Nintendo Takes Legal Action On Prolific E3 Leaker Ahead Of Tomorrow's Direct

I wonder how can a company make me cease and desist if I have no contract with them obliged to not reveal information?

Is this corporate power over free speech?

It sounds kinda like prosecuting Assange over what he publishes.

Good, I don't mind a leak or 2 but this person seems really full of themselves reading some of their tweets. Glad nintendo is serving up a slice of humble pie.

@apoqalypse Because the information in question is confidential, and obviously for the content in question will be legally bound. We don’t know how the leaker gets their information, but even if they were passed on the information by another parter, they are one disclosing that information.

I can’t stop saying information...

Hahahaha...attention seeker got Nintendo's attention. Funny.

@apoqalypse It's not free speech, its revealing trade secrets, and there is no need for a contract. Free speech covers opinion and freedom of expression, not spurting out imminent information.

Plus, you can bet this same order will be or has been applied to the people giving these mouthoieces info.

Guys the word leaking or revealing involves it being a secret. What I am wondering is how can someone make me not talk about something I know, if I have no relation to them?
Like could McDonald's prosecute me if I revealed on twitter their recipe for the Big Tasty sauce, even though I never even worked there?

@apoqalypse If that's something they really wanted to protect then yes.

@apoqalypse
Free speech is okay but it doesn't mean hacking the website and spread the leaks.
It was like telling the magician secrets before even the magic show begin.

"This does not mean I cannot post things from other companies"

So waiting until they C&D you, too?

Some people really never learn.

@apoqalypse 100% that is something they could and would sue over. That is much more open and shut as a recipe is quantifiable, compared to a leak around the contents of a presentation.

And this leaker is getting their info from somewhere so in one way or another is facilitating the breaking of a confidentiality agreement.

I'm ok, but what about King Zell? The guy who leaked ever single game in the last Nintendo direct perfectly?

I kinda get leaks when it's advanced info about a console that hasn't yet even been announced or more detailed specs way in advance of official info, but "I can tell you what someone is going to say tomorrow!"? Really? Are we that bloody impatient?

Polar Panda just seems like the smallest of the Nintendo leakers. right behind Vergeben and definitely King Zell.

I'm as excited for news as the next person but you can wait one effing day to watch the actual presentation.

@BionicDodo As a matter of fact yes. Remember when people got so desperate to know what the Nintendo NX was that they started harassing Papa John's for inside information?

@apoqalypse To answer your question, look to Assange and look no further.

@apoqalypse yes. If you have never worked there, the default assumption is that you can only obtain NDA'd info from an insider or materials retrieved from hacked/trespassed data storage. Either way, you're consciously joining a line of illegally distributing stolen info. And if personal ethics lack the presence to give the person second thoughts about that, a C&D sounds like an overdue alternative. There's not much about human rights in an act of helping screw with other humans' plans and strategies and potentially businesses.

@patbacknitro18 And all of the people so desperate to know which games are coming that they can't wait a single day to find out, probably have huge backlogs of games they've already bought and not got around to playing yet!

@apoqalypse True, but if this person works indirectly with Nintendo as in. Whatever company he/she works for, works for Nintendo then I guess they can do this. Since the person would only have access to this information because of the company they work for. But good point, didn't think about that. Still, I don't like leaks like these especially when it is E3 now. So don't really care that much.

@Tsurii Well, we know about the Ni No Kuni Port. But nothing about Nintendo's titles which I am glad. This year's direct will be awesome.

When I think back about last year's E3 and plenty of stuff got leaked ahead, I conclude that this is a good thing. DBZF, Mario Tennis Aces, Fortnite and MHGU localization got leaked and that vastly reduced the surprise factor of the announcments. The "if you don't want to get spoiled, stay away from internet" argument is pretty stupid. People like to participate in pre-E3 discussions with other gamers. That's part of the fun of E3.

You weren't allowed to post trade secrets even if they DIDN'T know your "full name and everything." You were just getting away with it.

@apoqalypse It does not mater if you have any relation. It is the same as trading stolen goods,you do not need to have any relation with the original owner to be sued. And information is also a good,despite not being physical.

@Pod i think what he means by "They know my full name and everything" is that his entire personal information has been obtained by Nintendo somehow. So they know everything about him, despite him never giving out such information. Which makes this all the more serious for him as it's a mystery how Nintendo obtained that information.

I'm glad I didnt read about the leaks and won't till the direct is over.

@apoqalypse Assange is freeing up information which is being hidden from the world and could benefit its/the peoples safety. Leaking product information on non released commercial items i'd say is just the same as industrial espionage surely?

