Nintendo Switch Modder Hit With $2 Million Damages Fine In Piracy Lawsuit
Nintendo has secured a victory in court against Ryan Daly, creator and seller of the MIG-Switch flashcart, to the tune of $2 million. This judgement comes a year after the lawsuit was initially filed against Daly and his website, Modded Hardware, where he sold the MIG-Switch flashcart, the MIG-Dumper for dumping game files to PC storage devices. He even sold pre-hacked, preloaded consoles with pirated games, which defeats any arguments that Ryan was solely selling hardware intended for legitimate backups, not simply pirated games. Considering Ryan's decision to defend himself in court and such flagrant violations of the notoriously-litigious Nintendo's copyright, the final judgement in this case does not surprise.
While defenders of console hacking and emulation commonly note legitimate, non-piracy uses of these technologies, Ryan Daly unfortunately made no attempt to separate his Modded Hardware brand from piracy, making this a foregone conclusion. The $2 million September 5th judgement against Daly, which can be read in full online (PDF), also forbids Daly from possessing or selling future infringing hardware, which here encompasses flash carts, modchips, or hacked consoles.
While defenders of console hacking and emulation commonly note legitimate, non-piracy uses of these technologies, Ryan Daly unfortunately made no attempt to separate his Modded Hardware brand from piracy, making this a foregone conclusion. The $2 million September 5th judgement against Daly, which can be read in full online (PDF), also forbids Daly from possessing or selling future infringing hardware, which here encompasses flash carts, modchips, or hacked consoles.
This is notably not Nintendo's first move against modded Switch consoles— earlier this year, we also reported that Switch 2 owners were being banned for going online with a MIG-Switch cartridge, and this warpath even seemed to result in bans for legitimate buyers of used Switch games. Interestingly, these moves by Nintendo which may also impact legitimate users are also being fought in court by Brazil, though only time will tell how that pans out.
To anyone paying attention, it's clear that Nintendo is intent on protecting its brand from hacked consoles, emulation, and the impact those technologies may have on its bottom line. As the immortal saying goes, "You never [expletive] with the money," and that warning is especially true when dealing with a company like Nintendo and operating in countries like the United States or Japan, which will usually side with these companies in court.
To anyone paying attention, it's clear that Nintendo is intent on protecting its brand from hacked consoles, emulation, and the impact those technologies may have on its bottom line. As the immortal saying goes, "You never [expletive] with the money," and that warning is especially true when dealing with a company like Nintendo and operating in countries like the United States or Japan, which will usually side with these companies in court.
Regardless, the market for piracy, modding, and emulation (legitimate or otherwise) will certainly continue to exist despite this, and victories in court don't erase the copies of infringing hardware and software already out in the wild. Nintendo and hackers of its consoles alike are due for a long, uphill battle, no matter how many pirates are defeated in court. And today. Ryan Daly and MIG-Switch have been thoroughly defeated.
Image Credit: Nintendo
Image Credit: Nintendo
