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UK Courts Rule Nintendo DS R4 Cards Illegal
CheShACat writes "A UK high court ruled today that R4 cards for the Nintendo DS are illegal, finding two vendors guilty of selling 'game copiers.' The ruling by Justice Floyd is quoted as saying, 'The economic effect on Nintendo of the trade in these devices is substantial as each accused device can store and play copies of many Nintendo DS games [...] The mere fact that the device can be used for a non-infringing purpose is not a defence.' No word in the article as to what law in particular they were found to have broken, nor of the penalty the vendors are facing, but this looks like bad news for all kinds of hardware mod, on any platform, that would enable homebrew users to bypass vendor locks."
Nintendo won a related lawsuit in the Netherlands recently, in addition to the one in Australia earlier this year.
My baseball bat is a murder weapon. The fact that I can use it to play baseball is not a defense.
Guns for hunting/murder.
Recording devices for reminders/spying.
Tacos for eating/poison delivery.
>>>'The economic effect on Nintendo of the trade in these devices is substantial as each accused device can store and play copies of many Nintendo DS games [...] The mere fact that the device can be used for a non-infringing purpose is not a defence.'
>>>
And then a few weeks later, other UK judges outlawed the use of VHS tapes, DVD-Rs, and MP3 recorders, for the same reason that these blanks can be used to copy movies and songs.
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
As a homebrew developer, I am particularly upset by this decision. You can use an R4 card for more than just piracy, you know.
Not familiar with UK legal system -- is a "HIGH COURT" the highest court in the land? It's not really making piracy *more illegal* is it?
http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Ch/2010/1932.html
The idea that an item as legitimate uses is not a defense is as stupid as a ruling could get. I use a knife to cut my food. Knives are used in murders. Therefore knives must be held to be illegal even though they have legitimate uses.
This is about the most blatant form of corruption a court can display. It is a political posture. They are in effect saying that big business must have power over smaller businesses and individuals which is an absurd and evil conservative posture.
The remedy is to make and distribute these items in great excess making certain that piracy increases every time such a position is taken by the state.
One big feature of jailbreaking iPhones is that you can install apps on your iPhone in a similar manner that you could install NDS games on an R4. Does this also mean that jailbreaking an iPhone is illegal there, too? It should be noted that a major feature of the R4s, and similar devices, was that you can run homebrew on your NDS, which I have. There's some decent homebrew (not that great of a selection, but still some good stuff) available, such as the (excellent) roguelike game POWDER.
So I guess this makes all optical drives illegal too then.
Well, they haven't, but they may as well do it.
...that rampant piracy has diminished the useful and legitimate purposes of these devices to such a degree that they must be criminalized. I grew up in an era where "homebrew" was the only type of gaming there was. One could say that it actually created the game industry.
But the game industry has grown up now into serious business, and while landing a couple of pasted-together white blocks onto a platform of larger white blocks used to be great fun, I don't think anybody wants to give up Mario 25 and Zelda 21 just yet.
Is that the price to be paid in a world where these devices are permitted to exist? A better question, perhaps, is do you want to take that chance?
Try not. Do or do not, there is no try.
-- Dr. Spock, stardate 2822-3.
Plaintiffs and defendants should just fax the judge their financial records for the last year.
Whoever has the most money wins the case.
That way, we could save taxpayer money and the verdicts would invariably come out the same way as they would have through trial.
What about the tons of other flash card carts for the DS? Why single out only the R4? I've had one in my DS for a few years now (bought one when they first came out) and it's still running strong. I've done all kinds of things with it too, ebooks, mp3, etc. Of course you can play pirated games but no one forces you to commit infringement and put pirated games on it. There's plenty of legal homebrew. So because the ability to use a device for piracy is the court going to make computers, DVD players, CD players, etc. illegal as well?
With your wallet.
http://opencm3.net, http://www.nongnu.org/gm2/
Yup.
Do you seriously think most people buy R4s for homebrew? That's like saying most people use torrents to get Linux ISOs.
Let's see, a pen can be used to write a note to be handed to a bank teller during a robbery. Therefore, the pen must be illegal. Works for me... :)
You'd have a point if 99% of people used knives to murder and 1% used them to cook.
They really wouldn't. I have a Nintendo DS with a rewritable cartridge and I keep it loaded down with games. I have retails too, but they never leave a locked footlocker with the rest of my stuff to make sure they aren't lost or destroyed by my nieces and nephews.