@patbacknitro18
I figured as much.
I was just amused that he wrote he isn't "allowed" to leak Nintendo secrets anymore, but still intends to leak for others. He was never allowed to leak anyone's trade secrets, and still isn't.

GOOD! I don't need to know about all the cool stuffh that's going to happen and people should be dettered from what is essentially industrial espionage.

@patbacknitro18 Well if he is leaking information given to him from insiders, then insiders know who he is. It's quite simple really. Nintendo to an employee: Let us know the person you leaked the info to and you can keep your job, or we can fire you and still find him....umm o.k

If they have the info ahead of time that means they must be an E3 employee or a friend of one. Not sure if Nintendo has a legal basis for C&D against them, but E3 certainly would have. Nintendo should have contacted E3 staff.

What do one gain from leaking?

@apoqalypse Yes, the answer is they could prosecute you in order to investigate further the source of your information.
#NintendoLifeBringCommentsSectionToThe21stCentury

Excellent news! Let's hope those lawyers have kept this water tight!

Hopefully this means there's something new coming worth leaking!

@apoqalypse Makes no difference if there's an NDA or not if the information leaked is private, confidential information that the leaker got access to illegally.

Guess it’s not as fun when someone leaks their personal information to Nintendo’s lawyers. 😮

To be fair think this will only give this person more credibility. Still wish we could have gotten a tease of the info this leaker knew

so glad my corporate advertisement at a trade show for shareholders and retailers won't be spoiled!

Oh no, how will Sabi get their one day of fame now?

They should stop leaking stuff in general.
Remember when E3 was a total suprise? And you actually got super excited?

I hate surprises lol but when it comes to E3 I want to be surprised for new games

I don’t get these leakers that release info the day before a conference or on the same day? Why ruin all the hard work mere hours before its officially announced?

As much as I love knowing news about Nintendo games, I really really dislike leakers. Nintendo works in its own way: and when it comes to creating games Nintendo does things its way, and the results are AAA titles.

All leakers seem to do is detract from the experience. If I’ve worked hard on something and have the grand reveal spoiled by someone I would be equally irritated.

Speculation is great; leaking non-public information is rubbish.

How was this guy getting his information? From the sound of it, he was stealing it. Possibly by Hacking Nintendo's and other companies' computer systems.

By all means, if you are okay with theft, support this guy. But as I would not want to be robbed, I am siding with Nintendo.

Well what did he expect? You can leak company info and expect lawyers to get involved. That is the price for your 15 mins of fame. Just let the public find out during the reveals as intended. It isn’t hard. It isn’t like they don’t have an event to tell people.

However since modern culture gets easy access to sensationalism and people love gossip and rumors rather than truth and patience the Nintendo has to waste money on a legal team to shut this idiot up. They paid for the booths, built the demos and recorded the direct. That doesn’t happen overnight or for free. Let these companies do what they spent money to do. This is why companies are starting to skip e3. Also shame on whomever leaked the info to this guy. I am certain they signed an NDA.

Pretty sure you can't sue someone for posting leaked news, so I'd keep posting. This seems like a fake threat from Nintendo and just an example of it abusing its position and power and hoping the person or company on the other end is scared enough to do what its told. So I say don't to what you're told and see just how little Nintendo can actually do about things. Unless you're literally stealing documents from Nintendo or working in direct cahoots with the people who are, or something like that, then there's nothing to worry about it you're simply posting leaked news. You never signed up to any kind of contract saying you couldn't report the news.

PS. Most of the people telling you that it's a "trade secret" and therefor protected by law or whatever are more than likely talking out of their ignorant butts in terms of claiming this Twitter guy is breaking the law or liable or whatever. News reporters are not beholden to a company's secrets if said news reporter did not agree to post news on such things. In fact, the news and free press is literally one of the things protected by law more than just about anything else. The person leaking the secrets to the news organisation is the one who can probably be prosecuted. So, unless the dude posting the leaks on Twitter is the one stealing the details from Nintendo, or in direct collaboration with the people stealing the details (and Nintendo actually has to be able to prove this), I doubt he actually has anything to worry about legally at all.

@BacklogBlues I respect your point, but I think you might have missed where I’m coming from. Where the information has come from is the concern; for example if someone intercepted a confidential email, or a server that contained the said information, that is a criminal offence.

Good! Stop messing up my e3 experience! I love watching this stuff as it happens.

@apoqalypse It's the sad world we live in. Leaking out info on a big company is bad regardless of how harmless or harmful the info is to the general public. Yet someone giving that compamy your full name & address in order to threaten you to cease & desist is A-OK.

