Nintendo Hacker Sentenced To Over 3 Years In Prison

After pleading guilty to charges of piracy, Gary Bowser, a Nintendo hacker was sentenced to 40 month imprisonment. 

Bowser was a leader of Team Xecuter which is a for-profit hacking organization that developed and sold console-hacking hardware and software, including mod chips. This group consists over a dozen people located around the world. Their tech enabled consoles like the Switch, Nintendo 3DS and the NES Classic to run pirated titles. Team Xecuter, unlike other modders and emulators, charged money for their services. Bowser’s role included running websites that, according to the US Department of Justice, marketed these products to customers while helping create and support online libraries of pirated games.

Their activities drew out Nintendo’s ire, and they enlisted the help of the US government to conduct a formal investigation. Bowser, Yuanning Chen from China and Max Louran, a French member of team Xecuter, was arrested on September 2020. They were initially accused of 11 felony charges each. Potentially, the men would spend over 20 years prison. 

“These defendants lined their pockets by stealing and selling the intellectual property of other video-game developers–even going so far as to make customers pay a licensing fee to play stolen games,” said U.S. Attorney Brian Moran after the arrests in 2020. “This conduct doesn’t just harm billion-dollar companies, it hijacks the hard work of individuals working to advance in the video-game industry.”

Nintendo Switch OLED

Bowser was originally from Canada and was detained in Dominican Republic. He was then sent to the USA where he remains in prison. He pleaded guilty to two felony charges – Conspiracy to Circumvent Technological Measures and to Traffic in Circumvention Devices, and Trafficking in Circumvention Devices–in October 2021. In his plea agreement, he was required to make $4.5million in restitution. A separate case against Nintendo cost him another $10 million. Louran (49) and Chen (36) were both charged but aren’t currently in federal custody.

Nintendo issued the following statement as a thank you to the government in a press release:

Nintendo thanks federal prosecutors for their tireless efforts to stop illegal activities that are causing serious harm to Nintendo, the gaming industry and other law enforcement agencies. In particular, Nintendo would like to thank the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) of the Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Computer Crime & Intellectual Property Section and the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs for their significant contribution and assistance.

We’ll see if the other Team Xecuter leaders face a similar fate, but this is only the latest and perhaps harshest reminder that Nintendo doesn’t mess around when it comes to protecting its intellectual property. 

[Source: US Department of Justice]

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