3 Count: Bricked Switches

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1: New Nintendo EULA Says It Can Render Consoles ‘Permanently Unusable’ If Piracy or Modifications Are Detected

First, Aaron McKinley at GameRant reports that Nintendo has updated its end-user license agreement (EULA), saying that it could render consoles “permanently unusable” if it detected piracy or unauthorized modifications.

Nintendo has a lengthy history of cracking down on piracy and console modding. This has included multiple lawsuits against suspected modders, filing copyright notices against YouTube channels and even arresting some suspected pirates.

However, this is the first time Nintendo has mentioned the possibility of bricking consoles. It is unclear how Nintendo would do this, but the change comes ahead of the launch of the Switch 2 console, which is due to be released on June 5.

2: Paul McCartney and Dua Lipa Among Artists Urging Starmer to Rethink AI Copyright Plans

Next up today, Dan Milmo at The Guardian reports that hundreds of artists in the UK have signed an open letter to the country’s Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, encouraging him to protect their work from use by AI companies.

The UK is currently considering legislation that would enable AI companies to train on copyright-protected works unless the artists specifically opt out. This has faced significant backlash from local artists, who have already pushed Parliament to reconsider elements of the bill.

The open letter asks Starmer to support an amendment proposed by Beeban Kidron. The amendment would require AI firms to tell copyright owners which specific works they had used for training. Over 400 signatories, including Elton John, Annie Lennox, and Rachel Whiteread, signed the letter.

3: LaLiga Disregards Vercel’s Piracy Overblocking Outreach, Blocks it Again

Finally, today, Andy Maxwell at Torrentfreak writes that the soccer league LaLiga has filed another blocking order and once again blocked an IP address owned by the content delivery network Vercel.

Vercel has heavily criticized LaLiga’s “indiscriminate” use of site blocking in Spain. Though Vercel was critical of the league, it offered to work with them to remove pirate streams and permit legitimate traffic.

However, LaLiga seems to have rebuffed that offer, ordering the blocking of another IP address owned by Vercel. This latest order also includes blocks against Cloudflare, Twitch, QUICCloud (which this site uses) and other network providers.

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