I take the DS and that cartridge with me every time I fly or go on long trips. I would much rather just restart the system and choose another game off a list than have to deal with lugging around a miniature carrying case of about 20 games on an already cramped flight where there is a good chance I am going to be stuck paying extra for added baggage or having to lug it around 2 or 3 layovers. I take it over to my friends or families house so my nieces and nephews can play the games they like and I don't have to worry about them losing them or breaking them trying to put them in backwards as they never have to take it out of the machine, now if I could only get them keep keep their hands cleaner when they are using the touch screen and I will be set.
They stop me, sure they get a cartridge removed from the streets but they also would lose out on a lot of lost sales as I do not buy anything unless I can copy it to save to original. I had my old X-Box modded, as with my PSX and PS2.
Seems to me that a lot of the hardware used by Nintendo to make legal games could also in theory be used to make illegal games. Therefore that hardware is illegal!
I actually have an R4RS that I bought a couple years back for homebrew development/hacking (but, in the end, the wifi wasn't good enough), but to be perfectly honest, the market for these really is 99%+ for piracy.
Its not that they don't care about noninfringing usage, the court just realized that the noninfringing usage is almost irrelevantly small.
Test your net with Netalyzr
"What about leaving that shiny things on the shelf and use your time for something more constructive?"
But want Shiny on MY terms! Can't vote with my wallet or won't HAVE shiny! Shiny = constructive. Mmmm....corporate cawk, so tasty.
Did I miss anything? :)
"This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
I had a CycloDS for my DS, but your DSi's firmware blocked it from working. This page reminded me to look, and sure enough, I can now buy a nice Acekard 2i for like $15 and/or a Supercrad DStwo for about $35 that does things your console should do natively (such as GBA and SNES emulation), both of which use the same 16 GB Micro SDHC card that my CycloDS uses, all of which will work with my nice Nintendo DSiXL.
Of course, since I own physical copies of all the games I put on my flash cart, it's all ethically sound, if not legally unassailable. Fortunately for me, I am much more concerned with living ethically, if not legally, especially when in regards to stupid, anti-consumer laws like the ones that would outlaw this sort of thing. Although Nintendo might be screwed even in that case, because "Jailbreaking" a mobile device is now legal in the US. Since my DS is a mobile device, and the Acekard / DStwo are methods of "jailbreaking," -- i.e., running unapproved software -- well, seems to me the much loved DMCA that Nintendo would no doubt use to shut these things down in the US... wouldn't actually shut them down.
So thank you, Nintendo. Thank you for reminding me to look for a DSi compatible flash cart, and reminding me I need to do my part to support small development studios like the Supercard and Acekard teams.
I dont want to get stopped in the street on suspicions of owning an R4
(remembers when copyright was a civil matter)
Those of you silly enough to argue that living is infringement failed to read further into the article that says that bypassing a copy protection device is illegal. Even if the bypassing device has legitimate uses.
Sound familiar? It's like the DMCA, though the DMCA was updated earlier this week with a ruling that said that no longer applied for fair use (which still blocks space shifting, but allows the formerly illegal mashups from DVDs and Blu-Rays, short clips etc.).
So jailbreaking is still illegal in the UK, you cannot pick DRM locks, and you cannot bypass copy protections that may be present for whatever reason.
Actually, I bought an R4 for homebrew. There are a lot of simple games and applications like Colors! that easily make the cost worthwhile.
No! It isn't! Your a retard for saying so.
Over-the-top Response Guy! Giving "Over-the-Top Responses" since 1970.
I just sent my DSi in for a warranty repair and left my iTouch2 Card in it... thankfully it was returned with no hassle (along with the offending microSD card) I'm a bit surprised at that, considering they could have sent a letter saying they confiscated "a device for piracy."
This doesn't seem like flamebait. he actually has a point, however badly worded. hackers should start thinking about an open standard.
If there's a specific reason for this not to be a valid idea, let us know, but don't just call him flamebait.
new sig
*FACEPALM* Pt. 2
... and we need to get rid of those pesky ipods! They're a way for people to steal music SO EASILY! Just look at them! They're 'ease of use' make it easy to load pirated music. They're 'trendy styling' puts this powerful ability in a lot of peoples hands! The only thing that keeps people from stealing food from our mouths is they're honesty, and honestly, we know they aren't all that honest, honest!
My abilities are only limited by my imagination
Okay, I guess I must be in that oddball 1% that owns an R4 but doesn't have a single pirated game.
