Washington court orders Switch piracy moderator to pay Nintendo $4.5m

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Washington court orders Switch piracy moderator to pay Nintendo $4.5m

Developing story first seen 2 hours ago

The Verge · 2 hours ago

A Washington federal judge has ordered James Williams, a Reddit moderator known as “archbox”, to pay Nintendo $4.5 million after he failed to respond to the company’s lawsuit over alleged Switch game piracy. The default judgment also requires him to shut down online shops and social-media accounts allegedly used to distribute pirated games, marking another legal victory in Nintendo’s broader anti-piracy campaign.

The award represents $150,000 for each of 30 copyrighted games, including Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Luigi’s Mansion 3 and Pikmin 4. Nintendo alleged that Williams helped run the r/SwitchPirates community, solicited games and eShop gift cards, promoted pirate shops and assisted with distributing copyrighted files and circumvention software; the case follows Nintendo’s recent victory in the Netherlands over Mig flash cartridges.

  • Moderator ordered to pay Nintendo $4.5 million.
  • Court ordered pirate shops and accounts shut down.
  • Award covers 30 copyrighted Switch games.

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Originally published by The Verge as “Reddit mod ordered to pay Nintendo $4.5 million in Switch piracy lawsuit”.