Console homebrew may not be illegal, European Court of Justice rules

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The Court of Justice of the European Union has determined that in the circumvention of a console’s protection software is lawful, when the content so accessed is in itself lawful.

The ruling arose as part of a case brought by Nintendo against PC Box, which distributes software allowing unauthorised content on DS and Wii consoles – namely movies, videos and music. Nintendo alleged that PC Box’s software allowed for the use of pirated games, but PC Box adamantly objected to this claim.

The Court of Justice ruled today that PC Box’s offerings are not unlawful, because the content it enables is not itself unlawful. According to the court’s interpretation of existing law, PC Box would be in the wrong if it distributed equipment to get around copy or broadcast protection, enabling games to be pirated or otherwise illegally shared.

In a statement issued to Polygon, Nintendo said it will continue to battle its civil case against PC Box in the Milan Tribunal, which had passed this query to the CJEU.

“Since Nintendo only ever utilizes technological protection measures which are both necessary and proportionate to prevent widespread piracy of its intellectual property, and since the preponderant purpose of the circumvention devices marketed by PC Box is to enable piracy of legitimate video games, Nintendo is confident that the application of the guidance set out by the CJEU relating to proportionality will enable the Milan Tribunal to determine that the sale of circumvention devices is unlawful,” the company said.

“In the meantime, Nintendo maintains that the commercial dealings in circumvention devices infringe copyright laws as well as other intellectual property laws and Nintendo will continue to pursue those involved in the distribution of such devices.”

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Related Forum: Gaming Discussion

Source: http://www.vg247.com/2014/01/24/console-homebrow-may-not-be-illegal-european-court-of-justice-rules/

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DissPosted:

Dreams
Multitask
MoBo To be honest, why are Nintendo even bothered about this? 0.o They should be focusing on their future as a company. They are not in the perfect position at the moment, with PS Vita, PS4, Xbone and Steam Box. They should be focusing on new products and consoles...


Yeah they are losing sales they need to make something new.


they need to make something that hasnt been done before when wii first came out it was impossible to get because it was something new and everyone wanted it


The original Wii's hype died out rather fast though. It was a neat new device but ever since you could mimic it's capabilities on the Xbox and PS3, more people bought those rather than the Wii.

DreamsPosted:

Multitask
MoBo To be honest, why are Nintendo even bothered about this? 0.o They should be focusing on their future as a company. They are not in the perfect position at the moment, with PS Vita, PS4, Xbone and Steam Box. They should be focusing on new products and consoles...


Yeah they are losing sales they need to make something new.


they need to make something that hasnt been done before when wii first came out it was impossible to get because it was something new and everyone wanted it

MultitaskPosted:

MoBo To be honest, why are Nintendo even bothered about this? 0.o They should be focusing on their future as a company. They are not in the perfect position at the moment, with PS Vita, PS4, Xbone and Steam Box. They should be focusing on new products and consoles...


Yeah they are losing sales they need to make something new.

-Excite-Posted:

Wow Nintendo just leave it.

L7TCLANPosted:

MoBo To be honest, why are Nintendo even bothered about this? 0.o They should be focusing on their future as a company. They are not in the perfect position at the moment, with PS Vita, PS4, Xbone and Steam Box. They should be focusing on new products and consoles...

Lol the Xbone... That made my laugh.

MissPosted:

Thats the last thing they should focus on, especially when they're losing sales.

MoBoPosted:

To be honest, why are Nintendo even bothered about this? 0.o They should be focusing on their future as a company. They are not in the perfect position at the moment, with PS Vita, PS4, Xbone and Steam Box. They should be focusing on new products and consoles...

iModLikeBerniePosted:

Lol Nintendo shouldn't be focusing on this

DongPosted:

This isn't what nintendo should be focusing on.

AlzarahPosted:

why would nintendo try a business plan like this?