Nintendo Wins R4 Lawsuit in the Netherlands

Nintendo has won a major victory in the Netherlands this week against retailers that sold R4 cards for the Nintendo DS and Wii mod chips. A Hague District Court in the Netherlands has found 11 online retailers guilty of acting "unlawfully" in selling game copying equipment to the public.

In response to Nintendo's claims, the 11 retailers counter-claimed that Nintendo’s objections were an act of unfair competition. That claim was rejected by Hague District Court. Where the case goes from here is to be continued - in other words, Nintendo will win some sort of monetary judgment at some point.

R4 cards are designed to store games on the DS and play them. The device is capable of holding hundreds of copies of DS games on one cartridge. Mod chips installed in consoles like the Wii allow users to play copies of games and allow movies and games to be played regardless of region.

Nintendo issued the following statement to MCV:

"Nintendo protects its intellectual property rights globally and takes action to prevent the distribution of pirated software and devices that allow illegally downloaded software to be played.

"Nintendo takes this action not only for the company’s sake, but in the interests of its partners who spend time and money legitimately developing software for Nintendo video game consoles and systems, and customers who expect the highest standards and integrity from products bearing the Nintendo name."

Source: MCV