Nintendo Updates Its User Agreement To Crack Down On Emulation
Nintendo has recently updated its Account User Agreement, providing a more severe warning to those who "bypass, modify, decrypt, defeat" or "tamper with" their games. This move comes as the company seeks to crack down on emulation and other forms of unauthorized game usage.
The updated agreement, confirmed by Stephen Totilo's latest Game File newsletter, expands upon the original wording that had been in effect since April 2021. The new language is more explicit, giving users a clearer understanding of what constitutes an offending action and the potential consequences for doing so.
For comparison, here's the original wording: "You are not allowed to lease, rent, sublicense, publish, copy, modify, adapt, translate, reverse engineer, decompile or disassemble all or any portion of the Nintendo Account Services without Nintendo's written consent, or unless otherwise expressly permitted by applicable law."
The updated version reads: "Without limitation, you agree that you may not (a) publish, copy, modify, reverse engineer, lease, rent, decompile, disassemble, distribute, offer for sale, or create derivative works of any portion of the Nintendo Account Services; (b) bypass, modify, decrypt, defeat, tamper with, or otherwise circumvent any of the functions or protections of the Nintendo Account Services, including through the use of any hardware or software that would cause the Nintendo Account Services to operate other than in accordance with its documentation and intended use; (c) obtain, install or use any unauthorized copies of Nintendo Account Services; or (d) exploit the Nintendo Account Services in any manner other than to use them in accordance with the applicable documentation and intended use, in each case, without Nintendo’s written consent or express authorization, or unless otherwise expressly permitted by applicable law."
Users who fail to comply with these restrictions risk having their account services and/or device rendered permanently unusable.
In the UK, users received an updated User Agreement from Nintendo that, while covering similar topics, uses less severe wording. The new language states: "Any Digital Products registered to your Nintendo Account and any updates of such Digital Products are licensed only for personal and non-commercial use on a User Device. Digital Products must not be used for any other purpose. In particular, without NOE's written consent, you must neither lease nor rent Digital Products nor sublicense, publish, copy, modify, adapt, translate, reverse engineer, decompile or disassemble any portion of Digital Products other than as expressly permitted by applicable law."
Such unauthorized use may result in the Digital Product becoming unusable.
The updated agreement is likely a response to recent legal incidents that have prompted Nintendo to review its user agreements. One notable case involved a pirate streamer who was found promoting emulators online while playing Switch games ahead of launch, resulting in $17,500 in damages.
Nintendo has also recently confirmed that it may monitor and collect data from GameChat sessions on its upcoming hardware via its updated privacy policy. In the UK version, only the most recent 3-minute segments of the chat would be recorded and stored locally on the Switch for up to 24 hours.
Users have the option to send relevant data to Nintendo if issues arise.
What do you think of this updated user agreement from Nintendo?
Do you think it covers all the bases?
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