It's Official: The R4 is Illegal in the UK
Nintendo wins against "homebrew use" argument.
Nintendo has been on the legal attack against the R4 Magicard for quite some time, but today a new ruling from the London High Court has officially made the importing, advertising and sale of the device illegal.
The R4 is a cartridge for the Nintendo DS that allows users to run custom code. More often than not, it is used to play illegally pirated games and ROM dumps of unreleased titles on the handheld. Nintendo has been aggressively chasing those involved with selling the product, although defendant Wai Dat Chan and Playables Limited argued that it is legal because its purpose is to run homebrew programs.
The Court threw that defence out of the window, ruling that the R4 circumvents Nintendo's security systems in order to work, thus making it illegal.
A statement from Nintendo says that the company “promotes and fosters game development and creativity, and strongly supports the game developers who legitimately create new and innovative applications. In the UK alone, there have been over 100,000 game copying devices seized since 2009.
“Nintendo initiates these actions not only on its own behalf, but also on behalf of over 1,400 video game development companies that depend on legitimate sales of games for their survival.”
The ruling follows another win for Nintendo in the Netherlands, where 11 retailers were convicted of acting unlawfully in importing and selling DS game copiers and Wii mod chips.
Source: MCV
The R4 is a cartridge for the Nintendo DS that allows users to run custom code. More often than not, it is used to play illegally pirated games and ROM dumps of unreleased titles on the handheld. Nintendo has been aggressively chasing those involved with selling the product, although defendant Wai Dat Chan and Playables Limited argued that it is legal because its purpose is to run homebrew programs.
The Court threw that defence out of the window, ruling that the R4 circumvents Nintendo's security systems in order to work, thus making it illegal.
A statement from Nintendo says that the company “promotes and fosters game development and creativity, and strongly supports the game developers who legitimately create new and innovative applications. In the UK alone, there have been over 100,000 game copying devices seized since 2009.
“Nintendo initiates these actions not only on its own behalf, but also on behalf of over 1,400 video game development companies that depend on legitimate sales of games for their survival.”
The ruling follows another win for Nintendo in the Netherlands, where 11 retailers were convicted of acting unlawfully in importing and selling DS game copiers and Wii mod chips.
Source: MCV
Companies:
Nintendo
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Comments
irritant 28 Jul 2010 12:00
1/6
Bit late really, considering the R4 hasn't actually been manufactured for at least 18 months (I'm not counting the dodgy Chinese R4 knock-offs) and that the DS is pretty much at the end of it's life given that the 3DS will be here in the next few months.
deleted 28 Jul 2010 12:22
2/6
@irritant
interesting about the 3DS will new versions be engineered to circumvent the laws set by R4 based devices? hmm.
interesting about the 3DS will new versions be engineered to circumvent the laws set by R4 based devices? hmm.
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Dreadknux 28 Jul 2010 12:36
3/6
Yeah it is a bit like the horse has bolted a bit. But then, as with most things, this sets a precedent for Nintendo to put the kibosh on any potential future 3DS-knackering technology as well.
EroThraX 28 Jul 2010 12:53
4/6
There are no DSi specific cards, there will be no 3DS specific cards. This makes no difference, the latest Nintendo security measures on the DSi are notoriously hard to exploit and thus there has been no mass piracy of DSi only games and DSi ware.
All they can do for the DSi is make DS flash carts, they will do the same for the 3DS.
All they can do for the DSi is make DS flash carts, they will do the same for the 3DS.
irritant 28 Jul 2010 13:45
5/6
@haritori
I'm guessing that like the DSi, the 3DS only games (not that there are many DSi only games) will have additional protection so copying 3DS games will, initially at least, be impossible.
I'd also suspect that the 3DS firmware will be resistant to the existing DS piracy cards but that some cards will be able to get round this (as they currently can on DSi) by having their own firmware reflashed.
The likely problem any piracy devices have with the 3DS (existing DS ones or any new 3DS ones) is that the firmware for the device will get many revisions as it is more aimed at an on-line setup. Each revision will block out the cards making the card manufacturers update their devices to keep up.
Nintendo may find a way to stop games being copied at all, but pirates love a challenge.
@EroThraX
The reason nobody has tried too hard to crack DSi only games is that there simply aren't enough (any? (I know there are DSi enhanced DS cards)) for them to bother. With 3DS the DS effectively becomes dead. Nobody with a 3DS is going to bother buying another DS game, even if it is backwards compatible, so all new DS games will be 3DS games therefore more of a reason to try crack it.
I'm guessing that like the DSi, the 3DS only games (not that there are many DSi only games) will have additional protection so copying 3DS games will, initially at least, be impossible.
I'd also suspect that the 3DS firmware will be resistant to the existing DS piracy cards but that some cards will be able to get round this (as they currently can on DSi) by having their own firmware reflashed.
The likely problem any piracy devices have with the 3DS (existing DS ones or any new 3DS ones) is that the firmware for the device will get many revisions as it is more aimed at an on-line setup. Each revision will block out the cards making the card manufacturers update their devices to keep up.
Nintendo may find a way to stop games being copied at all, but pirates love a challenge.
@EroThraX
The reason nobody has tried too hard to crack DSi only games is that there simply aren't enough (any? (I know there are DSi enhanced DS cards)) for them to bother. With 3DS the DS effectively becomes dead. Nobody with a 3DS is going to bother buying another DS game, even if it is backwards compatible, so all new DS games will be 3DS games therefore more of a reason to try crack it.
deleted 28 Jul 2010 14:56
6/6
So, Stock up on DSi in the sale pre and post 3DS Buy a few DS Cards if you can get hold of em quickly and backup your entire collection of existing games onto one Memory card and sore your DS carts away, its a cold day for homebrew though.
lol just been to UK DS Cart Seller its got a huge sale on em lol!!
lol just been to UK DS Cart Seller its got a huge sale on em lol!!