Nintendo awarded $4.5m in lawsuit against Redditor for piracy
Nintendo of America has won a $4.5 million judgment against Reddit user James C. Williams, known as 'Archbox,' for copyright violations. The court issued a default judgment after Williams failed to respond to the lawsuit.
Under the court's order, Williams must disable all online shops he controls that offered extensive libraries of pirated Nintendo Switch games. He is also required to shut down social media accounts linked to piracy and is prohibited from distributing, marketing, or selling any Nintendo software or hardware.
The legal action, which began in March 2024, claims that Williams' conduct caused direct damage to Nintendo and its publishing partners. The company specified that his activities included the distribution of pirated games and the trafficking of circumvention software designed to bypass console security.
Nintendo stated that such actions harm the livelihoods of developers, artists, and programmers who rely on legitimate sales. This ruling follows a recent decision by the District Court of The Hague, which declared the sale of Switch modding kits—such as the MIG Switch—illegal in Europe due to their role in enabling piracy.