really wants to be the Disney of gaming

 

[ByWatterson]

Wait there's a THIRD Bowser relevant to Nintendo?!

 

[majorgamer10]

This is an example of being too smart for your own good.

 

[Krathoon]

Nintendo does have this weird luck of finding people with Bowser for a last name.

 

[chlorate]

Everyone here needs to understand the necessity of making an example of someone like this. The punishment must be ruinous to the point where any individual contemplating doing something similar is deterred. That’s the whole reason why Nintendo spent all this time and effort going after him.

 

[Danknugz]

what's up with all the browsers associated with nintendo. isn't the president of the company have the last name bowser too? this can't be just a coincidence.

 

[ResilientBanana]

Can't say I feel any sympathy here. Hope Nintendo does this to more people who enable mass piracy of their games. $10 million is a tiny, tiny fraction of what they actually lose, and they won't even see the $10 million. Nintendo basically gets no justice while this guy gets sob stories about his rent. He's lucky he's not in jail considering he can't actually pay this in his lifetime.

I don’t think so. The amount of people that pirate games and actually get them running are minimal compared to how many sales they make.

 

[calistan]

Everyone here needs to understand the necessity of making an example of someone like this. The punishment must be ruinous to the point where any individual contemplating doing something similar is deterred. That’s the whole reason why Nintendo spent all this time and effort going after him.

Nintendo doesn't decide the punishment, though. Jail time would be down to the sentencing judge, and I think the damages were set by the same judge in this case. $10m plus legal fees.

Plaintiff is entitled to the maximum statutory damages, pursuant to 17 U.S.C. § 1203(c)(3)(A), in the amount of $2,500 with respect to each act of offering to the public, provision, or otherwise trafficking in the Circumvention Devices and software

Plaintiff is entitled to the maximum statutory damages, pursuant to 17 U.S.C. § 504(c)(2), in the amount of $150,000 with respect to each copyrighted work

It all adds up! But you'd have thought a sane judge would be able to apply some common sense when awarding the $multi-billion company a slice of the unemployed/unemployable defendant's future earnings in perpetuity.

All the court documents are here, it's scary but unsurprising how much the system is weighted towards the big guys:
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/59831145/nintendo-of-america-inc-v-bowser/

 

[Alexios]

Pirating because you can't afford shit (and those who apply their skill and effort to enable this for other people FOR FREE) is one thing, making it a business to profit from gets no sympathy from me whether someone pointlessly writes up a piece about the previous ordinary life of the guy or not.

 

[MagnesD3]

I dont understand why this thread is up if actual discussion isnt allowed.

Anywho customers are obligated to get a game however they can if the Company doesnt give them a way to purchase it or the company makes a game you already payed for unplayable even though they have your money.

 

[calistan]

Pirating because you can't afford shit (and those who apply their skill and effort to enable this for other people FOR FREE) is one thing, making it a business to profit from gets no sympathy from me whether someone pointlessly writes up a piece about the previous ordinary life of the guy or not.

No sympathy from me either, and the article probably serves as a useful reminder to anyone who might consider doing the same thing.

It’s just that the punishment doesn’t really fit the crime. You could kill or maim somebody with your car, causing a whole lot more misery than any petty software pirate could inflict, and you wouldn’t get the same level of punishment.

 

[Krathoon]

Yeah. That is the the problem with the punishment. They ruined him. Like the guy was a drug dealer or something.
...and they really did not get the people that were selling the piracy hacks.

 

[Krathoon]

Never hack modern consoles that are still making games. You are just asking for trouble.

 

[LostDonkey]

We're definitely in a simulation.

I mean, come on.....

Bowser???

 

[Trilobit]

Ill raise a glass to him, but as with any pirate, no sympathy.

"Oh, daddy big corporation! Please don't let anyone hurt you! "

 

[Dacvak]

Wait there's a THIRD Bowser relevant to Nintendo?!

Dude, it’s Bowsers all the way down

 

[Krathoon]

The Bowser thing is really weird. What are the odds?

 

[SHA]

Can't say I feel any sympathy here. Hope Nintendo does this to more people who enable mass piracy of their games. $10 million is a tiny, tiny fraction of what they actually lose, and they won't even see the $10 million. Nintendo basically gets no justice while this guy gets sob stories about his rent. He's lucky he's not in jail considering he can't actually pay this in his lifetime.

It's the truth and it pisses a lot of people off, no one take the video games business seriously, welcome to reality.