man will have to pay Nintendo $1.5 million for uploading a game

[DazzaDazza 35]

Guy has to pay 1.5 mill to Nintendo for uploading,

 

Have a read of this, I guess next time we think of doing something we shouldn't, think of this guy    

http://www.theage.com.au/digital-life/games/nintendo-pirate-to-pay-15m-20100209-np4i.html

[fukuda 351]

guess next time we think of doing something we should, think of this guy quote>

...? Did you mean "shouldn't"?

[A Nonny Moose 8,263]

Originally posted by: fukuda

guess next time we think of doing something we should, think of this guy quote>

...? Did you mean "shouldn't"?quote>

Either that, or the comma is in the wrong place. I think the comma should be omitted.

But in any case, we have enough electronic and physical piracy in the world. Theft is theft, and I think the guy should have been prosecuted criminally.

[Duke87 1,070]

Meh. This sort of thing is invited by region locking the console and then not releasing the game in Australia until months after it's been released in North America, already in English. Doesn't take time to translate, so the delay makes no sense. You can't just buy the game from the US, as your Australian console can't play it. And people aren't patient, so given the opportunity to get a cracked version early, they spring for it. Nintendo may have copyrights on their games and whatnot, but any idiot can tell you that if you make unreasonable rules, people are going to break them. I say a policy change is in order for combatting piracy: quit region locking things, quit needlessly staggering the releases, quit charging ridiculous prices for the game (if Capcom can release Megaman games for $30US, Nintendo can do the same for their games. $45-50US is a ripoff).

On another note, I'd like to know how they expect one guy to come up with $1.5 million. Blood from a stone, much?

[DazzaDazza 35]

Arrrrr, sorry about that

Anyway, Duke87 make a good point about region locking, it is rather ridicules how aussie have to wait for things, it the same with movies as well, we have to wait months for them. a crime is a crime though, I think his being used for more as example, I guess you could call him unlucky, but the crime doesn't really fit the punishment, I mean you can't lump someone with a $1.5 million debt, it would destroy his whole life, he would never be able to afford a loan, for a house/car, credit card, no bank would touch him. It would destroy his life. I mean you hear on TV people doing far worse crimes and they get a slap on the wrist, I know it a crime what he did but it is rather ridicules. So I don't think he will have to pay much if not any of the 1.5 mill. he will probably walk away with a criminal record, and a good behavior bond

[Duke87 1,070]

Criminal record?

I dunno about Australia, but over here copyright is a matter of civil law, not criminal law. You get sued for it, not arrested. Losing in court means losing a lawsuit, not being convicted of a crime.... and you can be made to pay damages, but you can't go to jail or recieve any other "sentence".

Which, actually, makes the statement "piracy is a crime" inaccurate. It's against the law, but it's not a crime.

[sneakeypete 16]

He'll probably pay off 20 grand and declare himself bankrupt (quitely). and Nintendo probably won't mind, they've made their point.

[DazzaDazza 35]

Maybe I am wrong.  but he would have had to been convicted of a something that something would have been "piracy", hence it would go on his record, I would say that would be the same every where, , if he don't get charged with anything Nintendo wouldn't have a cases because then he wouldn't have been braking the law, he would of got charge with "piracy", then they would have sued for damagers "loss of income". also You can go to jail for piracy as well.

Even if he declares bankruptcy it would still hinder his chances of getting a loan from a bank, they don’t look to fondly on people that  declare bankruptcy

[Larks2242 251]

Nintendo is going downhill any way they have not come out with anything worthwhile sense the Nintendo 64, they better put this money towards tracking down more pirates.

[Easy Bakes 253]

Is there any reason why there are differnt formats for consols that make them totaly uncompatable in different countrys?

why cant Sony sell the same machine in the US they sell in Japan?

I under stand that diffent countrys have different power delivery systems but  isnt that eaisly  solved with  minor changes in the power supply or adapters for power cords?

[chicah 20]

Maybe not a very wise thing to say, but I actually think Nintendo are the unreasonable ones here, not the guy who pirated. I understand that they want to catch people who pirate, but their demands are completely illogical. 1,5 million for a Nintendo game? At most it's worth maybe 50 bucks. They could double that as a fine, sure - but making unreasonable demands is just another reason NOT to support their tactics. And a lot of them are dinosaurs, they haven't realized where the future is - online streamed games, like you can already do with music or movies, for instance - instant access, a lot of people would as a matter of fact pay for that. Spotify, for instance, has taken over a lot of the customers who would usually pirate, into a legal music streaming service. The future is file sharing, and it will happen illegally or legally, and I don't think it's really possible to fight it. Lawsuits against strangers don't scare many people off, it just makes them angry.

