58-year-old Japanese man handed two-year suspended prison sentence for selling modded Nintendo Switch systems
A Japanese man received a fine and a two-year suspended prison sentence for illegally selling modded Nintendo Switch consoles that were frequently loaded with pirated games.
The details:
In January, it was reported that a 58-year-old Japanese man had been arrested in Ibaraki Prefecture on suspicion of violating the country's trademark laws. The man was accused of modifying the hardware of Switch consoles and selling them for around $180 USD, allowing games to be played illegally. It was also claimed that he had 27 pirated games on each system for an extra fee. When arrested, he confessed to his crimes, claiming that he was "curious to know whether people would think I was great if I sold modified consoles."
As reported by NTV News (via Automaton), the Kochi District Court has found 58-year-old Fumihiro Otobe guilty of violating the Trademark Act. As a result, he has been fined 500,000 JPY ($3,500) and sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for three years.
This is the first time that someone has been arrested and sentenced for violating Japan's Trademark Act by illegally modifying a video game console. Similar arrests have occurred in other parts of the world, with hacker Gary Bowser sentenced to 40 months in prison in the US and ordered to pay Nintendo $10 million and 25-30% of his income for the rest of his life. Currently, the company is suing several hackers for allegedly offering modding services and promoting piracy.
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