Gary Bowser, a member of a hacker group called Team-Xecuter, was sentenced to pay Nintendo 10 million dollars for the sale of mods for Switch and 3DS.
The fine was the result of a civil lawsuit between Nintendo and Gary Bowser, and was separated from another federal lawsuit in which Bowser was also fined. 4.5 million dollars.
In the previous case, Bowser and another Team-Xecuter member, Max Louarn, were charged with eleven offenses, including computer fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. If found guilty even for these last two charges, they could both be sentenced even to twenty years in prison.
Instead of facing trial, Bowser pleaded guilty to two counts: trafficking in circumvention and conspiracy devices to circumvent technological measures And trafficking in circumvention devices. He also offered to pay Nintendo $ 4.5 million, as well as helping them find his other accomplices.
The prosecution agreed to drop all other charges as a result, but the judge warned that despite the plea bargain, Bowser could still face jail for the two counts he pleaded guilty to. each punishable by up to five years in prison.
Bowser took part in the activities of Team-Xecuter from June 2013 until his arrest in September 2020. The group has created and sold a number of illegal circumvention devices designed to allow users to play illegal ROMs on their consoles, including Switch, 3DS, PlayStation Mini And SNES Mini.
Bowser was in charge of the Maxconsole.com site, which served as a central hub for device marketing and customer support. He also administered a site containing ROM libraries, where illegal copies of 13,630 games were offered.
Although Team-Xecuter himself was the main focus of these particular cases, Nintendo also pursued third party resellers who sold the group’s products.
#Nintendo #wins #hacker #Gary #Bowser #imposed #huge #fine