[hym 358]

Originally posted by: Easy Bakes

Is there any reason why there are differnt formats for consols that make them totaly uncompatable in different countrys?

why cant Sony sell the same machine in the US they sell in Japan?quote>

Licensing issues.

I under stand that diffent countrys have different power delivery systems but  isnt that eaisly  solved with  minor changes in the power supply or adapters for power cords?quote>

They would manufacture adapters for the power cords, not change the power supplies.  It would cost too much money to have different power supplies available.

[Muck308 55]

Originally posted by: Larks2242

Nintendo is going downhill any way they have not come out with anything worthwhile sense the Nintendo 64, they better put this money towards tracking down more pirates.quote>

Are you nuts, Larks? The Wii is awesome. Do you say that because sales were low? I don't know how many Wii's they sold, but I bought one and I love it. Sure beats Guitar Hero. That game should be called "Butcher The Classics."

This guy got more than he deserved, but some form of punishment was needed.

[warrior 169]

(The wii, I have one but it gets boring quickly now only my younger brother plays on it. Now on the other hand Xbox 360 is great, and project natal just looks wow.)

The only way to beat piracy will be to release everything worldwide at once, and make it the same price everywhere.

It's like TV shows that show in America but only get to the UK 3 months later, it's just asking for people to go on the internet and watch it the day after it's broadcast in America. Same with games and movies.

Another thing is the ridiculous amount of protection that is put on games/movies/TV shows. And "licensing issues" don't help anyone.

Take American TV shows, I know many kids my age who just can't be bothered to wait 3 months for the midseason break, just type in "watch show-xyz online free" into google and get links to the show.

One thing they haven't really realised is that DRM and copy protection only affects the legal buyers, it only takes one pirate to get around the protection for all the other pirates to be able to use it.

These companies need to wake up, because if they don't they are the ones going to be losing out. While suing one or two people may get the 1.5 million and that might make up for the profits lost at the moment very soon they won't be able to.

I'm not a pirate but I have no sympathy for these companies "losing out because of pirates", because they aren't they are losing out because of old fashioned legal issues and laws which they have the power to change.

[LarksTonguesInAspic 28]

The wii has outsold all other consoles at some points in time. Being cheaper to develop and manufacture than any of its competitors as I remember, it's quite a cash cow; and now that it's been shown to have health benefits, it will stick around. MS still loses $50 or more for each Xbox it sells, great for the consumer but bad for bottom lines. That situation will become more untenable for the pointy heads at MS eventually.

A mil and a half? Sounds like a violation of the 'cruel and unusual punishment' amendment. There is no way Nincompoopto can prove that kind of loss from the situation. They're making an example of him. Why? Because they can't do a damn thing to stop piracy, period. They figure if they have a few heads on the fence it might fix something... like an unsustainable business model, frankly. Even with ISPs and government agencies watching the traffic, they just can't prevent it and they never will be able to. The idea of preventing piracy on the end-user side must be sufficiently shot-through by now. Any code can be cracked, they really need a way to prevent cracking on their end to truly make a dent in piracy. 

In the meantime, I am continuing my policy of a Nintendo-free zone, started by the premature death of my DS at 6 mos. They make crappy hardware now, that's for sure. Buttons got iffy at just 2-3 mos after purchase, unacceptable at that pricing point. It will not be replaced by another DS, why try pissing up a rope twice?

[chicah 20]

Frankly, in most pirating cases I feel that the industry had it coming to them. They're multi-billion companies who just want to make more money, even if it's very inconvenient for the users, or if the buyer ends up with the bad part of the bargain. It's all about money, sometimes I think they should have some decency, at the very least. I read about a single mom who got a completely ridicolous fine, she had to pay like hundreds of thousands for each song she downloaded - she downloaded 24 songs. 24 SONGS. It's barely one album. She was a single mom who couldn't exactly afford it. Now that's just cruel, and capitalistic corporatism at its worst. They should find alternative solutions to pirating. To be honest, if I was a big star I'd pull out of the whole record company-thing and make sure I had all my rights, so the company wouldn't own all my work (just look at what happened to The Beatles!) - because THAT is where the real stealing occurs. A lot of artists (like Radiohead) have even started putting out their albums for a "give whatever donation you want"-price, so that it is also technically possible to get it for free - with their blessing. Their major selling point is concerts, interviews and events anyways, when it comes to cds or whatever, the record company ends up with most of the money for their work. (What would Marx do, I wonder? Probably roll over in his grave.)