I am working on a DS homebrew game, and the R4 is how I test it on my ancient DS Lite.
I was entertaining thoughts of self-publishing my game and selling it by purchasing R4s, copying my game onto a micro-SD memory card, and selling the (R4+microSD+game).
Looks like I don't have a market in the UK anymore. :-(
Homebrew is only one of the few advantages of having slot1 loader - you can also take all your games with you on one cartridge that you never have to remove from your DS (hell, you could even glue it in!), you can switch games effortlessly without having to search for each game cart. You can backup your game saves, and restore them easily. You can also use it to playback media and read ebooks (at least in text format anyway).
Of course, on the slightly less-than-legal side: You can try a game before you buy it. You can play multiplayer with friends without having to buy a second copy of the same game...
Its a good step against piracy! http://www.yethouse.co.uk
UK High Court
The mere fact that the device can be used for a non-infringing purpose is not a defence.
US Supreme Court in Sony vs. Universal:
On the question of whether Sony could be described as "contributing" to copyright infringement, the Court stated:
[There must be] a balance between a copyright holder's legitimate demand for effective - not merely symbolic - protection of the statutory monopoly, and the rights of others freely to engage in substantially unrelated areas of commerce. Accordingly, the sale of copying equipment, like the sale of other articles of commerce, does not constitute contributory infringement if the product is widely used for legitimate, unobjectionable purposes. Indeed, it need merely be capable of substantial noninfringing uses....
It's interesting that the two courts took diametrically opposed positions on this subject. Of course, Congress pretty well neutered that decision with a succession of purchased laws culminating in the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, but that was one case where the Supremes ultimately got it right.
And then, after all the hate and discontent they raised over the advent of the VCR, the movie industry went on to rake in billions selling VHS movies on writeable media played back on the previously-vilified Video Cassette Recorder. Money they would never have seen had the hardware companies not been free to develop and market something new. That was not a surprising attitude, though: the content cartels have always been about maintaining the status quo, and can't quite seem to wrap their heads around the fact that change can make money. But that would require them to actually think, and maybe do a little innovating of their own. But history has demonstrated conclusively that they don't know how to do that.
Anyone remember Jack Valenti's impassioned monologue about how the VCR would "destroy the industry"? Yeah. He was spot on with that one, wasn't he. This is also the guy who said, "I say to you that the VCR is to the American film producer and the American public as the Boston strangler is to the woman home alone." Right on, Jack. Point is, these are people who don't have anything on their minds but control, control and more control. It's not even about the money, it's about control. They've controlled matters so well, in fact, that I won't purchase a game console. I don't like who I'd have to thank for it, and I don't like their business models, and I don't like the fact that the machine isn't really mine. You want to lease the box to me, that would be different. But they don't: they want me to pay cold hard cash for the illusion of ownership (ha, kind of like buying a house, when you think about it.)
Fact is, the content industries are mostly led by short-sighted fools. At some point, their stockholders are going to have to rise up and slay them, because they're throwing money away by not going with the flow, by not learning from history and their own mistakes, by being greedy to the point of sociopathy.
The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
That seems doubtful. If this truly is the easiest way to carry multiple games around without having to carry around physical copies of each one, then it seems likely that legitimate use is not only significant, but is probably in the majority.
And this, folks is one of the big reasons why iPhone and iPod Touch are tearing so badly into Nintendo's portable gaming sales. The more you tIghten your grip, Nintendo, the more users will slip through your fingers.
Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.
sounds like a easy dos attack! I hope it's a easy reset.
Hey man you car is illegal - you can use it to kill people - obviously you are a murder :))
A Grandmother discovered a secret way of getting Nintendo games to work using this one wierd tip....... buy them!
I guess then I'll go back to playing DS games on an emulator on my pc then. Theres always a plan B.
The mere fact that the device can be used for a non-infringing purpose is not a defence.
Some real world counter examples:
So now people in the UK have to buy their R4 cards from France instead?
What about the tons of other flash card carts for the DS? Why single out only the R4?
The article mentions every SLOT-1 card I could think of: "As well as the R4 DS, the ruling covers the following: M3 DS, DS One Supercard, DSTT, DS Linker, Acekard, CycloDS Evolution, N5, and EZ."
By that logic, wouldn't Ford be guilty of producing a producing a product that causes people to speed? Ford knew their product was capable of exceeding speed limits... Personally, I would like to agree with this though.
ACTUAL SIZE!!!
