REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A Canadian federal court ruled in favor of Nintendo of America Inc. in its case against Jeramie King and his affiliated business, Go Cyber Shopping Ltd. The case confirms that the distribution of circumvention devices – “flashcarts,” “modchips” and “game copiers” such as Sky3DS, Gateway 3DS and similar devices – is illegal. In a strong rebuke to the defendant’s activities, the court awarded Nintendo $12.76 million (CAD) against Go Cyber Shopping Ltd., including $1 million in punitive damages. The case is the first of its kind to test the Canadian Copyright Act’s Anti-Circumvention law and resulted in a resounding win for Nintendo.
Through a storefront and multiple websites that he controlled, King was a prolific distributor of large quantities of game copier devices and modchips, and also offered hardware-modification services. Game copiers and modchips enable users to circumvent Nintendo’s console security to download and play illegal copies of video game software in violation of Nintendo’s copyrights and trademarks. After years of routinely boasting of his activities on social media, King will now be forced to issue an apology on his website for the damage that he caused to Nintendo, its developers and partners.
“Nintendo continues to be a leader in bringing innovative gaming platforms and software to our fans and millions of gamers across the globe,” said Devon Pritchard, Nintendo of America’s General Counsel and Senior Vice President of Business Affairs. “Nintendo has an established track record that demonstrates our resolve to protect our iconic characters and franchises. We will continue to protect the creative works of our developers and vigorously enforce our intellectual property rights against those that attempt to steal or misuse them.”
About Nintendo: The worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii U™ and Wii™ home consoles, and Nintendo 3DS™ and Nintendo DS™ families of portable systems. Since 1983, when it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System™, Nintendo has sold more than 4.4 billion video games and more than 696 million hardware units globally, including the current-generation Wii U, Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo 3DS XL, as well as the Game Boy™, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi™ and Nintendo DSi XL™, Super NES™, Nintendo 64™, Nintendo GameCube™ and Wii systems. It has also created industry icons that have become well-known, household names such as Mario™, Donkey Kong™, Metroid™, Zelda™ and Pokémon™. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo’s operations in the Western Hemisphere. For more information about Nintendo, please visit the company’s website at http://www.nintendo.com.
Note to editors: Nintendo press materials are available at http://press.nintendo.com, a password-protected site. To obtain a login, please register on the site.
