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1: Nintendo Files Lawsuits in Crackdown Against Switch Hackers
First off today, Nicole Carpenter at Polygon reports that Nintendo of America has filed two lawsuits against sites that sell software that allow users to play pirated games on the Nintendo Switch.
The first lawsuit was filed in Ohio against Tom Dilts Jr., who Nintendo alleges is behind the website Uberchips. The second was filed in Seattle against “John Doe” defendants that Nintendo claims operate a variety of sites that offer similar piracy tools. All of the defendants are accused of reselling products first created by the hacking group “Team Xecuter.”
According to the lawsuits, the software is both an “unauthorized operating system” and it circumvents technological copyright protections. The UberChips site appears to be down but the other websites are online. Nintendo is seeking $2,500 per trafficking violation in both of the cases as well as a permanent injunction to shutter the sites.
2: Tokyo Olympics Protest Parody of Logo that Depicts COVID-19
Next up today, The Associated Press reports that Tokyo Olympic officials have taken issue with a modified version of their Olympic logo that features the coronavirus. The logo was featured on the cover of a local magazine and resulted in those officials demanding that it be taken down.
A representative for the Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee said, “The design is clearly using the design of the Olympic emblem. We therefore consider it an infringement on our legally secured copyright to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic emblem.” However, the actual artist behind the logo, Andrew Pothecary, said that he considers the magazine’s design to be a parody.
Officials did not answer whether they are planning any direct legal action but did say they have not received a formal response from the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan.
3: The Music Mission Campaign Aims to Shut Down 200 Music Piracy Sites
Finally today, Andy at Torrentfreak writes that the anti-piracy company AudioLock has announced a new initiative named The Music Mission Campaign where it aims to remove some 200 piracy sites, specifically targeting sites that masquerade themselves as legitimate platforms.
The company is backed by the music distributor Label Worx and hundreds of labels and distribution platforms. They are specifically targeting sites that offer a much more polished experience, including professional features, but do not properly license the music that they offer.
Most of the sites operate on some form of subscription service where they offer downloads at a deeply discounted rate compared to authorized sources. Whether these sites are a major factor when compared to illegal streaming and BitTorrent sites is up for debate, but The Music Mission has decided that they are a priority at the moment.
The 3 Count Logo was created by Justin Goff and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.
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