4 ms·

The devices aren't being disabled, they're just having their access to Nintendo's online services restricted. This practice isn't anything new, and has been aro

The devices aren't being disabled, they're just having their access to Nintendo's online services restricted. This practice isn't anything new, and has been around as long as internet-enabled consoles have.

benologist 8y ago
From the article: "permanently ban those consoles from Nintendo's network." "a banned console will stay banned from the network permanently" It's a device-level ban so it will be applied to any subsequent owners.
- MBCook 8y ago
  Yep. Normal resale is fine and won’t trigger a ban, trying o circumvent the anti-piracy/cheating stuff will. Just like the other consoles on the market. So don’t buy those consoles second hand. Again, exactly the same as PS and Xbox.
  - benologist 8y ago
    If Microsoft and Sony do it too it just means all three companies are willfully infringing consumers' rights to buy and sell stuff second hand.
    - evgen 8y ago
      They are not infringing on consumers rights to buy and sell the consoles, but the seller who knows that the console has been banned from online services is perpetrating a fraud upon the buyer. You can buy and sell consoles all day long, but transfer of ownership does not change the status of the console any more than selling a broken console (that is outside any hardware warrantee) obligates a manufacturer to make it work again.
      - benologist 8y ago
        It's more like the company is punishing the current and arbitrarily the future owners of a perfectly functional device because they have some project going to prevent copyright infringement within their company, and way above that is consumer protection laws that are just woefully slow to be applied forcefully. It took many years but Steam changed their old refund policy after a judge in Australia noted how criminal the old one was where they gave themselves permission to steal indiscriminately from consumers seeking refunds and used their imaginary authority to steal from an estimated 20,000 Australians. They actually stole from people all over the world but seem to have gotten away with it everywhere else.
        spathi_fwiffo 8y ago
        I think their idea is to punish the current owner; but if that is allowed, there also must be some kind of protection for the secondhand market. If there was some form of serial #check system (like a car's VIN) for the consoles, then it would be harder to re-sell disabled consoles; still wouldn't prevent people from trying to re-sell them, but it would make it more firmly a case of fraud on the sellers' part if they lied about the serial#.
        benologist 8y ago
        Why can't they just ban by account? Anyone circumventing bans is going to be committing identity fraud or other crimes so shouldn't they be passing it to law enforcement if they want to pursue it. Switch hardware will likely be resold for decades so it's obviously going to be onerous for consumers that the devices may be invisibly crippled just because they want less copyright infringement. They don't even need to ban accounts permanently, it's pretty disproportionate when you think in years and decades of a device's life.
        crtasm 8y ago
        If it's like Sony or Microsoft consoles all you need to make a new account is a different email. You wouldn't have your save games but if you're setup to run unlicensed copies of games maybe you can also transfer those?
- wernercd 8y ago
  If the device has pirated material, isn't the assumption that it's hacked? How can a resold device be trusted, no matter the owner?
  - benologist 8y ago
    We don't throw out (or ban from online) computers, telephones or tablets when they get a piece of malware installed instead we remove the malware or reset the devices.

benologist 8y ago

From the article: "permanently ban those consoles from Nintendo's network." "a banned console will stay banned from the network permanently" It's a device-level ban so it will be applied to any subsequent owners.

MBCook 8y ago
Yep. Normal resale is fine and won’t trigger a ban, trying o circumvent the anti-piracy/cheating stuff will. Just like the other consoles on the market. So don’t buy those consoles second hand. Again, exactly the same as PS and Xbox.
- benologist 8y ago
  If Microsoft and Sony do it too it just means all three companies are willfully infringing consumers' rights to buy and sell stuff second hand.
  - evgen 8y ago
    They are not infringing on consumers rights to buy and sell the consoles, but the seller who knows that the console has been banned from online services is perpetrating a fraud upon the buyer. You can buy and sell consoles all day long, but transfer of ownership does not change the status of the console any more than selling a broken console (that is outside any hardware warrantee) obligates a manufacturer to make it work again.
    - benologist 8y ago
      It's more like the company is punishing the current and arbitrarily the future owners of a perfectly functional device because they have some project going to prevent copyright infringement within their company, and way above that is consumer protection laws that are just woefully slow to be applied forcefully. It took many years but Steam changed their old refund policy after a judge in Australia noted how criminal the old one was where they gave themselves permission to steal indiscriminately from consumers seeking refunds and used their imaginary authority to steal from an estimated 20,000 Australians. They actually stole from people all over the world but seem to have gotten away with it everywhere else.
      - spathi_fwiffo 8y ago
        I think their idea is to punish the current owner; but if that is allowed, there also must be some kind of protection for the secondhand market. If there was some form of serial #check system (like a car's VIN) for the consoles, then it would be harder to re-sell disabled consoles; still wouldn't prevent people from trying to re-sell them, but it would make it more firmly a case of fraud on the sellers' part if they lied about the serial#.
        benologist 8y ago
        Why can't they just ban by account? Anyone circumventing bans is going to be committing identity fraud or other crimes so shouldn't they be passing it to law enforcement if they want to pursue it. Switch hardware will likely be resold for decades so it's obviously going to be onerous for consumers that the devices may be invisibly crippled just because they want less copyright infringement. They don't even need to ban accounts permanently, it's pretty disproportionate when you think in years and decades of a device's life.
        crtasm 8y ago
        If it's like Sony or Microsoft consoles all you need to make a new account is a different email. You wouldn't have your save games but if you're setup to run unlicensed copies of games maybe you can also transfer those?
wernercd 8y ago
If the device has pirated material, isn't the assumption that it's hacked? How can a resold device be trusted, no matter the owner?
- benologist 8y ago
  We don't throw out (or ban from online) computers, telephones or tablets when they get a piece of malware installed instead we remove the malware or reset the devices.