A Japanese man arrested in January for changing and selling Nintendo Switch Consoles, was convicted by the Kochi District Court on April 14th. He was given three years’ probation with two years in prison and a 500,000 yen fine (approximately USD 3,500), arrested in the first person in Japan and punished for sale by Modiend.
The convicted man identified as 58-year-old transport businessman Fumihiro Otobe was involved in violating Nintendo’s trademark rights to use his motherboard as a second-hand switch to solder his ModChips and exercising online for around $195. The revised console is reportedly bundled with 27 pirated games, but the number of devices sold before OTOBE was caught is unknown.
The reason why Otbee was indicted under the Trademark Act, not under the Unfair Competition Prevention Act, does not explain the law passed in 2019 targeting video game console changes and hacking. One of the world’s biggest Vtubers, Usada Pekora was forced to abolish stream archives under suspicion of playing hacking Pokemon Emerald Cartridges as they may violate unfair competition prevention laws.
The Otobe incident also recalls Gary Bowser, a 53-year-old Canadian citizen who was arrested in the Dominican Republic in October 2020. However, Bowser’s punishment was particularly severe compared to Otbee’s. He faced three years in prison before being released for good behavior in 2023, but Nintendo is owed a fine that is likely to be earned from his lifelong income.
Nintendo said, “In a somewhat melodramatic press release, Nintendo thanked the various US law enforcement agencies for their tireless efforts by federal prosecutors and law enforcement to curb globally illegal activities that cause serious harm to the gaming industry,” said the author, “in a somewhat melodramatic press release that helped Bowser arrest during his conviction.” A similar victory rap style statement has not yet been released in response to Otobe’s ruling.
