09:22Machine-translated from Azerbaijani by AIRead in Azerbaijani
Nintendo Switch Game Pirate Ordered to Pay Nintendo $4.5 Million
A federal court in the US state of Washington has ruled in the case of James Williams, who was accused of distributing pirated copies of “Nintendo Switch” games. Under the ruling, he must pay “Nintendo” $4.5 million (approximately 7.65 million AZN) in damages. The ruling in the case, heard by federal judge Lauren King, was issued on Wednesday without Williams present. This was because he failed to respond to the lawsuit in court or participate in the proceedings.
The lawsuit against Williams, known as “Archbox,” was filed in 2024. According to “Nintendo,” he was one of the main moderators of the “r/SwitchPirates” community on “Reddit” and operated several pirate stores. The lawsuit alleged that Williams collected “Nintendo eShop” gift cards and copies of games as donations. Copies of those games were then made and distributed through online stores. The damages were calculated based on 30 copyrighted games. The court set damages at $150,000 (255,000 AZN) for each infringement. The list includes games such as “Animal Crossing: New Horizons,” “Luigi’s Mansion 3,” and “Pikmin 4.” The judge found that Williams promoted pirated games and software designed to circumvent “Nintendo’s” protection system and also helped distribute them. Williams must immediately terminate access to all the pirate stores he operated and close the social media accounts used to distribute the games. The “r/SwitchPirates” community is still active, but Williams no longer appears on its list of moderators. “Nintendo” previously won a similar court case in the Netherlands. That ruling found that the sale of “Mig” memory cartridges designed to run pirated games was illegal.
The lawsuit against Williams, known as “Archbox,” was filed in 2024. According to “Nintendo,” he was one of the main moderators of the “r/SwitchPirates” community on “Reddit” and operated several pirate stores. The lawsuit alleged that Williams collected “Nintendo eShop” gift cards and copies of games as donations. Copies of those games were then made and distributed through online stores. The damages were calculated based on 30 copyrighted games. The court set damages at $150,000 (255,000 AZN) for each infringement. The list includes games such as “Animal Crossing: New Horizons,” “Luigi’s Mansion 3,” and “Pikmin 4.” The judge found that Williams promoted pirated games and software designed to circumvent “Nintendo’s” protection system and also helped distribute them. Williams must immediately terminate access to all the pirate stores he operated and close the social media accounts used to distribute the games. The “r/SwitchPirates” community is still active, but Williams no longer appears on its list of moderators. “Nintendo” previously won a similar court case in the Netherlands. That ruling found that the sale of “Mig” memory cartridges designed to run pirated games was illegal.