I personally don't see the big deal as I just don't go around looking for leaks in the first place.

Leaks always annoy me. People just post them for their 5 minutes of internet fame and it ruins so much of the surprise. I'm glad Nintendo stepped in.

@Riderkicker Yeah man it's exactly what i was considering. Its more like a scare tactic, and I don't see the leaker going to court to defend his right to publish information.
@impurekind Yeah most of the people here assume there was criminality involved by the publisher without any substance to that. Most probably someone inside the venues are giving him the info and he is just the publisher.
Also the argument that you're dealing with stolen goods is very wrong. No one is selling the information and no one is directly profiting from the information.

EDIT: I could be totally wrong on all of this of course but with the information in this article, it's my only conclusion.

@apoqalypse Companies like Nintendo do this all the time: They constantly lean on and twist and abuse the "law" to get the little [ignorant] guys to bend to their whim, regardless of the actual truth of the law in whatever the situation.

Warner Bros. tried similarly with me over my business trademark--Inception vs iNCEPTIONAL--yet I won in the end because I didn't back down and ultimately they didn't really have a legal leg to stand on despite all the continued and very serious and "legitimate"-sounding threats to the contrary:

https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/games-firm-boss-in-legal-battle-with-bullying-warner-bros-over-business-name-1-2590283

I think more people need to take a stance and stop letting these corporations abuse them and indeed abuse the law so easily.

@apoqalypse If you have info and you haven't signed an NDA, then you can leak all you want (the people who signed the NDA have the real problem). BUT Nintendo can still send you a cease and desist order, and force you to show up in a court (if you don't show, Nintendo will win monetary damages, so you "have" to show up).

So, you have two choices: either shut up (comply with the cease and desist order) or fight it, which would cast a minimum of $10,000, I would estimate. So, yeah...this is big corporate stuff here.

On the other hand, why leak something like this? This is all about us having fun, and wanting to be surprised (and all about them increasing their YouTube views). I view leakers like this as party-poopers (as opposed to legit whistleblowers)>

@impurekind This is America...you know what makes America great? Anybody can sue anybody else, at any time, for any reason.

However, whether you collect anything is an entirely separate matter.

@Lone_Beagle Actually, I do not think you have any legal obligation to appear in court. I think there's options in situations like this where you can claim it's not possible for you to go to court for whatever reason, maybe you can't cover the expenses of representation or whatever, and you can choose to do things in some other way. Or, more precisely, what I'm saying is I don't think you can just automatically lose a case like this because some corporation has initiated legal action and some court date has been set or whatever but you can't or don't want to or refuse to attend. There was options at almost every stage of the process in my case with Warner Bros. for example. I remember they made sooo many claims and threats, which sounded very legit and official on paper, and in the end it was all just bluffing and scare tactics and ultimately they lost.

And do you know how I largely beat them, but just ignoring all the letters they sent me until their lawyers realised they weren't going to beat me by threatening me with the "law" and that they had to actually start talking the real merits of their case, which there basically weren't really any. And that's why with each new letter they seemed less and less bullish and all-powerful, and why they started to compromise just a little bit more with each communication, and eventually I got what I wanted and kept my company name basically as I had been all along.

@impurekind I could tell you have more insight knowledge than most of the commenters that are yapping about theft and criminality. It is nice to read you got it sorted out man. Cheers to you. We need more people with that kind of attitude.

The gist of it is that IF we continue to allow corporations to manipulate our online discourse and abuse their power over public speech without any real legal basis and proof of foul play, we'll be mindless drones.

@Lone_Beagle I totally agree with you on this one, on every line.

@apoqalypse "The gist of it is that IF we continue to allow corporations to manipulate our online discourse and abuse their power over public speech without any real legal basis and proof of foul play, we'll be mindless drones."

Exactly, 100%

I mean no one is claiming the law isn't important and valid in many cases, but I say we shouldn't just bow down to it in pure ignorance every single time some mega-corporation commands us to cower before its might.

We need to start questioning things a little bit more and in fact using the very same laws to stand up for our own rights a bit more too.

Being able to post some random leaked news we've heard about Nintendo's E3 is, as far as I'm aware, still basically a right we are afforded under free press or free speech or just common sense and some semblance of reason or whatever.

And if it's not then maybe THAT is something we should be fighting for--because we are not the corporate entity that is Nintendo and as "free" human beings we should in fact be protecting our rights over said corporation's (and indeed all corporations) ever-expanding reach and control.