I understand that in many countries it is now illegal to distribute a device that circumvents a copy-protection mechanism, but where are the alleged victims here ? The article and the case seem to revolve around Nintendo, but they're just supplying the platform aren't they ?? They don't own the copyrights that are being infringed as, surely, they belong to the games manufacturers - who appear to be absent...
My baseball bat is a murder weapon. The fact that I can use it to play baseball is not a defense.
There is absolutely no defense if your baseball bat is a murder weapon. Now if it were only a potential murder weapon.....
The Australian suit doesn't count - it was settled with consent orders. In a consent order the parties agree between themselves what the order will be and the court makes it.
Often it's the sole reason why some products turn sour and start smell like money and not sincere attempts at being good anymore.
Art is good when it's done with a passion to create something for everyone to experience.
Art sucks if it's made for the sole purpose of getting money. No matter how good the results are.
Give me homebrew over multimillion dollar "realistic" BS anyday.
I love console programming. I've been in countless retro-coding competitions, written games and demos, and often have relied on improvised and third party tools to facilitate development.
The R4 is used for piracy. Yeah, some of us don't use it for that, but the overwhelming majority of people who own one use it for piracy. Any forum about ROMs has a 1000-to-1 ratio of people trying to get commercial games to work on their flash cart compared to those doing development or otherwise using it for legit purposes.
This is Slashdot, we are smart, and we all have brains. Let's not deny the obvious. Nintendo is doing the right thing by protecting their product from piracy. I wouldn't expect anything less, and the bitching and whining and Nintendo-bashing some of you are engaged in is pathetic, humiliating, and just plain wrong.
Get out of your mom's basement and BUY GAMES you want to play. Save up your allowance. Maybe buy less Mountain Dew. DS games are CHEAP anyway.
How can it be legal to gaol break an iPhone (new DMCA exemption) but not a games-console? The rationale for the iPhone was that the manufacturer should not stop you installing unapproved software, however the locks on a game console serve exactly the same purpose (for example NDS Homebrew).
As a father of 4 here's why this doesn't matter. We sold our daughter's ds. Bought an iPod. Cooking Mama on ds... £25 on iPod £4. and ds games are too easy to lose. iPod games allnstay nicely in the iPod in memory! iPod/iPad is killing Nintendo.
'"The mere fact that the device can be used for a non-infringing purpose is not a defence," read the ruling by Justice Floyd' Umm, yes, in the UK, it is Video recorders were allowed to be sold, despite the fact that they allowed for illegal sharing of recorded broadcasts precisely because they could be used for a non-infringing purpose Nintendo should lose on appeal
I would have never bought as DS if it wasn't for the R4. If they would sell the games on much smaller cartridges I might use them. But at that size it's such a hassle to carry multiple games around. I probably would not like a lot of smaller cartridges either because I would lose them ;). Mutliple games on a SD card is just the perfect way of storing a lot games.
There is another great benefit that I haven't heard mentioned yet: I was on a 5 hour flight last week, and it was VERY convenient to take the DS, with the ezFlash card in it, and be able to play a variety of different titles on a whim. No carrying extra game cards, no fiddling with cases, everything just contained in one unit. Very convenient, and I would hope legal, if you own the games that you pack onto your SD card!
Knuckles! We can surgically remove every male infant's knuckles at birth to render them inefficient at striking things or other people with their fists.
While we're at it elbow and knee reduction surgery could be done to soften the blows from those parts of the body. Maybe we could add in squishy silicone implants and make it a crime to remove them.
Of course we better make sure that all of those date-rape drugs and knives and guns are off the market, because even a boy with surgically removed knuckles and blow-softening elbow and knee implants can still rob a store or rape a lady with one of those implements.
While we're at it, why don't we just pop everyone's brain out of their body at birth, and slip into a robot that is very interactive but ultimately incapable of any form of sabotage, betrayal, or violence towards other robots of it's type? That would reduce violent crime right?
Then again maybe taking an infant's brain out of it's head at birth is a violent crime itself. Point being, you have a point, you can never end violence. "Nothing ever ends," in the words of the Doc, and any attempt to ultimately end it will ultimately end up being as barbaric as the original violence it attempted to end.
Pretty soon we're all going to be lobotomized at birth so that we shuffle into the slaughterhouse more obediently like so many cattle.
At least, R4 Help us save money. Buy not the original games! Here we china, we won't buy a DS lite if it could not with R4. - www.gameyea.com