[Duke87 1,070]

Originally posted by: mrdazza_460

Maybe I am wrong.  but he would have had to been convicted of a something that something would have been "piracy", hence it would go on his record, I would say that would be the same every where, , if he don't get charged with anything Nintendo wouldn't have a cases because then he wouldn't have been braking the law, he would of got charge with "piracy", then they would have sued for damagers "loss of income". also You can go to jail for piracy as well.  quote>

Australia is definitely different, then. That's not how it works in the US.

Originally posted by: Easy Bakes

Is there any reason why there are differnt formats for consols that make them totaly uncompatable in different countrys?

why cant Sony sell the same machine in the US they sell in Japan?quote>

Legal issues.

In different parts of the world, the regulations electronic devices have to conform to are different. This is why the idea of "regions" has developed - it's easier to produce an Asian version that conforms to Asian regulations, a North American version that conforms to North American regulations, etc. than to try and produce one device that conforms to every different set of regulations.

This does, however, lead to consumer aggrivation when:

- you can't play that game that hasn't been released in your region yet (or isn't going to be) that you imported (legally, even) without cracking the console* or getting a console from the other region

- you move from one region to another and all of a sudden you can't buy games in any local stores to play on it

...so it would be more civilized to overcome this and de-region lock things.

*which in and of itself is illegal, at least in the US, because the makers of any electronic device are, as per the Digital Millenium Copyright act, given the right to forbid people from making unauthorized modifications to it (which is BS, if I legally bought it, I should be able to do as I please with it)

Originally posted by: chicah

I understand that they want to catch people who pirate, but their demands are completely illogical. 1,5 million for a Nintendo game? At most it's worth maybe 50 bucks. They could double that as a fine, sure - but making unreasonable demands is just another reason NOT to support their tactics.quote>

Well, this person didn't just download it, he illegally uploaded it and distributed it... meaning he is responsible for the lost price of not just one copy of the game but many. $1.5 million would be 30,000 dowloads. I can believe that that many people downloaded it from this guy, so it's perfectly fathomable that he cost Nintendo that much money with his actions. Still, he's never going to be able to come up with that sort of money, so it's totally unreasonable.

Originally posted by: warrior

One thing they haven't really realised is that DRM and copy protection only affects the legal buyers, it only takes one pirate to get around the protection for all the other pirates to be able to use it.quote>

Indeed. I have four Gamecube controllers. Only three of them work with my Wii, though, because one of them was made by MadCatz, not Nintendo - it's unlicensed hardware and thus the Wii rejects it. Stupid. 

Originally posted by: manticorefan

In the meantime, I am continuing my policy of a Nintendo-free zone, started by the premature death of my DS at 6 mos. They make crappy hardware now, that's for sure. Buttons got iffy at just 2-3 mos after purchase, unacceptable at that pricing point. It will not be replaced by another DS, why try pissing up a rope twice?

quote>

I think you just had a bad experience. I find Nintendo's handhelds to be surprisingly sturdy. My DS is still the original DS. Still works, despite having been hauled around in my pocket or duffel bag for the past five years. My two GBA SP's are even older and both also still work. Much to my satisfaction considering I'm incapable of being gentile and small electronics in my hands have a habit of breaking. No camera has ever lasted me more than two years. My wristwatches die or break equally as often. I have to replace my headphones at least once a year. My USB mouse croaked after about 8-10 months. If Nintendo can make a portable gaming device that survives 5+ years in my hands, they must really know how to build things to last.

[Larks2242 251]

Originally posted by: Muck308

Originally posted by: Larks2242

Nintendo is going downhill any way they have not come out with anything worthwhile sense the Nintendo 64, they better put this money towards tracking down more pirates.quote>

Are you nuts, Larks? The Wii is awesome. Do you say that because sales were low? quote>

Sales are one reason the other is low tech the Ps3 and Xbox 360 are far more superior to the Wii as was the Xbox and Ps2 to the Gamecube. Sony dominated the handheld market with the release of the PSP and blew the Gameboy off the map. If this keeps up i'll expect Nintendo to either back off making consoles and focus on games like Sega did or try to reinvent themselves somehow.   

