Nintendo 'pirate' is just a shy gamer who wanted to show off to friends

[Zeus]

SMH is reporting that the 'pirate' Nintendo has fined 1.5 million AUD is just a shy 24 year old gamer. But Nintendo is having none of it, they claim that the man uploaded the new Mario game to the internet in order to gain acceptance from release groups and not his friends.

<blockquote>A Queensland man who has to pay Nintendo $1.5 million in a piracy case is little more than a shy gamer who uploaded his copy of a new game on to the internet only to prove a point to friends, his father said.

But Nintendo maintains James Burt deliberately distributed the game illegally online in order to gain acceptance with a game hacking group.

Burt, 24, a part-time freight worker who still lives at home with his parents in Sinnamon Park, will be forced to pay Nintendo $1.5 million after an out-of-court settlement was struck to compensate the company for a claimed loss of sales revenue.

Burt uploaded a game file from the Nintendo Wii game New Super Mario Bros on to the internet on November 6 last year, a week before its official release in Australia.

A large Australian retailer had sold him the game early by mistake.

Nintendo Australia managing director Rose Lappin claimed thousands of people accessed the game illegally after Burt uploaded the file and that his actions created "a major cost to us and the industry". </blockquote>

Read more: <A href="http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/games/nintendo-pirate-just-a-shy-gamer-dad-20100210-nrlr.html" target="_blank">SMH.com.au</a>

[Radament]

Nintendo must be really down. Divineo, poor Bill and now this.

Honestly, i am starting to hate that company.

[CharmedonWB]

Nintendo Australia managing director Rose Lappin claimed thousands of people accessed the game illegally after Burt uploaded the file and that his actions created "a major cost to us and the industry". </blockquote>

Read more: <A href="http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/games/nintendo-pirate-just-a-shy-gamer-dad-20100210-nrlr.html" target="_blank">SMH.com.au</a>

What major cost are we talking about? Of those thousands of downloaders, how many of them bought the game? How many were never planning on buying the game? The 1.5M he is paying will probably be more money than Nintendo would have otherwise received had Burt never uploaded a thing.

[tech3475]

He should have just taken a picture if he was that desperate. Personally, I reckon he just wanted a higher ratio on a private torrent site.

[ThreeDog]

He is silly whatever the reason, but at least he can file bankruptcy and claim his car as a work related tool. He'll probably never pay that money back but he'll be used as an example for the rest of his life.

[grapeape]

If SMH's goal to induce symapthy for the guy i think it backfired, describing he guy as a 24 year old with part time job living with his parents isnt really a way to endear him to anyone, it just makes him sound more pathetic.

[Captain N1]

I actually bought the game. then i palced it on hard drive so i dont have to use teh disc. but i own the real version so.....

[technolust]

Nintendo must be really down. Divineo, poor Bill and now this.

Honestly, i am starting to hate that company.

you hate them becasue they are protecting their software? thats a good reason to hate some one.

[technolust]

SMH is reporting that the 'pirate' Nintendo has fined 1.5 million AUD is just a shy 24 year old gamer. But Nintendo is having none of it, they claim that the man uploaded the new Mario game to the internet in order to gain acceptance from release groups and not his friends.

<blockquote>A Queensland man who has to pay Nintendo $1.5 million in a piracy case is little more than a shy gamer who uploaded his copy of a new game on to the internet only to prove a point to friends, his father said.

But Nintendo maintains James Burt deliberately distributed the game illegally online in order to gain acceptance with a game hacking group.

Burt, 24, a part-time freight worker who still lives at home with his parents in Sinnamon Park, will be forced to pay Nintendo $1.5 million after an out-of-court settlement was struck to compensate the company for a claimed loss of sales revenue.

Burt uploaded a game file from the Nintendo Wii game New Super Mario Bros on to the internet on November 6 last year, a week before its official release in Australia.

A large Australian retailer had sold him the game early by mistake.

Nintendo Australia managing director Rose Lappin claimed thousands of people accessed the game illegally after Burt uploaded the file and that his actions created "a major cost to us and the industry". </blockquote>

Read more: <A href="http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/games/nintendo-pirate-just-a-shy-gamer-dad-20100210-nrlr.html" target="_blank">SMH.com.au</a>

Shy people tend not to draw attention to them selves. and it takes more than just 1 early leek to be accepted by a release group. that retailer who sold him the game by mistake dosnt sound right either i think that he knew some one who worked in the store and sold it to him knowing it wasnt due for sale. this guy just wanted to make a name for him self, he got caught for trying to be "MR Big"

cant get over that hes 24 and still lives with mommy. and any one who uploads a pic of him self along with the recipt deservs to get caught.

[zecht]

cant get over that hes 24 and still lives with mommy.

You can get over it, you're just being condescending. He probably had the entire basement to himself for cheap rent or for free. You probably rent a studio box for $700 a month plus utilities because your parents don't care and kicked you out when you turned 18

[Retroboy]

lol maybe nintendo should also sue the nintendo distribution office for sending a game way before its release date to the store and then sue the store for selling the game.

or maybe nintendo should have actually invested money into the wii and made it more secure, instead of a quick buck console

[Blades]

A 1.5 Million "out of court" settlement? Good sh*t, how would someone that lives with "mommy" pay for that? Probably for the rest of his life.

Time to change the name and skip the country.

That's $4,166 per month for the next 30 years.

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