Nintendo Wins Lawsuit Against DS Emulation
Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 1:20 pm
Nintendo Wins Lawsuit Against DS Emulation
by: Stephen Kamizuru
Nintendo wins lawsuit against distributors of Nintendo DS emulation hardware
On Friday the Tokyo District Court issued an order banning the import and sale by five companies of electronic devices known as the “R4”. These devices allow users to play illegally copied game software on the Nintendo DS hand held game system. Judge Masami Ichikawa, who oversaw the suit filed by Nintendo and 54 other game companies, ruled that the import and sale of DS emulation devices, runs counter to the unfair competition prevention law as they cancel out the consoles’ copy protection system.
The three-judge panel ruled that the plaintiffs have suffered business losses by the import and sale of the DS emulation devices. The defendants argued that the emulation devices fall outside the scope of regulations under the unfair competition prevention law because they help users play not only copied software but also homemade software as well.
In July of last year, Nintendo and company launched the lawsuit against companies that import the R4 Revolution for DS. The lawsuit was led by Nintendo and supported by major game companies such as SNK, Capcom, Koei, Square Enix, Sega, and Taito. Nintendo demanded all marketing, sales, and importation of the device be stopped.
Nintendo’s press release at the time stated the Chinese made R4 were “causing severe damage to our company and software makers, and this is something that we cannot possibly overlook.” The lawsuit was limited to the Japanese market only.
The R4 allows gamers to load and play Nintendo DS ROM files downloaded from the internet. The ROM cartridge fools the Nintendo DS into believing a real cartridge has been plugged in to the DS and are only limited by memory capacity in terms of how many games can be loaded. The R4 has a small slot that a Micro SD card goes into. In addition to game piracy the R4 allows “homebrew” software, games, and music to be played on a Nintendo DS
When the lawsuit was launched last year, Square Enix had already implemented anti-piracy measures against the R4 in their game Dragon Quest 5: Hand of the Heavenly Bride. Pirated copies of this game do not work properly when used with the R4.
by: Stephen Kamizuru
Nintendo wins lawsuit against distributors of Nintendo DS emulation hardware
On Friday the Tokyo District Court issued an order banning the import and sale by five companies of electronic devices known as the “R4”. These devices allow users to play illegally copied game software on the Nintendo DS hand held game system. Judge Masami Ichikawa, who oversaw the suit filed by Nintendo and 54 other game companies, ruled that the import and sale of DS emulation devices, runs counter to the unfair competition prevention law as they cancel out the consoles’ copy protection system.
The three-judge panel ruled that the plaintiffs have suffered business losses by the import and sale of the DS emulation devices. The defendants argued that the emulation devices fall outside the scope of regulations under the unfair competition prevention law because they help users play not only copied software but also homemade software as well.
In July of last year, Nintendo and company launched the lawsuit against companies that import the R4 Revolution for DS. The lawsuit was led by Nintendo and supported by major game companies such as SNK, Capcom, Koei, Square Enix, Sega, and Taito. Nintendo demanded all marketing, sales, and importation of the device be stopped.
Nintendo’s press release at the time stated the Chinese made R4 were “causing severe damage to our company and software makers, and this is something that we cannot possibly overlook.” The lawsuit was limited to the Japanese market only.
The R4 allows gamers to load and play Nintendo DS ROM files downloaded from the internet. The ROM cartridge fools the Nintendo DS into believing a real cartridge has been plugged in to the DS and are only limited by memory capacity in terms of how many games can be loaded. The R4 has a small slot that a Micro SD card goes into. In addition to game piracy the R4 allows “homebrew” software, games, and music to be played on a Nintendo DS
When the lawsuit was launched last year, Square Enix had already implemented anti-piracy measures against the R4 in their game Dragon Quest 5: Hand of the Heavenly Bride. Pirated copies of this game do not work properly when used with the R4.