Although some gamers would argue that people providing ways to play pirated games are good for the masses, the companies publishing them and the law says otherwise. Gary W. Browser, the known leader of the hacking group called Team Xecutor, was just sentenced by a US court to 40 months in jail.
Gary Bowser Arrested for Selling 'Hacking Software' Allowing Users to Play Pirated Switch Games
According to the story by VentureBeat, the case against Bowser has been quite a long one with his initial arrest for selling "hacking software" that enabled players to play pirated games on Switch back in 2020.
Aside from his arrest, Bowser was initially ordered to pay a fine of over $14 million. The initial sentence being sought by the US government against Bowser, according to court documents, was supposedly 60 months.
Bowser Pleads Guilty to Two Charges Out of 11 Felony Counts
In addition, Nintendo thanked the different legal entities that were all involved in Bowser's apprehension which include the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI. Bowser pled guilty to two out of the 11 felony counts that were originally charged against him.
The first one was "Conspiracy to Circumvent Technological Measures and to Traffic in Circumvention Devices" and the second one was "Trafficking in Circumvention Devices." To add to the Switch, the 3DS was also being targeted by the hacking group along with the PSOne Classic, the Xbox, and even the NES Classic.
Nintendo Notes that the Group's Illegal Activities Made Them Lose $65 Million
Bowser also confessed to his involvement with "Team Xecutor" from 2013 up to 2020. During this period, the hacking group illegally ran Rom websites and as per Nintendo in an article on Business Wire, they were actually creating and selling "console-hacking software and devices used to play pirated Nintendo Switch games."
The court documents, however, stated claims by Nintendo noting that the group's activities has caused them to lose $65 million. The article by VentureBeat notes that the company has "always looked askance" regarding those that "in any way subvert the legal use of its products."
Other Cases Nintendo Filed in the Past
In 2021, Nintendo was awarded $2.1 million in damages after winning a lawsuit against RomUniverse, as reported by GamesIndustry.biz. All illegal Roms were ordered to be destroyed by the Rom-hosting site after Nintendo reportedly "filed an injunction" against the owner of the website, Matthew Storman.
In a more recent report, Nintendo has also sent out a number of copyright strikes for use of their original Nintendo soundtracks against GilvaSunner, a YouTuber, as reported in an article by IGN. In addition to the copyright strike, an announcement was soon made by GilvaSunner regarding their decision to shut down their channel following the recent strikes.
Related Article: Man Sentenced to 26 Months Over Defrauding Conspiracy Worth $1 Million Towards Apple; Hundreds of Fake iPhones Replaced
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Urian B.
