Nintendo Takes Action Against Piracy: Subpoenas Major Platforms Including Google and Discord
The firm is intensely concentrating on the SwitchPirates subreddit, which has more than 190,000 members.
Nintendo is pursuing additional unauthorized Swap retail shops and modders, and has requested a US District Court to issue subpoenas for business information from various companies to identify the supposed pirates.
According to Game File, Nintendo is especially targeting a subreddit called SwitchPirates, which boasts a community of over 190,000 participants.
This action is a continuation of Nintendo’s legal case against James ‘Archbox’ Williams regarding multiple alleged piracy accusations, which resulted in the company winning by default judgement after Williams failed to show in court.
“Because Mr. Williams has chosen not to participate in this case, [Nintendo of America] cannot serve discovery or take his deposition,” Nintendo stated in the court document. “Therefore, without third-party discovery, it will be impossible for NOA to determine the identities of the unnamed individuals who collaborated with Mr. Williams in running the pirate stores or otherwise distributing pirated Nintendo games to the public. As outlined below, NOA has identified several third parties likely to possess information that will aid in revealing some of these unnamed individuals.”
Nintendo has petitioned the US District Court for the Western District of Washington to issue subpoenas to companies such as Cloudflare, Discord, Github, Google, and Reddit to identify those who allegedly participated in piracy-related activities alongside Williams.
“The Defendant [James Williams] served as a major moderator of the SwitchPirates community under the username ‘Archbox,’ which has over 190,000 members,” the court document further detailed. “Nintendo has grounds to believe that other accounts active within the SwitchPirates community may also have been managed by the Defendant or reflect the activities of other individuals who have collaborated with him.”
Nintendo has also subpoenaed domain providers like Dash Daddy, Title Cheap, and Tucows.
“The goal of all the requested subpoenas is to gather relevant information that is essential for