Nintendo sues two Switch pirates - LaLiga demands €450 from those who watch pirated football

Nintendo sues two Switch pirates

The video games company Nintendo, determined to combat piracy of its popular Switch console, has filed two lawsuits in Washington federal court related to the promotion and distribution of pirated content.

The first lawsuit is against a Michigan resident, Ryan Daly, for violating the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) by selling mod chips and MIG devices through his online store "Modded Hardware". These devices allow users to play pirated copies of Nintendo Switch games on genuine consoles. Although Nintendo had previously contacted Mr. Ryan Daly and he had agreed to shut down the store, he never complied, which led Nintendo to take legal action.

The second lawsuit involves an Arizona resident, James Williams, known on Reddit as "Archbox". He is accused of running several pirate shops and facilitating piracy through the SwitchPirates subreddit, where he was a moderator. This Reddit community had around 190,000 members, highlighting the scope of his activities. Nintendo had sent a cease and desist letter to him in March, but he continued his activities.

These lawsuits coincide with the company's anti-piracy campaigns and the recent announcement by Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa on the company's stance on the use of artificial intelligence (AI). Mr Furukawa acknowledged the relationship between game development and AI technology, but warned that the use of generative AI could endanger intellectual property rights. 

LaLiga demands €450 from those who watch pirated football 

LaLiga, the organisation that manages Spain's professional football league, has launched a campaign against piracy by sending certified letters claiming €450 in compensation to users who have accessed pirate football platforms.

In March, the Commercial Court No. 8 of Barcelona, Spain, granted LaLiga access to the personal data of customers of major telecommunications providers whose connections were used to access illegal football IPTV services. Telefónica, Vodafone and Orange, among others, are now identifying and providing data on service subscribers who accessed specific combinations of IP addresses and ports during match broadcasts.

The Barcelona court considered that these users were not mere end-users using the signal in good faith and without commercial intent, but were involved in cardsharing, where legitimate users redistribute the signal to unauthorised networks that retransmit it. In response, the General Council of the Judiciary clarified that operators should only provide personal data of those who illegally share their content, specifically cardsharers who profit from the redistribution of the signal, not those who merely evade subscription fees.

Nevertheless, LaLiga president Javier Tebas pointed out that, in his view, the one who broadcasts the pirate signal is as guilty as the one who watches it. As a result, LaLiga has sent letters indiscriminately to all users who have connected to a pirate network to watch a match.