[Jeiman2008 21]

It always amuses me when a company like Nintendo says it's lost revenue from piracy. While I won't condone the act of piracy, the simple fact is the majority of people who download pirated software wouldn't have paid for it in the first place. Even though Nintendo is really just trying to make an example out of this guy, I think their figures as to how much revenue they "lost" are grossly inflated.

[jdenm8 362]

Originally posted by: Larks2242

Sony dominated the handheld market with the release of the PSP and blew the Gameboy off the map. quote>

*spits drink all over Laptop* *Cough**Cough* Ha, ha, ha, ha. Ha, ha, ha, ha. Oh, now that's good.

Come to Australia where the PSP is big, heavy, expensive and most stores (K Mart, Big W, Target, EB Games, Gametraders, JB HI-FI, must I go on) generally only have one rack (or half of one poached from the PC section) of PSP games versus four racks and generally an overflowing table of DS games.

The idea that the PSP blew the Gameboy away, yes it did, for three months. Then Nintendo released the DS about three months later and then, goodbye PSP. Honestly, look at the handheld consoles you see one the sreeets, you will see, in order of quantity, the: Nintendo DS Lite, Nintendo DSi, Nintendo DS then lastly, Sony PSP 70000. I haven't seen a PSPGo yet. Probably due to the fact that they're over AU$150 more than a DSi (The PSP 70000 is already AU$50 dearer than a DSi and AU$150 than a DS Lite). Xboxes are cheaper than the PSPGo and have more and cheaper games. Possibly because Microsoft did not jettison the CD like Sony did with the UMD.

You might have gathered that the PSP is expensive. Hell yeah, it is.

PSP Go: AU$525.95 (With no free games. Zero, zilch, nothing)

PSP 70000: AU$399.95 (Generally with Gran Turismo or *shudders* Hanna Montana)

DSi: AU$350.00 (Generally with one or two games and an accessory pack)

DS Lite: AU$299.95 (Generally with two or three games and an accessory pack)

All very expensive when I can get an Xbox 360 Arcade for AU$299.

All of those game publishers are plain stoopid to stagger releases around the globe. FFXIII has been out in Japan and the US since December, we have to wait until April (Sorry, I looked again and it's actually March 9th). You bastards. Then you complain about forking out US$50 for a game. Wait until you fork out AU$120 for the same bloody game (yes, I'm looking at you Assassain's Creed II) but generally with bits left out (I'm glaring at you, Left 4 Dead 2) and the spelling is still broken! Spell colour properly for god sake! You kept it from us for four months, at least fix the damn spelling!

Nintendo's the worst by far. Super Smash Brothers Brawl, in the year and a half since it has come out over here, has only had its new price drop by $10. It's now roughly AU$90. Super Mario Brothers Wii and Zelda Phantom Hourglass are the same price. Strange for a console that has an average game outlay of about AU$40 per game. At least they broke the trend with Wii Fit Plus+. It's no wonder people don't want to pay for them. Drop your damn RRP and you might actually make a profit.

And sales of the Wii are low. Ha! The Wii is cheaper, more reliable and has more games available for it. It can be summarised as a PS2 with a fancy controller, yes. But in our household, we have 12 Wii games, 6 Xbox 360 games and 3 PlayStation 3 games purely on the virtue that the Wii is all-round cheaper. It's cheaper in the first place, it's cheaper to get games for and the controllers are half the price (AU$60) of a PlayStation 3 controller (AU$110) and plain cheaper than an Xbox 360 controller (Wired: AU$60, Wireless: $80 + Rechargeable battery: $30)

[Duke87 1,070]

Originally posted by: jdenm8

DSi: AU$350.00quote>

350 AUD = 311.85 USD

A DSi around here goes for 165 USD.

Video games and consoles are expensive in Australia, this I've heard before.... I suppose the industry has decided the market can bear a higher price there than it can here.

but generally with bits left out (I'm glaring at you, Left 4 Dead 2)quote>

This you have your government to blame for. Overseas versions of more adult games native to the US very often get censored because some things that you can get away with here simply aren't permitted elsewhere.

