One million fine for copying one Wii game

by Steven Williamson on 11 February 2010, 09:10

Tags: Nintendo (TYO:7974), Wii

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An Australian man has been ordered to pay Nintendo $1.5 million after he was caught copying and uploading New Super Mario Bros Wii to the Internet prior to release.

James Burt, 24, of Queensland settled the dispute out of court agreeing to compensate Nintendo for losses incurred as a result of his actions. In recent years, Nintendo has made no secret of the fact that it intends to crackdown hard on pirates who copy and upload games for Wii and DS to Internet torrent sites, but this latest case proves show that it’s not just the mass pirates that it’s targeting.

"Nintendo will pursue those who attempt to jeopardise our industry by using all means available to it under the law," said the company this week.

Australian retailers were granted access to New Super Mario Bros Wii ahead of North America and Europe, but xx said that the case has caused headlines worldwide.

"It wasn't just an Australian issue, it was a global issue. There was thousands and thousands of downloads, at a major cost to us and the industry really," Ms Lappin said.

"It's not just about us. It's about retailers and if they can't sell the games then they have to bear the costs associated with that. "Once it's on the internet it's anyone's really."

Piracy is estimated to cost the video games industry over $700 a million.


HEXUS Forums :: 15 Comments

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Distribution costs of software have never been cheaper than it is now.

But has software retail cost come down ? at all ?

Piracy at one time was the realm of geeks, now its widespread,
even done by the average joe who won't park on a double yellow line…

The music industry is starting to learn, with spotify etc
(which removed my need for mp3s), time for the games industry to
do similar.

Not the same model, but reduced prices - £30 for a game is just silly.
I think the music industry just unlearned Mike
Slightly out of context, Warner CEO basically doesn't like the free spotify service,
not the paid (premium) service. Spotify is safe, but unlikely to release the ad-supported version in the US.

http://paidcontent.org/article/419-wmgs-bronfman-does-a-murdoch-itunes-will-be-dwarved/
…but this latest case proves show that it’s not just the mass pirates that it’s targeting.
Depends how you look at it really, I mean he was uploading it to the internet, I don't think there is another way you could give it to more people…

I agree that the price of games are too high really, but then as long as people continue to copy of friends and download off the internet then thats the way is most likely going to stay. Not that a lower price would stop a lot of pirates, as they wouldn't pay for it if it was £5.

However having said that, if you are willing to wait a while they usually come down quite a bit in price.

Mind you, is it just me, or are there not as many demos nowadays?
mikerr
Slightly out of context, Warner CEO basically doesn't like the free spotify service,
not the paid (premium) service. Spotify is safe, but unlikely to release the ad-supported version in the US.

http://paidcontent.org/article/419-wmgs-bronfman-does-a-murdoch-itunes-will-be-dwarved/

To continue the off-topic out of context…

The one thing that really annoys me with my free spotify (and maybe its a sneaky ploy to get people to sign up for the add-free version) is that suddenly the adverts that used to be more UK centric, now always seem to be adverts with annoying American accents? what's that about (especially if US will not have a add-supported version, we get to hear their adverts) grrrrrrrrrrrr!!!