Nintendo is celebrating a court docket case victory within the Netherlands that claims the sale of “units designed to bypass Nintendo’s safety measures” is illegal.
Particularly referencing playing cards such because the MIG Change Card, the case heard at The Hague District Courtroom (Rechtbank Den Haag) concerned a grievance towards an internet vendor ‘dropshipping’ the units from Asia. These units can be utilized to play pirated copies of video games and unofficial software program on modified Change {hardware}.
Per different authorized motion introduced towards distributors, the platform holder argues that the flexibility of those circumvention units to allow piracy makes them illegal, and Nintendo’s press launch confirms that the Dutch court docket agrees.
This ruling follows an identical one towards Dutch retailers promoting “R4 playing cards” again in 2010. The identical court docket dominated that these playing cards, designed for Nintendo DS, enabled piracy and their sale was due to this fact prohibited. Nintendo particularly highlights that 16-year-old victory in its press launch.
This is a piece of textual content from Nintendo’s assertion detailing the ruling:
The Defendant operated what is commonly often known as a ‘dropshipping’ supply system, the place merchandise ordered by customers on web sites concentrating on European customers, together with these within the Netherlands, are delivered instantly from Asia, primarily China. The Courtroom dominated that, by providing and promoting circumvention units marketed as “MIG Change Playing cards” and “MIG Change Dumpers” for Nintendo Change on a number of web sites (r4switch.nl, ther4card.com, and r4switch.co.uk), the Defendant acted unlawfully respectively infringed Nintendo’s copyrights. The Courtroom ordered the Defendant to cease providing and promoting MIG Change Playing cards, MIG Change Dumpers and some other merchandise that circumvent Nintendo’s technological safety measures.
This resolution follows the earlier landmark resolution towards importers and sellers of Nintendo DS circumvention units rendered by the identical Courtroom in 2010, and additional bolsters the authorized foundation for rights holders to guard towards piracy by using safety measures. The District Courtroom of The Hague adopted the reasoning set by the best European Courtroom (Courtroom of Justice of the European Union) carefully and recognised that the first objective of those circumvention units is to bypass the safety measures defending Nintendo online game consoles and genuine video video games, thereby enabling using unauthorised copies of Nintendo video video games.
Nintendo initiates these actions not solely by itself behalf, but additionally on behalf of the various online game builders globally that rely upon authentic gross sales of Nintendo video video games. Nintendo promotes and fosters sport growth and creativity and strongly helps the sport builders who legitimately create new and progressive video games.
In September 2025, Nintendo of America was awarded $2 million in damages in a lawsuit towards distributors of MiG Change units. Just lately, the corporate enforced the takedown of a whole lot of Change emulator repositories on GitHub in its conflict on sport piracy.
This most up-to-date press launch ends with a “message to gamers”:
Nintendo’s message to gamers is to keep away from buying or utilizing circumvention units, circumvention software program or unauthorised copies of video video games, as this will increase the danger of interfering with the performance and expertise supplied by genuine Nintendo sport consoles, video video games and techniques.