R4 Cards Banned in the UK.

The London High Court has outlawed the importing, advertising or sale of the R4 device that lets users play illegally pirated software on DS.The ruling was made against toy and gadget seller Playables Ltd and defendant Wai Dat Chan, who had argued that the R4 is legal because it enables the use of homebrew applications.The court dismissed the defendant’s claims and ruled the device to be illegal because it has to circumvent Nintendo’s security systems before it can work, MCV reports.“In the UK alone, there have been over 100,000 game copying devices seized since 2009,” Nintendo said in a statement. “Nintendo initiates these actions not only on its own behalf, but also on behalf of over 1,400 video game development companies that depend on legitimate sales of games for their survival.”Last week a Dutch court convicted 11 retailers of acting unlawfully by trading in DS R4 cards and Wii mod chips.

The Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA) has welcomed a a London High Court ruling outlawing
the importing, advertising or sale of the R4 device that lets users play illegally pirated software on DS.The court said that, because the R4 and similar devices allow users to play pirated or copied games by circumventing security measures, they constitute a breach of copyright.“We are delighted with today’s decision to make the advertisement, importation and sale of R4 copier cards illegal,” said ELSPA director general Michael Rawlinson. “The ELSPA Intellectual Property (IP) Crime Unit was central in bringing the defendants to the attention of law enforcement authorities. I am grateful to them and our partners at Nintendo and Trading Standards in securing this significant judgement.“Intellectual property theft is an important issue for the videogames industry, and this judgement will assist the IP Crime Unit team in actively pursuing and stopping other individuals who deal in R4 cards.”According to Rawlinson, who was recently appointed
vice chairman of the Alliance Against IP Theft, the UK games software industry alone is estimated to lose £350 million annually as a result of IP theft.

Source - GBAtemp[color=purple][b]What do you think? Discuss.

So what?

People love to accuse and illegalize things that do not involve them in any way. Nuff said.

r4 already died years ago

I doubt this will make much difference, if indeed any at all.

Replying to #5

agreed!

I think that this is actually a benefit; now people will have to buy cards that aren't rubbish (until Nintendo targets those too). Even if all of them are banned, people can still import.
It's nice to see that Nintendo has found a way to rid itself of some of the piles of money that are cluttering up their development studios and stopping the talented developers from getting to their desks and making a decent Zelda game :)EDIT: Apparently, all flashcards are banned; not just the R4 and clones.

R4s are pretty much bottom of the barrel type cards now, aren't they?

My country has already banned R4 cards for years ;D

Replying to #9

[color=purple][b]Here in Holland, everyone has an R4 'cause they think it's the best thing ever and think they're better then SuperCard DSTWO.

[quote="Kiekoes"][color=purple][b]Here in Holland, everyone has an R4 'cause they think it's the best thing ever and think they're better then SuperCard DSTWO.
[/quote]No that is not true.Some people just cannot afford 40 euro for a flashcard.
Some people just think "Why buy so expensive?".Personally I dislike my R4's. My R4i has failed upon me, and my R4 SDHC is just some piece of crap that sometimes won't load.
My EDGE is not great too.
I prefer SuperCard DSTWO better then R4.
R4 is just WAY cheaper.

At least this gives you incentive to buy a real flash cart.

M3i zero is the best card I've had. I don't see why it's so unpopular..The reason I pirate DS games is that most DS games are shockingly bad.. Nintendo need to bring out a try before you buy system (Like Microsoft have done with XBOX and Sony has done with the PSP and I'm assuming the PS3)
If i like a game I will usualy buy it, the last games I purchased was Pokémon HG+SS. That was a while ago and because I happen to be a fan.
Dragon Quest IX is the only semi decent game I've seen since: If Nintendo published decent games they might actualy make some money.

So they banned all flashcards in England now huh. Selling them, importing them, even just owning them, your government sucks just a little bit, doesn't it.

Replying to #14

Don't tease them, it's not nice. So who else just bought a gun for shootin' stuff?

Replying to #15

Wahahahaa,I can't buy guns in my country ;D

To be fair it sucks.
I mean if you can find an original R4 then the use of wood R4 can make them amazing, the firmware hasn't failed me yet.
But it won't make a difference, the stores and market stalls near me all still sell them and nobody gives a crap. It can also be very beneficial as it can get rid of a lot of R4 clones of the market........

Replying to #17

Aren't all the R4s released in the last few years clones?

Result of this law: CycloDS and Acekard 2i sales go up.

Replying to #19

Except that they are banned too.
http://uk.gamespot.com/news/6271374.html
Quote from the article: "As well as the R4 DS, the ruling covers the following: M3 DS, DS One Supercard, DSTT, DS Linker, Acekard, CycloDS Evolution, N5, and EZ".