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| Nintendo Switch hack fined $10 million |
Canadian hacker Gary Bowser has agreed to pay $10 million to settle Nintendo's lawsuit against hacking allegations.
The final verdict was issued in this civil case yesterday evening. The ruling differs from the federal lawsuit Bowser admitted in late October. He was then ordered to pay $4.5 million. He also faces a prison sentence of up to 10 years.
Bowser has worked with the Xecuter team to participate in a cybercrime project that has infiltrated major gaming platforms since 2013.
Bowser is a member of the Team Xecuter group, which has developed mods or jailbreaks for Nintendo Switch, 3DS, NES Classic Edition, and other gaming platforms.
Team Xecuter's most popular product is a USB device called the SX Pro that allows the Nintendo Switch to play pirated games.
Bowes was arrested in the Dominican Republic, extradited to the United States and tried in another federal trial last year.
The Bowser has been haunted by Nintendo for many years, though things escalated after the US government brought charges against him last October.
He was asked to pay $4.5 million in expenses related to Nintendo Switch hackers. In total, Bowser paid the company at least $14.5 million in compensation.
One of the biggest hackers caught by Nintendo Switch
As part of Bowser's previous recognition agreement, the hackers admitted to developing, manufacturing, marketing and selling a variety of bypass devices that enabled corporate customers to play pirated video games (commonly known as ROMs).
Bowser started a business selling mods for the platform, a controversial move in the mod and simulation community that usually focuses on open source work that federal agencies would normally shun.
Nintendo has a habit of actively searching for unauthorized use of its intellectual property. The company regularly looks for ROM sites that host game files.
Bowser is charged with 11 federal charges, including conspiracy to fraud and money laundering.
If convicted, he faces a lengthy prison sentence of up to 20 years for these two crimes alone.
Bowser was not tried but pleaded guilty to two counts: selling escape equipment, conspiracy to circumvent technical procedures, and selling escape equipment.
Bowser offered to pay Nintendo $4.5 million and help find other team members.
As a result, the prosecution agreed to drop all other charges. Although the arguments. However, Bowser still faced a double prison sentence, pleading guilty. Everyone faces up to 5 years in prison.
Bowser is responsible for Maxconsole.com, the center for material marketing and customer support. It also runs a website with a ROM library that provides illegal copies of 13,630 games.