[LINK] $1.5m damages clause for unauthorised game upload

[Roger Clarke]

[The content industry continues? resumes? use of the criminal law to 
pressure miscreants.  Unless young Mr Burt is a person of substance, 
the damages have presumably just been chosen as an impressive number.

[So the title should probably be:
'Nintendo dictates $1.5m damages clause for unauthorised game upload'

Qld man to pay $1.5m for illegal upload
ANDREA HAYWARD
February 9, 2010 - 4:24PM
AAP [reprint in SMH]
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/qld-man-to-pay-15m-for-illegal-upload-20100209-np6s.html

A Queensland man will have to pay Nintendo $1.5 million in damages 
after illegally copying and uploading one of its new games to the 
internet ahead of its release, the gaming giant says.

James Burt, 24, of Sinnamon Park in Queensland will pay Nintendo $1.5 
million after an out-of-court settlement was struck to compensate the 
company for the loss of sales revenue.

Nintendo said the loss was caused when Burt made New Super Mario Bros 
for the Wii gaming console available for illegal download a week 
ahead of its official Australian release in November last year.

Under Australian law, copying and distributing games without the 
permission of the copyright holder is a breach of the Copyright Act.

Nintendo applied and was granted a search order by the Federal Court 
forcing Burt to disclose the whereabouts of all his computers, disks 
and electronic storage devices in November.

He was also ordered to allow access, including passwords, to his 
social networking sites, email accounts and websites.

The matter was settled between Burt and Nintendo last month.

Burt will have to pay Nintendo's legal bill of $100,000, the Federal 
Court in Melbourne ordered on January 27.

Nintendo said in a statement on Tuesday it was able to trace Burt by 
using sophisticated technological forensics after the game was 
uploaded to the internet.

The company said it guarded its intellectual property rights to 
protect the interests of consumers, its own interests and the 
interests of game development companies.

"Nintendo will pursue those who attempt to jeopardise our industry by 
using all means available to it under the law," the company said.

Piracy was a significant threat to the gaming business and the 1,400 
game development companies who contribute to providing games for the 
company's platform.

Nintendo Australia managing director Rose Lappin said the illegal 
upload had marred the release of the new game, which Australia was 
able to get ahead of other countries, which was unusual.

"It wasn't just an Australian issue, it was a global issue. There was 
thousands and thousands of downloads, at a major cost to us and the 
industry really," Ms Lappin said.

"It's not just about us. It's about retailers and if they can't sell 
the games then they have to bear the costs associated with that.

"Once it's on the internet it's anyone's really."

Ms Lappin said globally the company had a major network against piracy.


-- 
Roger Clarke                                 http://www.rogerclarke.com/
			            
Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd      78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA
                    Tel: +61 2 6288 1472, and 6288 6916
mailto:Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au                http://www.xamax.com.au/

Visiting Professor in the Cyberspace Law & Policy Centre      Uni of NSW
Visiting Professor in Computer Science    Australian National University