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[Alcibiades]

Nintendo crackdown on piracy affects mall sales

01:06 PM PDT on Saturday, October 30, 2004

Associated Press

SEATTLE - In response to a lawsuit filed by Nintendo of America, a federal judge Friday temporarily barred sales of counterfeit video-game hardware and software at kiosks in Seattle-area shopping malls.

U.S. District Judge John Coughenour also ordered seizure of the materials. He agreed Redmond-based Nintendo would suffer immediate and irreparable harm if the defendants continued importing and selling the pirated products.

Specifically, the lawsuit targets distribution and sale of the items at kiosks in the Alderwood, Bellis Fair, Kitsap, Northgate, Tacoma and Southcenter malls.

Coughenour ordered the items seized by U.S. marshals at those locations over the next week. He also listed a unit at Safeguard Self-Storage in Kent.

The products are to be delivered to Nintendo, which is required to return any legitimate items.

Jodi Daugherty, director of anti-piracy efforts for Nintendo, says this is Nintendo's first major effort to stop sale of counterfeit products in the United States, and was sparked by tips from more than 400 users. She says the counterfeit products are made in China.

 

[Ecrofirt]

FINALLY. Fucking christ.

I called Nintendo in the beginning of the year about a store in my mall selling that shit, and it's still there.

 

[Deku Tree]

Good deal.

 

[bjork]

I want to buy one of these to play at work.

 

[Pedigree Chum]

I'm going to report the dudes selling this shit in my mall too. Fucking theives.

 

[Ecrofirt]

bjork, the play quality is shit.

The store at my mall sells those Power Player things, and they run at like 125% speed. Goofy as fuck.

 

[Sho Nuff]

Keep working to protect your favorite corporation's IP! Remember, it's not their job, it's yours!



...jesus H christ

 

[cvxfreak]

Thank you lord.

 

[neptunes]

 

[Great Wasabi Man]

hah. one of those poped up in a local mall. If it's the same thing I'm thinking about. BAsically a NES emu with a N64 controller, a light guy and something else. I was gonna pick it up. I hope it's still there.

 

[ChrisReid]

Specifically, the lawsuit targets distribution and sale of the items at kiosks in the Alderwood, Bellis Fair, Kitsap, Northgate, Tacoma and Southcenter malls.

Yay. I work at the GameStop in Southcenter Mall. People are always coming in and asking how the hell that shady kiosk can get away with selling 100 classic NES games on a suspicious electronic doodad.

 

[Mr Gump]

Thank God! Those things were really cutting into Nintendo's NES sales!

 

[RevenantKioku]

I fucking love you guys.

 

[Robert-GCA]

I have reported 2 mall koisks, and about a dozen website to NOA. I wonder what will happen to those anytime.

 

[Late Stage Marxist]

Yeah those venders really annoy me. I thought of reporting the local vendor in the mall, but I happened to mention it to my dad when we were at the mall and he layed this guilt trip on me about the guy "just making a living", so I kinda felt bad about it. Still, I wouldn't mind being able to make a living selling pirated software. I'm just going to let it nag at me every time I walk past it in the mall. It really is an eyesore, though TBH.

 

[lexi]

Saw one of these the other day at Champlain Place. Had Mario being played by a knock-off N64 controller.

 

[lexi]

Edit: Double post, may aswell contribute something else:

Thank God! Those things were really cutting into Nintendo's NES sales!

If Nintendo willingly ignore trademark violations, they risk having the trademark diluted, allowing anybody to market and sell a Mario/Nintendo game. If you don't protect your IP, you lose it.

 

[Alcibiades]

the "just making a living" thing is crap, there are plenty of fast-food and retail jobs availble if someone's goal is to just survive month-to-month...

the margin on these is almost 100% I'm sure considering they pay no royalty fees...

BTW, they probably will cut into sales of the "old-school"-style machines Namco, Infogrames, Sega, and others have released that connect directly using a joystick/controller...

also, they probably cut into GBA $20 NES-Classic games sales...

 

[Dragmire]

I asked my friend's parrot if it loves Nintendo and it said no. I reported this to Nintendo's corporate HQ and the bird now works in a coal mine in Yugoslavia.

Spoiler

Note: I don't like those piratey Nintendo systems either, I'm just poking fun.

