*Nintendo described the sentencing of hacker Gary bozer earlier this year as a "unique opportunity" * to send a message about video game piracy to all players. Gary bozer, a Canadian, pleaded guilty last year to the US government's cyber crime charges as a senior member of the xecter team.
The group sells technology that circumvents copyright protection, enabling Nintendo switches and other systems to play pirated games. Authorities estimate that in the past decade, piracy has brought Nintendo a loss of up to $65million, and even forced the company to spend resources to release more secure switch models.
Nintendo said that it is the purchase of video games that supports Nintendo and its ecosystem. It is the games that make people smile. It is for this reason that we make every effort to prevent the theft of games on the Nintendo system. Nintendo suffered losses due to the piracy of xecter team, and expressed sympathy to the small non Nintendo game manufacturers whose works were also pirated.
Nintendo also complained about cheating, saying that team xecter's hacking made cheating possible. Cheating may scare away honest players. At the hearing, U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik pointed out: "TV and movies beautify hackers as people who persist in the end, suggesting that big companies are reaping huge profits. It is good for small people to have such opportunities. What can we do to convince people that this kind of hacker / piracy is not honorable?" Nintendo lawyer replied: "further education for the public will be of great benefit.
Hacker Gary bozer told the judge that a longer prison term would not scare away hackers. The money that can be made from piracy is so much that it is insignificant. Garybozer was sentenced to 40 months' imprisonment, while garybozer's lawyer asked for 19 months' imprisonment. He said that the hacker had served most of his sentence while waiting for trial. Due to covid-19 and other health problems, Gary bozer spent nearly 6 months alone in his cell, 23 hours a day. Later in the day, Nintendo issued a press release thanking the authorities for their prosecution of Gary bozer.