$1.5m fine for illegal game upload

Posted By | On 18th, Feb. 2010

A man who recieved an early copy of Super Mario Bros. Wii and uploaded it to a website has been hit with a $1.5m fine plus $100,000 to cover court costs.

James Burt, 24, copied and uploaded the game on November 6th, 6 days before the official release date on November 12th.

By the time Nintendo had shut the site down, the game had apparently been downloaded ‘thousands of times’.

Nintendo Austrailia Managing Director Rose Lappin said, “Piracy is massive and getting bigger and bigger but I think the courts are taking it more seriously now as you can see by this,” she said. “As an industry it’s a major problem and the cost is massive to the industry and to developers. Some of these guys say there are more downloads and patches than there are actual sales for them.That’s shocking for our industry.”

That’s just a little bit over the top, no?


Amazing Articles You Might Want To Check Out!

Share Your Thoughts Below  (Always follow our comments policy!)



Keep On Reading!

Star Wars: Hunters Launches for PC in Early Access on January 27

Star Wars: Hunters Launches for PC in Early Access on January 27

Zynga's free-to-play hero shooter originally launched for mobile devices and Nintendo Switch earlier this year...

Cyberpunk Live Action Project is Still in the Conceptual Stage

Cyberpunk Live Action Project is Still in the Conceptual Stage

"But we’re also not yet at the stage where we would be shopping around the concept to potential streamers or...

PS2 Has Sold 160 Million Units, Sony Officially Confirms

PS2 Has Sold 160 Million Units, Sony Officially Confirms

Former PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan claimed the same earlier this year, and the figure has now been officially con...

The Witcher 4 Enters Full Production

The Witcher 4 Enters Full Production

Codenamed Project Polaris, the fantasy action RPG was in pre-production for over two years, and is confirmed t...

Towers of Aghasba Early Access Review – Towerfall

Towers of Aghasba Early Access Review – Towerfall

Moonlit Games' striking visuals and intriguing lore belies a frustrating survival sandbox experience with too ...

Cyberpunk 2077 Has Sold 30 Million Units, Phantom Liberty Crosses 8 Million

Cyberpunk 2077 Has Sold 30 Million Units, Phantom Liberty Crosses 8 Million

CD Projekt RED has shared new sales figures for the action RPG and its expansion, both of which have maintaine...