In June last year, the United States of America, Nintendo, filed a lawsuit against James Williams, suspected of being involved in operating a pirated Switch game store, a case that has recently made new progress. Nintendo has applied to the court for a default judgement against the defendant, while disclosing the specific amount claimed.
In the present case, the United States of America, Nintendo, indicted individuals who belonged to the Switch pirated Reddit community “r/SwitchPirates”, claiming to be Archbox. According to Nintendo, the defendant not only promoted the shop where the game could be obtained, but also provided technical advice to those who intended to use it, but was also suspected of being involved in the operation of the shop. Archbox was confirmed as James Williams.
According to the latest court documents, James Williams, the defendant, who had failed to respond to the indictment after it had been filed, had so far failed to raise any arguments and had therefore applied for a judgement in absentia. At the same time, the company requested two disciplinary measures from the court: a permanent prohibition of the accused from continuing to infringe his rights and an order for the defendant to pay damages. Nintendo claims up to $4.5 million. It is noteworthy that the current case against the Switch mainframe retrofitter in Nintendo ended with a joint application for final judgement and that the defendant paid $2 million, more than twice the amount claimed in the previous case.
According to the Nintendo investigation, the defendant James Williams is not only the owner of the “r/SwitchPirates” edition, but also operates several pirated distribution websites and disseminates tools for circumventing technical protection measures and the use of tutorials. Owing to the wide range of tort activities, it is difficult to calculate accurately the actual loss, and the final amount of damages is based on 30 authorized games — a claim for a statutory ceiling of US$ 150,000 per game, totalling US$ 4.5 million. To date, the case is still at the stage of application for default judgement in Nintendo, and the schedule is scheduled for 24 October, local time.