R4 Ruled As Illegal In Japan

Posted by x3sphere at February 27, 2009, 3:20 pm


Last year, Nintendo banded together with 54 other companies, including the likes of Capcom and Square Enix, in a lawsuit against the popular R4 Revolution flash cart. Today, the Tokyo District Court ruled that the device is in fact illegal, meaning shops in Japan can no longer sell it, it’s officially a black market item.

The ruling is a controversial one, especially since the R4 by itself is not illegal. It can be used to run backups of ROM images, but the key word is “can.” Just because a device can be used for nefarious purposes doesn’t mean it will be. Sure, many folks use these carts to pirate commercial games, but many also use them to run legal homebrew applications. It’s a fine line to cross no doubt.

Nintendo and the other 54 companies aren’t stopping here, they are seeking a similar fate for other flash cart manufactures and distributors, but did not name any specific parties.

ニンテンドーDS用機器に対する差止訴訟に関する東京地裁判決について [Nintendo]

Read moreDSi Incompatible With Flash Carts, Nintendo of Japan Files Lawsuit Against R4 Distributors, LucasArts: DS Cart Size Not Adequate For Adventure Classics, ELSPA: We Never Said 90 Percent Of DS Owners Are Pirates, Hong Kong Raid Nets 10,000 Counterfeit Nintendo Products

Comments

ekmuas says:

well, no shit its illegal

cory1492 says:

well, no shit it's illegal, and CD/DVD/BluRay burners should join them ~fixed with addition of sarcasm~

Darkchild says:

problem is that, its only R4,
you still have AceKard, M3, CycloDS, ETC...

If nintendo took so much to take care of just r4...its gonna take them a LONG time to take care of the rest x)

B2K24 says:

stupidity should be illegal. Lets lock up everyone or fine everyone that has ever bought a blank CD/DVD/Bluray. Hell the DSI has an SD card slot in it's new design maybe the RIAA will overreact and want to lock up nintendo thinking it will lower music sales with it's SD card slot and enchanced speakers
damn oh damn

PR0fessor Burnt says:

damn guess i got to go to jail for making a cd with my favorite songs on it for a friend

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