07 Jun Nintendo sees the sentence of hacker Gary Bowser as a unique opportunity to send a message

Gary Bowser, one of the members of the hacker group Team-Xecuter, was sentenced to more than three years in prison in mid-February for collaborating with the creation of hacking chips for Nintendo consoles. Now the transcript of that trial has come to light in which the legal representative of the video game company, the lawyer Ajay Singh, speaks openly that the conviction can serve as an educational tool that sends a message to those who participate in piracy.

“It’s the games that make people smile. For that reason, we do everything possible to prevent its theft”

“This is a very significant moment for us,” Nintendo’s lawyer begins by saying according to the transcript released by Axios, and continues: “It’s the purchase of video games that sustains Nintendo and the Nintendo ecosystem, and it’s the games that make people smile. That’s why we do everything we can to prevent the theft of games from Nintendo consoles.”

U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik, who decided to sentence Bowser to three years instead of Nintendo’s five, also spoke about understanding this conviction as a message to other hackers: “I always tell jurors, ‘Your role is not to send a message. Its function is to decide on the guilt or innocence of the facts.’ But my role sometimes involves sending a message.” The judge asked Nintendo’s lawyer about how they could convince citizens of the consequences of hacking and Ajay Singh replied that sentences like this would “improve the education of the public.”

The hacker does not believe that his conviction serves to scare anyone
Gary Bowser, who in addition to the prison sentence has also been punished with a fine of 14.5 million dollars that he will have to pay to Nintendo, assures that his time in prison will not serve to chastise other hackers because “you can make so much money with piracy” that he considers “insignificant” a penalty of these characteristics. Bowser’s lawyer expressed at the trial the poor conditions of his defendant, who has already served part of his prison sentence awaiting a sentence: during that time he has lost 40 kilos and has ended up in a wheelchair due to problems in a leg that could not be treated in prison.

The judge in the case said at trial that Bowser’s sentence is lower because he considers the hacker as an essential, but intermediate, part of Team-Xecuter; the group’s top leaders, Max Louarn and Yuanning Chen, would receive higher sentences if it weren’t for the fact that they have been at large since Gary Bowser’s arrest.

Sources:
Nintendo wanted hacker’s prison sentence to turn heads
Gary Bowser Jail Term Intended To “Send A Message” To Other Switch Hackers
Nintendo said hacker Gary Bowser’s jail sentence was a ‘unique opportunity’ to send a message