[LarksTonguesInAspic 28]

The Wii never was about category-killing graphics, it's all about the interface. An unorthodox approach to modern gaming, but it has paid off. I can give them props for finding an end run around the other consoles by quantum-leaping what amounts to an afterthought for the industry up until the release of Wii.

As for my DS, the cascade collapse of its interface, button by button, over the course of a couple months was enough to sour me on them. To have a collection of defective parts all fall into one housing doesn't speak well of their quality control procedures.

[jdenm8 362]

Originally posted by: Duke87

Video games and consoles are expensive in Australia, this I've heard before.... I suppose the industry has decided the market can bear a higher price there than it can here. quote>

Expensive... Don't get me started. That's what the industry gets away with and it's all because of that damn regioning. PC games upon release are generally about AU$20-AU$30 cheaper than their console counterparts. At least we have something to thank online auctioning for.

Lookie here: http://www.jbhifi.com.au/games/

and here: http://www.ebgames.com.au/

and they're CHEAP!

Originally posted by: Duke87

Originally posted by: jdenm8

but generally with bits left out (I'm glaring at you, Left 4 Dead 2)quote>

This you have your government to blame for. Overseas versions of more adult games native to the US very often get censored because some things that you can get away with here simply aren't permitted elsewhere.

quote>

No, actually. We have some loudmouthed old fart in South Austraila to thank for that.

[Larks2242 251]

Originally posted by: jdenm8

Originally posted by: Larks2242

Sony dominated the handheld market with the release of the PSP and blew the Gameboy off the map. quote>

quote>

The idea that the PSP blew the Gameboy away, yes it did, for three months. Then Nintendo released the DS about three months later and then, goodbye PSP. Honestly, look at the handheld consoles you see one the sreeets, you will see, in order of quantity quote>

[sneakeypete 16]

Originally posted by: hym

They would manufacture adapters for the power cords, not change the power supplies.  It would cost too much money to have different power supplies available.

quote>

Well there is the slight problem of the USA using about half the voltage than the EU/Japan/Australia usually does. Its not going to be as simple as plug and play. Howeve,r having a different powersupply unit completely for each country is pretty easy, this things sell very high volumes.

[kingdiz_55 12]

Wouldn't wanna be doin' something like that.

[jdenm8 362]

Originally posted by: Larks2242

The PSPs price has dropped alot in the US i'm sure its just a matter of time before it does there too.

quote>

It's been four years and the price hasn't dropped a cent. I've given up hope.

The Wii may not have appealing graphics and gameplay, but its cheaper. It's much cheaper, doesn't require you to play it in 'Teeny weeny eyestrain-o-vision' (Benjamin Croshaw) and will take a physical form of data storage for its games. So does the DS. The DS has more games with a more intuative interface, a bigger (combined) screen. I've played (and watched movies on) a PSP and I honestly prefer my Nokia 6300. It's lighter, takes larger (data) removable memory cards and is just easier. The controls on the PSP aren't very intuative either. Usually, when I recieve a gaming console/controller, the controls are straight forward enough to not require a 'How do I use this thing?' response. I mastered Mario Kart DS (in this one I actually beat the owner's top times in two tries), Super Princess Peach and Simcity Creator's controls within seconds of recieving the console. When I played a PSP however, I first played a demonstration version in Big W and actually had to ask the sales attendant how to work it. When I played one of my friend's PSPs, I once again had to ask how to use it. It doesn't help the analogue stick (what's a portable console got one of those for?) is the same colour as the chassis.

I've also had reports form owners that earphone jacks on PSPs are tempermental and brake often, the large screens are a target for iPod-like damage and the buttons feel like microswitches I can buy from my local electronic component supplier for 99c apeice.

Quality over quantity. Pah. Quality and Quantity are hand in hand.

To sneakeypete,

Japan actually uses the same socket and voltage as the US, just generally without an earth pin.

[sneakeypete 16]

Ah, might be due to the war etc. We use 240V here, what's used in the US or japan?

[DazzaDazza 35]

US uses 120V (i think) the voltage doesn't have anything to do with it, the parts that run the Wii, Xbox, PS, would be 12V or 24 V the only think that changes is in the machine from one country to anther is the transformer the drops the voltage from 240v or 120c down to 12 V. ( well it used to be like that anyway)

[jdenm8 362]

mrdazza_460, you nailed it on the head. The only signifigant exception would be the PlayStation series which uses  PC-esque PSUs.