Nintendo Cracks Down on Piracy and Unauthorized Use with Updated Policies

Nintendo has recently updated its policy on digital products, warning users about unauthorized use and potential consequences, including rendering their consoles unusable. This change is aimed at preventing piracy and emulation.

All Nintendo Account holders received an email notifying them of the updated policy. The new rules, especially in the UK, state that digital products are “licensed only for personal and non-commercial use.” The agreement also specifies that any “unauthorized use of a Digital Product may result in the Digital Product becoming unusable.”

The update includes some strict rules around the use of Nintendo’s digital products. It says users cannot lease, rent, sublicense, publish, copy, modify, reverse engineer, or tamper with the digital products unless permitted by law or with Nintendo’s written consent.

In the United States, the policy states that failure to follow these restrictions could lead to a Nintendo account or device becoming “permanently unusable in whole or in part.”

Here’s what the new UK agreement says:
“Any Digital Products registered to your Nintendo Account and any updates of such Digital Products are licensed only for personal and non-commercial use on a User Device. Digital Products must not be used for any other purpose. In particular, without NOE’s written consent, you must neither lease nor rent Digital Products nor sublicense, publish, copy, modify, adapt, translate, reverse engineer, decompile or disassemble any portion of Digital Products other than as expressly permitted by applicable law. Such unauthorized use of a Digital Product may result in the Digital Product becoming unusable.“

And the US version of the update reads:
“Without limitation, you agree that you may not (a) publish, copy, modify, reverse engineer, lease, rent, decompile, disassemble, distribute, offer for sale, or create derivative works of any portion of the Nintendo Account Services; (b) bypass, modify, decrypt, defeat, tamper with, or otherwise circumvent any of the functions or protections of the Nintendo Account Services, including through the use of any hardware or software that would cause the Nintendo Account Services to operate other than in accordance with its documentation and intended use; (c) obtain, install or use any unauthorized copies of Nintendo Account Services; or (d) exploit the Nintendo Account Services in any manner other than to use them in accordance with the applicable documentation and intended use, in each case, without Nintendo’s written consent or express authorization, or unless otherwise expressly permitted by applicable law. You acknowledge that if you fail to comply with the foregoing restrictions Nintendo may render the Nintendo Account Services and/or the applicable Nintendo device permanently unusable in whole or in part.“

As part of this new policy update, Nintendo also introduced a change to its privacy policy, especially for the upcoming Switch 2. The company will now be able to record voice and video chats for a limited time to ensure a “safe and family-friendly online environment.” This can happen if someone reports inappropriate behavior or language during online chats.

Nintendo will only review the last three minutes of recorded footage if a report is submitted. The company confirmed to Game File: “All recording is otherwise privately stored on device and no recording is sent to Nintendo until a report is submitted.”

These updates come just ahead of the release of the Switch 2, which will include a new Game Chat feature where players can video call each other during gameplay.

Nintendo has also been active in fighting piracy. In March, the company won a legal case against the French file-sharing company Dstorage, which Nintendo called a “significant” victory for the gaming industry. This follows Nintendo’s earlier moves against piracy, such as shutting down the Switch emulator Yuzu and suing a streamer who played pirated Nintendo games before they were officially released.

This updated policy shows Nintendo’s firm stance against unauthorized use and piracy, ensuring that users stick to the rules and that online interactions remain safe for everyone.

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