Previous Story: Reuters shuts down system to fight Kelvir IM worm
Next Story: Wall Street Beat: Tech earnings disappoint

Four arrested in US game piracy sting, says Nintendo
By Martyn Williams

Four people have been arrested in New York on suspicion of distributing video game consoles that include pirated Nintendo Co. Ltd. gaming software, the Japanese company said Friday.

The arrests were made by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) on April 13 and involved consoles sold under the "Power Player" name that contain "dozens" of pirated versions of Nintendo games including Donkey Kong and Mario Bros., Nintendo said in a statement.

The four are accused of importing 27 cargo containers containing a total of 280,000 of the consoles between September and December last year, Nintendo said. In several meetings with undercover FBI agents posing as toy distributors, the defendants are alleged to have provided the locations of the warehouses used to store the consoles and details of their distribution network, the statement said.

The arrests were accompanied by searches in Queens and Brooklyn, New York; Maple Shade, New Jersey, and Philadelphia and resulted in the confiscation of illegal products, computers and business records, Nintendo said.

Nintendo is based in Kyoto, Japan, and is a major manufacturer of games consoles and publisher of video game software.

Posted April 15, 2005 05:29 PM |