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Nintendo Files Lawsuits Against Switch Hacking Device Reseller Sites

Nintendo of America filed two separate lawsuits in the Northern District of Ohio and the Western District of Washington at Seattle on Friday against websites that allegedly resell software and devices that allow users to hack the Nintendo Switch console to play pirated copies of games.

Nintendo claims in the lawsuits that Team Xecuter, an "anonymous group of hackers," develops and offers the software andd related devices. The lawsuits note that Team Xecuter does not directly sell its "circumvention devices" to users, and the lawsuits only name "authorized resellers" of the group's products as defendants.

The Ohio lawsuit claims that Tom Dilts Jr. operates the website UberChips to offer Team Xecuter's hacking devices. Nintendo of America filed the Seattle lawsuit against anonymous defendants who operate a number of websites.

As of press time, the only page accessible on the UberChips website contains a message stating that the company is canceling and refunding all pre-orders for the XS Core and XS Lite devices. The message continues, "We intended no harm by selling pre-orders of this product. We do not have (and have not had) any amount of this product in hand, so we can not ship anything to anyone." UberChips' Facebook page is not currently accessible.

The operating system and "accompanying piracy tools" that Team Xecuter "unlawfully designs and manufactures" allegedly allow players to circumvent protection measures of games in the Switch system. Team Xecuter's products then allow players to copy and play games using the operating system. Nintendo claimed that Team Xecuter's products allow for "massive intellectual property theft and infringement."

Nintendo is seeking US$2,500 for each violation in both lawsuits, as well as permanent injunctions to halt the operations of the sites.

Source: Polygon (Nicole Carpenter)