Nintendo Hacker Gary Bowser Pleads Shorter Jail Time, But US Government Wants to Extend it to 60 Months

Canadian hacker Gary Bowser should deal with a five-year or 60-month jail time for the crime that he committed, according to the US government.

The involved man first caught the attention of Nintendo in April 2021 when he was sued for making sales out of piracy-focused hacks. He received one copyright strike, which had reportedly caused $150,000 in damages.

Nintendo Hacker Should Be Jailed For 5 Years

As part of his involvement in enabling piracy in the gaming consoles, Bowser accepted paying a fine of $4.5 million for the damages he had inflicted on the Japanese publisher.

According to a report by Eurogamer, the hacker should be imprisoned for five years. However, Bowser stood his ground that the sentence should be reduced to 19 months.

The US government raised its concern that the five-year jail time was only rightful, citing the nature of the offense that the culprit made. In addition, the government stated that there should be three-year supervision for Bowser after he served his 60-month sentence.

Moreover, the federal government released a notice of the case that would hugely impact the gaming industry. It added that this incident was currently under the radar of the community.

As for Gary's lawyers, they cited that the Nintendo hacker was the " least culpable and only apprehended defendant from this indictment." They mentioned that others managed to flee from the flaw after committing a crime.

The lawyers also wrote that Bowser was bearing the brunt of its aftermath because of this argument. They continued that Gary only earned $320,000 for more than seven years in this piracy-hacking scheme. Others were even earning over that amount of money and living a luxurious life in other countries.

"This is a serious offense in which Nintendo suffered substantial monetary loss. A sentence of 19 months for the least culpable of the three charged defendants, under the circumstances in which Mr. Bowser has actually served that sentence, is significant," the legal defense of Gary said.

How Team Xecuter Caught the Attention of the US Government

In a similar report from Eurogamer, the hacking group linked to Bowser has been amassing millions of dollars from selling modchips. The crew, which is called Team Xecuter, posed a huge impact on the industry, and this caught the attention of the US government.

According to the government, Bowser "deserves" a longer sentence based on the context of the conspiracy surrounding Xecuter.

Aside from the $4.5 million fine, Nintendo slapped another fine of $10 million for the lawsuit against the hacker.

Indeed, the gaming giant has been known to be aggressive towards piracy. As part of its crackdown, the company sent over 1,300 copyright blocks in a single day to a YouTube channel, per Tech Times.

The channel, which was operating under the name GilvaSunner became a popular site to fans who want to listen to classic Nintendo soundtracks, including the famous background music from "Super Mario" and "The Legend of Zelda."

Meanwhile, The Verge reported that the Nintendo Switch has already outperformed the Wii when it comes to sales.

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Joseph Henry