Gary Bowser, the hilariously named hacker who was part of a team that produced modchips to allow pirated software to run on Nintendo's hardware, has been sentenced to more than three years in prison. In a statement, Nintendo offered praise to the FBI, Department of Homeland Security, US Attorney's Office, Department of Justice, and basically the entire US justice system from the top down.
Bowser was arrested in 2020 and pled guilty to multiple counts of trafficking in circumvention devices and conspiracy to circumvent technological measures. As 💙part of Team Xectuer, Bowser helped mass-produce illegal modchips that allowed users to play pirated software on Nintendo consoles. The hacker team made tens of millions of dollars on sales of these modchips, while Nintendo said it cost the Mari🅷o publisher tens of millions more.
&ldquo💛;This piracy scheme is estimated to have caused more than $65 million in ไlosses to video game companies,” said U.S. Attorney Nick Brown in a . “But the damage goes beyond these businesses, harming video game developers and the small, creative studios whose products and hard work is essentially stolen when games are pirated.”
Bowser had already agreed to pay a 168澳洲幸运▨5开奖网:$4.5 million fine to the US government and 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:$10 milli𒐪on to Nintendo in a separat✃e civil case. However, the US Attorney also 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:requested a five-year sentence calling Bowser the face of a criminal empire. Bowser's defense argued for a lesser prison sentence of 19 months, saying that the US Attorney's Office was merely using Bowser to set an example because they hadn't been able to catch the rest of Team Xecuter.
Yesterday, t𝐆he U.S. District Court😼 for the Western District of Washington handed Bowser a 40-month sentence. “These are serious criminal offenses with real victims and harm to the community,” said U.S. District Judge Robert S. Lasnik during sentencing.
“When video games are illegally copied and when circumvention devices become readily available, the video game industry—and🉐 the b🌸roader economy—experience a negative ripple effect," Nintendo said in its victim impact statement. "This leads, at a minimum, to fewer incentives to create, and a less vibrant game scene.”