An Australian pirate by the name of James Burt has been ordered by a court to pay Nintendo the staggering sum of one and a half million Australian dollars, "to compensate Nintendo for the loss of sales revenue caused by the individual’s actions."
His crime? He released an early copy of Super Mario Bros Wii on to the internet, ensuring it would find its way into its underbelly, and eventually be downloaded “many thousands of times,†according to Nintendo’s Australian representation. He had the game available for download from November 6th, despite the game only officially being available from the 12th.
I’m glad to see something being done about piracy, but that’s a heck of a lot of beans. Still, it may dissuade other people from leaking games on to the internet.
Nintendo Australia managing director Rose Lappin says the case is a victory against piracy.
"Piracy is massive and getting bigger and bigger but I think the courts are taking it more seriously now as you can see by this," she said.
"As an industry it’s a major problem and the cost is massive to the industry and to developers. "Some of these guys say there are more downloads and patches than there are actual sales for them†"That’s shocking for our industry."
Score one for anti-piracy advocates! Still, I don’t think that’s money Nintendo will ever see. James Burt doesn’t strike me as the sort to have that sort of cash tucked away under his mattress.
Source : News.com.au
Last Updated: February 9, 2010
easy
February 9, 2010 at 14:08
convict heritage still runs deep i see 😉
the fine wont replace the loss of revenue for nintendo, so strictly speaking he got off lightly.
LazySAGamer
February 9, 2010 at 14:30
I wouldn’t say he got off lightly, this is sure to make pirates at least think twice before allowing their copy to be leaked…
He may never pay the money but he has also ended any chance he ever had of having a real career, I highly doubt anyone is going to hire him for a good job with a garnishing order against his salary, quite the harsh sentence really.
easy
February 9, 2010 at 15:02
its the same tactic the RIAA use. for each offence (1 offence = 1 track) they will fine you US$2000.00, which could rack up pretty quickly.
so ya, nintendo could of gone full force on this guy. anyway, like you said, its an amount that can and will never be paid for in full… just making an example.
Milesh Bhana ZA
February 9, 2010 at 14:36
Nintendo LOST money?
I call bullsh1t.
uberutang
February 9, 2010 at 15:22
Wow. Talk about being greedy.
They only made x billion dollars last year, so now they sue a dude for making it available for free?
What he did was wrong, but damn, how many private jets do one need?
WitWolfyZA
February 10, 2010 at 08:34
Dude that’s harsh… poor bastard…