In an attempt to put a stop to rampant piracy, Lodndon’s High Court has ruled that the sale of R4 cards and similar products is illegal in the UK. The ruling was made against a supplier of electronic devices to the UK, Playables Ltd, who argued that the device allows users to “play homebrew software”. They also argued that the device is readily available online for as little as £10 ($15). The court disagreed saying the device must circumvent Nintendo’s security system in order for the R4 card to function.

According to gamesindustry.biz Nintendo has said that over 100,000 copying devices have been seized since 2009. I’ve spoken to someone who lives in the UK and he told me that R4 cards could be bought in a store and they would even give you instructions on how to find the Nintendo DS games and the software required for the card to work. The devices bought online would do the same and could be bought in bulk. This is obviously a huge win for Nintendo and they are coming off another big win last week in the Hague District Court against 11 retailers accused of selling piracy hardware. Will this put an end to piracy in the UK, probably not, but it’s a great start.

[Source: gameindustry.biz]