• Stamets@lemmy.worldOP
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    11 months ago

    He was part of a team that created devices allowing people to play what they wanted on switch, 3DS and some other consoles. He was convicted of fraud and imprisoned for two years before being released. He still has to pay off a fine of 10 million dollars so Nintendo is garnishing his wages for the rest of his life. Which pisses me off because he’s on Disability in Canada which is barely enough to live on (trust me…) and also taxpayer funds. Not to mention that there is no way in fucking hell that his part in all of this adds up to $10 million dollars in lost revenue for Nintendo which is exactly why that fine was applied.

    Edit: Apparently disability can’t be garnished. Was a slight fuck up on my end. I had misremembered something and misread something which led to that. Nonetheless, situation still massively fucked for applying a $10 million (well, 14.5 million but 10 million of that is for Nintendo) fine for a dude who made $320,000 off of the hacks. However if he did make any money outside of Disability, they would immediately be entitled to 30% of it. Fucking insane.

    • Bleeping Lobster@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      I get that they have to protect their IP, but $14m is insane. Feels like the judge threw the book, switch, 3DS and every other console they could find at him. Does he have no right of appeal against the sentence?

      When Bowser was first sentenced, Nintendo’s lawyer Ajay Singh said in a court transcript (via Axios) that the company wanted to “send a message” to other Switch hackers.

      Correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought sentencing was supposed to reflect the severity of the crime and make fair restitution? It sounds as if this sentence / restitution was massively inflated to create a deterrant, to benefit a private business. Huge fail from Nintendo imo that only makes me want to never buy one of their games or consoles again.

      • Stamets@lemmy.worldOP
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        11 months ago

        It was put through the American Legal system. There is absolutely zero reason to believe that the justice system of America actually contains any justice in the first place. Of course they sided with the international corporation to fuck over a disabled 50 year old.

            • garbagebagel@lemmy.world
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              11 months ago

              That’s just a means to an end, convince a part of the working class they should fear the rest, let them fight it out, and continue capitalizing in peace.

              • Promethiel@lemmy.world
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                11 months ago

                It isn’t.

                I can’t speak for all PoC but I can speak for me. It’s been screamed for the ages. Maybe not all Dragons care about ideology, but it’s the goddamn minority.

                The rule is you (the straw billionaire in this scenario) or your Robber Baron grandpappy were able to rise that way by seeing some as subhuman, and others as rubes. They still discuss phrenology and blood poisoning for fuck’s sake.

                Stop assuming the bulk of The Capitalists don’t absolutely abhor the concept of other races sharing their resources. They’d happily make an all-white caste system.

                They keep screaming that’s what they want.

        • TIMMAY@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          whatever do you mean? are you suggesting that there are decades of evidence that the us justice system is a bad joke played on the minorities and/or disenfranchised, and then only functions to line/protect the pockets of the upper class and ultra-wealthy? preposterous!

          • rottingleaf@lemmy.zip
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            11 months ago

            I’ve read Vladimir Bukovsky (the Soviet dissident), and the way he describes Soviet courts I advise you to see.

            Of course that was about political cases etc, but when you’re complaining, remember that it can be worse.

            • FlickOfTheBean@lemmy.world
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              11 months ago

              “Stop complaining, pissant, it could be worse” - most abusive situations

              The “it could be worse” Olympics is the game of the complacent. You may be complacent. Are you?

              • rottingleaf@lemmy.zip
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                11 months ago

                In some things yes and I’m fighting it, it’s more about understanding well how your situation evaluates among possible ones.

                • FlickOfTheBean@lemmy.world
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                  11 months ago

                  That’s fair. In that case, with that reasoning, it seems less like you’re being pessimistic and more like you’re trying to be realistic. I would caution though, reality isn’t ALL negative, though the neutrality and negativity inside of it can always be improved. Heck, even most positives in reality can often be improved.

                  Personally, I think the Olympics game tends to start when focus becomes too great on one specific aspect, which leads to what is essentially a one upmanship of situational comparison, but that’s all I really wanted to poke at.

                  Thanks for the even response! Sometimes me phrasing stuff like that starts fights even though I only want to poke a little bit. In any case, I hope your day goes well!

                  • rottingleaf@lemmy.zip
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                    11 months ago

                    Sometimes me phrasing stuff like that starts fights even though I only want to poke a little bit.

                    Same here.

                    Good day to you too.

      • SCB@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        Correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought sentencing was supposed to reflect the severity of the crime and make fair restitution? I

        These look like punitive damages designed to dissuade others from repeating what he did.

      • Stamets@lemmy.worldOP
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        11 months ago

        Nah, what’s weird is for you to openly lie and make shit up for no reason.

        He made $320,000 over a 7 year period.

        Source.

          • Stamets@lemmy.worldOP
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            11 months ago

            So you have no sources other than what you think?

            Yeah I’m going to stick with the documents that were shown in legal proceedings, thanks.

              • Stamets@lemmy.worldOP
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                11 months ago

                So… again… you have no sources other than what you think? Either offer sources that back up your claims or stop making comments that are immediately proven false.

                I also did believe that they could because I misread something. That’s on me and has been edited. Next time I would also recommend trying to correct someone by acting like an adult instead of whatever this behavior is. Sorry about the mistake but you really could have addressed that with a very different attitude.

                Lastly, the actual issue is a misrepresentation on how much lost revenue Nintendo gained from this man. Piracy is a factor. It is not the driving force.

      • rockSlayer@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        Why is it weird to be mad at a multibillion dollar corporation for garnishing the wages of a disabled person’s disability benefits, simply because he was providing the means to do what you want with your device? I don’t care what the courts say. It should not be illegal to sell something that allows you to do what you want with your device. Even if that device facilitates piracy. IP isn’t real and shouldn’t exist in the first place.

          • rockSlayer@lemmy.world
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            11 months ago

            I actually didn’t know they were directly selling pirated software, I thought it was only about the modding device. However, I’m glad you recognize the extremely excessive nature of the ruling. Do you happen to know why they went after a single individual instead of the whole group?

              • rockSlayer@lemmy.world
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                11 months ago

                Just to be clear, you’re ok with saddling a disabled person with $14m dollar fine to a multibillion dollar corporation, for the crime of making $300k on a device that allows you to do what you want with your device? It wasn’t specifically meant for piracy, there are several good and legitimate reasons to have full control of your device.

                  • rockSlayer@lemmy.world
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                    11 months ago

                    Because he lives in the US Canada, where it’s expensive as fuck to just exist as a disabled person.

        • rottingleaf@lemmy.zip
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          11 months ago

          IP isn’t real and shouldn’t exist in the first place.

          This. They’ve made up a dubious analogy between owning physical items and knowledge, and make the “burn the witch” act when you point out that it’s unsatisfactory to make laws, and there are plenty of people running around who haven’t ever made anything in their lives which would be impeded by IP, so they just support it.

          I know a few people who’ve made IP-worthy things, sometimes published (small-issue), the pattern is that they are against IP (while for them I’d understand having emotional reasons to support it).

        • beefcat@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          disability benefits can’t be garnished. i think it’s ok to be mad at people for spreading misinformation even if they themselves are fighting a just cause. lies like this help nobody.