@Lone_Beagle get outta here, Nintendo is always the party pooper. Always whining about streamers, let's play videos, leaks, fangames and so on.

Wait, so if we speculate on something coming up at E3 and we happen to be correct, we are in the wrong?

Man there is a lot of fascists on this site.

@impurekind @Lone_Beagle

Economic Espionage Act of 1996, look it up

Nintendo doing The good work

This is nothing but a good thing to me. I hate it when my favorite franchises I have been waiting so long for an official announcement for, get spoiled by some random guy on the internet. E3 is supposed to be where you learn surprises, as well as Nintendo Directs. Not some random twitter feed.

He probably worked for them, too. Must have felt to his co-workers like an unexplainable and immature betrayal.

@tekknik How about you tell us what it is? Telling people to look something up to prove your point is....lazy.

I don't mind a couple leaks, but I do get sick of everything hype getting leaked in advanced. I'm definitely not sad that all the nintendo stuff hasn't been leaked out yet as far as I know.

Good I'm glad I like surprises

@tekknik Doubt very much it applies here, and certainly not to the guy just reporting on some E3 leaks.

But this is precisely the kind of thing I expect a company like Nintendo wants people like you fear and believe is on its side in cases like this.

Companies like Nintendo more often than people realise count on the ignorance of others to abuse and control the narrative in situations like this.

Oh no, not that /s

What about Nintendo’s right to reveal the game that THEY'RE paying for in the way they want? Don’t they have any rights over their product? It’s not like Nintendo is hiding government secrets. Let them do their show with the reveals they want and actually give their fans some surprises. E3 is just once a year.

So glad they shut this guy up. His leaks aren’t about freedom of speech. It’s about him getting followers/money.

This leaker is breaching confidentiality agreements. This isn't free speech; this is abusing the information that they have access to and are trusted with. If I were an insider of the video game industry, I'd keep my mouth shut. It would be tempting sometimes, but my trustworthiness and honesty are more important than fifteen minutes of fame on the internet.

Besides, E3 is THIS WEEK. Would it kill everyone to just wait a few more days for this info? Surprises work best when we, y'know, don't know about every single detail ahead of time.

Leakers, hackers, spoliers, those are what ruins surprises. That turns something that should had been exciting into an oh yeah.

@apoqalypse you're thinking of a non disclosure agreement, confidentiality agreement or even a suppression order. Cease and desists are good warnings rather than flat out taking you to court and ruining your life for years or decades.

I don't even care about the leaks. I just hate the cancerous "I'm an insider guise, pls believe me" crowd that constantly post garbage "leaks" and unfounded rumours, but never go away when they're BTFO by the truth almost every time. Every E3, PAX, TGS, and Direct now has a million leaks from that kid who's uncle works at Nintendo saying this is going to be announced (it isn't) with the safety blanket of "my sources" when they're wrong. I find it hilarious that Laura Kate Dale ended up being silenced not by all of the debunked leaks in the past few years, but by misheard lyrics of all things.

@impurekind that’s not for you or me to decide, and the way the text of the act reads it very much applies

@Crono1973 in short: “The act makes the theft or misappropriation of a trade secret a federal crime.”

Well this has always been a legal issue because the person in question is not bound by any confidentiality agreements set by the company.

Normally cases of this nature don't go smoothly for the company or the person.

I can't remember the last time a leaker was actually found guilty in court, especially if they can prove that their leaks were actually just guesses.

The company rarely wins these cases but the hassle baught on by the legal proceedings is more unfavourable to an individual. Especially as there is no monetary gain to be made here, unless the person wins said case and counter-sues the company, which will start a whole new load of legal proceedings.

In short, he doesn't have to stop, but he'll regret it for a very long time if he doesn't.

But doesnt this just CONFIRM the rumors people would otherwise ignore?

Things get leaked but there's something to be said about a person who is routinely doing it.

Like even if this person is not signing NDAs they must either be actively seeking out or social engineering to get people to break them. This information has to come somewhere and if a single individual is consistently getting information regarding several different companies then it's certainly not some innocent mistake.

@tekknik The way the text reads it doesn't apply at all, which was my point. I think you really don't have a clue about what is happening here or indeed what you are talking about in relation to this incident. A random guy posting online about some rumours and leaks someone else has passed on to him isn't even close to "economic espionage"; that law is more for the people directly stealing and leaking internal documents and trade secrets and the like. Of course, I'm assuming he's not actually working for Nintendo directly on in direct cahoots with someone who is working for them and stealing trade secrets for the guy. And neither of us knows exactly what the case is there, but the onus would be 100% on Nintendo to provide actual proof the guy is guilty of an actual crime and not just posting some leaked news. But again, you're exactly the kind of person Nintendo is hoping buys into whatever threat it makes and just immediately drinks the Kool-Aid without ever really challenging it--and that's exactly how these corporations get away with abusing their power far more often than most people will ever realise.