 

[Late Stage Marxist]

the "just making a living" thing is crap, there are plenty of fast-food and retail jobs availble if someone's goal is to just survive month-to-month...

I could give you the address of the mall if you'd like. Though you'd have to call Nintendo Canada.

 

[Crazymoogle]

temporarily barred sales of counterfeit video-game hardware and software

What?! Is this normally legal?

 

[Docpan]

Yes, these foreign dirtbags are selling this overpriced gutter trash at my local mall as well. 65 dollars for a product that says "75,000 in One" that is actually the same 15 over and over again. Seriously.

I took a few pictures of the little setup they had for this crap, and was going to e-mail it to Nintendo but never got around to it. Check it out.

EDIT: I confronted the guy selling them. I asked him "Isn't this illegal...?" To which he responded "Uh... It's pretty legal."

 

[TheGreenGiant]

excellent. What the world needs is for resources (like plastic/metal componentry) to be made into crap / pirated cdr/dvdr games/dvds which are then confisticated and chucked into the land fill :mad

 

[Fowler]

excellent. What the world needs is for resources (like plastic/metal componentry) to be made into crap / pirated cdr/dvdr games/dvds which are then confisticated and chucked into the land fill :mad

Haha, that'd make a great defense.

"No! You can't take away my goods! It's bad for the environment! EARTH KILLERS!"

 

[explodet]

65 dollars for a product that says "75,000 in One" that is actually the same 15 over and over again. Seriously.

They're charging SIXTY-FIVE DOLLARS for these things?

That's ridiculous.

 

[TheGreenGiant]

Haha, that'd make a great defense.

"No! You can't take away my goods! It's bad for the environment! EARTH KILLERS!"

I wasn't talking in defence of the sellers - its the fact that they make this shit that pisses me off. Its the same with any badly designed cheapo plastic made in china piece of plastic. Boo urnnh

 

[SaitoH]

I wasn't talking in defence of the sellers - its the fact that they make this shit that pisses me off. Its the same with any badly designed cheapo plastic made in china piece of plastic. Boo urnnh

Isn't almost everything 'made in China' though? I mean, I just typed this on my Eluminx keyboard, and guess what ... it's made in China.

>_>

 

[Late Stage Marxist]

My GameCube's MIC. Not sure about PS2 or Xbox.

 

[Scottlarock]

whats the difference between this and roms? roms okay? but this is pirating?

 

[shuri]

DONT FORGET TO BUY THE CLASSIC NINTENDO SERIES ON YOUR GBA!

 

[MrAngryFace]

God, give me a break.

 

[Kabuki Waq]

woooo now nintendo can release the same game over and over again !!!

 

[shuri]

Those things are worthless. Nintendo should instead be cracking down on flashcarts. I have no idea why they just let those be while They crack down on shitty hong kong toys and goth girls porn

 

[Vlad]

whats the difference between this and roms? roms okay? but this is pirating?

Well, it's different levels. A ROM is typically just played by a person who downloaded it. Yes, it's still piracy, the people making and selling these units are making a profit off of other people's work. There's quite a difference between downloading a pirated game for your own entertainment and selling a bunch of these games for profit.

 

[Slo]

WE MUST PROTECT THIS HOUSE! WILL YOU PROTECT THIS HOUSE??!!

 

[Fixed2BeBroken]

 

[Shinobi]

Yes, these foreign dirtbags are selling this overpriced gutter trash at my local mall as well.

Foreign dirtbags? You'd better check yourself Rush Jr.

:lol

 

[Fixed2BeBroken]

Well, it's different levels. A ROM is typically just played by a person who downloaded it. Yes, it's still piracy, the people making and selling these units are making a profit off of other people's work. There's quite a difference between downloading a pirated game for your own entertainment and selling a bunch of these games for profit.

yea....basically...."stealing is bad but its alright....now stealing and selling what you stole...now THATS BAD!"

 

[callous]

Those things are worthless. Nintendo should instead be cracking down on flashcarts. I have no idea why they just let those be while They crack down on shitty hong kong toys and goth girls porn

I don't see how they could crack down on flashcarts. There is nothing illegal about an empty flashcart.

 

[lexi]

Jesus Christ, guys.

If Nintendo willingly ignore trademark violations, they risk having the trademark diluted, allowing anybody to market and sell a Mario/Nintendo game. If you don't protect your IP, you lose it.