Security News > 2021 > April > Nintendo Sues Video-Game Pirates

Gaming giant Nintendo has filed a lawsuit against video-game piracy group ringleader Gary Bowser, a Canadian national behind Team Xecuter, which law enforcement said built and sold hacking devices that enabled consoles to play unauthorized versions of games.

Bowser was arrested last October, along with his alleged Team Xecuter co-conspirators for targeting Nintendo Switch, the Nintendo 3DS, the Nintendo Entertainment Classic Edition, Sony PlayStation Classic and Microsoft Xbox, the Department of Justice said.

The lawsuit accuses Team Xecuter of selling a circumvention device called the "SX OS" which is designed to "Hijack the Nintendo Switch by interrupting and bypassing its technological security features and protections. This thereby allows the Nintendo Switch to be used for massive intellectual property theft and infringement," according to the lawsuit filed by Nintendo against Bowser.

Nintendo told the court in its filing that Gary Bowser has a long history of targeting Nintendo systems, even before his association with Team Xecuter.

"Defendant has trafficked in circumvention devices and helped facilitate infringement of Nintendo video games not only on the Nintendo Switch, but also on earlier consoles, including the Nintendo DS, released in 2004, the Wii, released in 2006, and the Nintendo 3DS, released in 2011.".

The suit also said Bowser was charged in Canada in 2008 for an "Elaborate operation involving counterfeit Nintendo video games and the modification of video-game consoles."

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https://threatpost.com/nintendo-sues-video-game-pirates/165646/