@impurekind I have no idea why press isn't backing the guy tbh...

Good Nintendo has every right to shut you up and today Nintendo wins..Thanks from Nintendo

@apoqalypse Because 99% people in the press are completely ignorant to this kind of stuff too. They'll also ask "How high?" whenever a company like Nintendo tells them to jump. And they will largely just accept with little to no question whatever the big corporation suggests to them is the case, especially in situations like this.

AWESOME! Most likely, they gave him a Liam Neeson speech: I know where you live, and I have a special set of skills.

@apoqalypse That is not how free speech works. Free speech only covers criticism to wards the government. It doesn't allow you to say anything you want on any subject you want or about anyone you want. And it certainly does not allow you to give out trade secrets.

From what I've read, it seems this guy got the info through breaking NDAs and other less than legal means. Even if not, good luck paying the legal fees to defend yourself from the Nintendo Ninjas - even if the leaker is right (which I doubt) those fees will bankrupt him.

E3 is far better when there are no leaks.

This is why I dislike Rei fans, they’re always spoiling the fun.

@Yorumi So very true.

@RevampedSpider I don't get it?

Good for Nintendo! Why can't people these days just wait for the actual reveals, anyway? Our spoiler-happy culture kind of makes me sick. Hardly anyone has any patience anymore. Personally, I find it far more fun waiting in anticipation and enjoying the element of surprise.

@FLEEBS Exactly can't wait another few days for the game 2 b announced at E3 (for example) and then have to wait another year for the game 2 b released, therafter u will find them in the comments section on YouTube saying it's the worst game they've ever seen.

@apoqalypse this is information that Nintendo are intending to release to...
Assange was releasing material that governments never wanted to reach the public eye atall lol.

@motang,

The gain attention.

@BacklogBlues I'm in the US too. Freedom of speech covers expressing yourself in public, and having an opinion. It does NOT allow you to leak trade secrets, which is a violation of the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) here (among other laws, which could include insider trading laws if the leak is potentially damaging to a company).

@impurekind you're a very rude person, and clearly not a lawyer. explain why it doesn't apply instead of hiding behind your "it doesn't apply" opinion. then get off of NL for a second, find some cases where the act was used and find out what the people did and you'll see it most definitely does apply. you're not a subject matter expert on all things law because you got sued by WB

@Yorumi You're capable of searching the internet like I, it took me a matter of minutes to find tons of cases where the person worked for the company in question. I didn't look for any specific to reporters, but this guy/girl isn't a reporter working in their job, it's just someone posting on a twitter account. I doubt reporter protections would apply to them.

Where are you getting the NDA from? Do we know Nintendo has them under NDA? You're correct, telling someone to violate their NDA isn't illegal, but giving someone bad legal advice could have consequences for that person. The person here is telling the twitter user they should keep going because "What is Nintendo gonna do?". It's easy to say that when you have no consequences to face.

@BacklogBlues I commented after you, directed towards another user, and not at you. I wasn't calling you rude and none of that was directed towards you. Sorry for the confusion!

@tekknik Sometimes you have to be a little rude to be honest.

Tell you what, since you want to go down that route, you explain and in fact prove why it does apply in this particular case first, using the actual information we know at this time and the legal facts of the case and the appropriate laws to do so, and then we'll see where we go from there. . . .

Otherwise, stop wasting my time, your time, and everyone else's time.

@Yorumi this is just untrue, again search and you’ll find instances of people that were complicit by just passing information. and no not anybody is a reporter for the same reason some random person walking down the street isn’t considered a reporter

@impurekind no you don’t have to be rude to get anything across. so we’re done here, i’m not gonna do your research for you

@Yorumi the burden of proof? you realize this isn't a court room yes? i gave you the law to look at, do your research and learn for yourself or don't, i really don't care. the amount of time you've spent responding you could've read the entire act already, so if you're looking for a waste of time.... as far as journalist privilege goes, generally to be considered for protection you must be working for a news org. these are definitely registered with the state as any other business is. the owner of this twitter account lists themselves as a journalist, but has no official business. a judge can extend journalistic privilege to them, if they feel they are working in this capacity but they have no obligation to. even still all this protects them from is revealing their sources, it does not make them immune to any other laws