Summary
- A Japanese man has been arrested on suspicion of selling illegally modified Nintendo Switch hardware.
- His arrest is the first of its kind, and he’s been accused of rigging Switch hardware to play pirated games.
- In the past, Nintendo has gone after Switch modders before, though it’s unclear if Nintendo was responsible for this particular arrest.
Fumihiro Otobe, a 58-year-old Japanese man, has been arrested for selling illegally modified Nintendo Switch consoles by the Kochi Prefectural police, according to Japanese news outlets.
Otobe is being accused of violating the Trademark Act, and according to NTV, his arrest for selling a modded Nintendo Switch console is the first of its kind. The transportation employee from the Ibaraki Prefecture is accused of rigging the Switch circuit board and selling the modified hardware on the secondhand market for 28,000 Yen, or $180.
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Via the rigged system, playing “illegally” obtained games was meant to be possible, and Otobe has further been accused of selling 27 pirated games. He’s since admitted to the charges, according to the news report.
“I was interested in whether people would think I was amazing if I sold modified machines,” he’s being quoted as saying.
According to a legal website, the purpose of the Japanese Trademark Act is defined as follows: “The purpose of this Act is, through the protection of trademarks, to ensure upholding the reputation of businesses of persons who use trademarks, thereby contributing to the development of the industry and the protection of the interests of consumers.”
Nintendo Has Gone After Modders Before
Gamers may recall that in mid-2024, the Japanese company launched a pair of lawsuits against two individuals, one of which operated a modded hardware website. Indeed, Ryan Daly, who is accused of running the website Modded Hardware, was named in a suit for copyright infringement, among other accusations.
In that same set of lawsuits, Nintendo also came after James Williams, who previously served as a moderator for a Switch piracy subreddit. Williams was accused of “offering technical advice and encouragement” to other users on how to pirate Nintendo games. In that instance in particular, Nintendo went through some unheard of means to determine who was behind the piracy, including tracing repair orders.
At this moment, it’s unclear if Nintendo played a specific role in Otobe’s arrest. It being another reported instance of legal trouble for someone involved in piracy is noteworthy, particularly as the Switch 2 was finally revealed on Thursday — a successor that will no doubt be eyeballed for its software.
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