Pirates
Image: Nintendo

Piracy on the Switch is proving to be a real problem for Nintendo, but it's one the company is tackling head-on. The firm has already won cases against online stores re-selling devices which can "jailbreak" the Switch, coming away with a cool $2 million in damages as a result of one case. Its efforts to protect its system have also resulted in arrests, a sure sign that Nintendo isn't messing around when it comes to eradicating Switch piracy.

The company has recently made another move against an individual offering hacking tools online, having filed a lawsuit against Amazon seller Le Hoang Minh, who is accused of selling the RCM Loader, a USB device which allows users to overcome Nintendo’s copyright measures and load pirated and unauthorised software onto the console.

Filed in a Seattle court on Wednesday, the suit (obtained by Polygon) sees Nintendo claim that software piracy of this nature is a “serious, worsening international problem.” The suit also confirms that Nintendo initially issued a DMCA notice to the seller, who then (perhaps unwisely, we'd venture) made a counterclaim, which allowed the listing to became active again. The only way to remove the listing a second time was to file an infringement lawsuit, which is exactly what Nintendo has done.

Nintendo is chasing $2,500 in damages for each infringement, which is what it got in two previous suits of this nature. In those lawsuits, sellers were accused of distributing hardware and software tools made by Team Xecuter, the group from which the aforementioned arrests were made earlier this year. Team Xecuter makes money off its work, which has made the group very controversial, even in hacking circles; earlier this year, Team Xecuter stated it was "not happy" with what it branded "censorship" and "scare tactics."

Nintendo has not stated that the seller in question was distributing Team Xecuter’s products, but does mention in the lawsuit that he was selling Team Xecuter’s SX OS software and other hacking programs with the RCM Loaders he had listed on Amazon.

[source polygon.com]