The first man arrested in Japan for selling modded Switch consoles has been given a fine and a suspended sentence.
In January, a man from Japan’s Ibaraki Prefecture was arrested on suspicion of violating the country’s Trademark Act.
Now, as reported by NTV News (via Automaton), the Kochi District Court has found the man, 58-year-old Fumihiro Otobe, guilty.
Otobe was given a two-year prison sentence, suspended for three years, as well as a fine of ¥500,000 ($3,500).
Otobe, a transportation worker from Ryugasaki City, was accused of gathering second-hand Switch consoles, attaching modified parts to their circuit boards and selling them online for ¥28,000 ($179) each. He was also accused of including 27 pirated games pre-installed on each console.
When originally charged back in January, Otobe admitted his crime, and reportedly said: “I was curious to know whether people would think I was great if I sold modified consoles.”
While others have been arrested for selling modded consoles elsewhere in the world, Otobe’s case is notable because, according to NTV, this was the first example of someone being arrested for it in Nintendo‘s native Japan.
There have been numerous cases of similar issues in North America, the most notable being the arrest of Gary Bowser, who was subsequently sentenced to 40 months in prison for his role in such activities.
Bowser was released from prison in 2023 after being sentenced for his part as a member of hacking group Team-Xecuter, which in 2013 began creating and selling circumvention devices enabling users to play illegal ROMs on consoles, including Switch and 3DS.
According to the US government, Team-Xecuter’s criminal enterprise generated tens of millions of dollars in sales and resulted in up to $150 million in losses.
