10mo ago

Police in Japan have arrested a 36-year-old man on suspicion of selling illegally modified Pokémon save data to customers online

www.ign.com Japanese Police Arrest 36-Year-Old Man on Suspicion of Tampering With Pokémon Violet Save Data - IGN

Police in Japan have arrested a 36-year-old man on suspicion of selling illegally modified Pokémon save data to customers online — a practice which is banned under the country’s 2019 Unfair Competition Prevention Act.

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10mo ago

Police in Japan have arrested a 36-year-old man on suspicion of selling illegally modified Pokémon save data to customers online

www.ign.com /articles/japanese-police-arrest-36-year-old-man-on-suspicion-of-tampering-with-pokemon-violet-save-data

197 26

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nanoUFO @sh.itjust.works

10mo ago

Police in Japan have arrested a 36-year-old man on suspicion of selling illegally modified Pokémon save data to customers online

www.ign.com /articles/japanese-police-arrest-36-year-old-man-on-suspicion-of-tampering-with-pokemon-violet-save-data

253 65

20 comments

How exactly does this break "unfair competition" laws? Is this an online game with real-life stakes?
- Japan tends to have extremely corporate friendly laws. Basically if the corporation doesn't want you to do it, there's a good chance it's illegal.
  
  Japanese law is very business-focused. For instance, their defamation laws give little regard to whether or not a claim is true; if you make public statements that hurt a business's reputation, you're likely to be punished for it. People often seem to not realize that Japan is a very conservative nation.
  
  Gross

Reminds me of the time Nintendo reported a Pokemon fan artist to authorities and they sent the japanese equivalent of a swat team, traumatising the young woman for life. Fuck the big N.
- Reminds me of that time Nintendo sued emulator developers under the DMCA, bypassing the prior precedent of emulation legality and instead killing the project by forcing the contributors to settle, cease development, and hand over their IP rights.
  Oh wait, that was last month. Double fuck the big N.

The 36-year-old has reportedly admitted to committing the crimes at the heart of the ongoing investigation, while providing the justification that he did it to earn a living. According to Automaton, the suspect could face up to five years imprisonment, and/or a fine of up to 5 million yen (over $32,600).
Seems pretty intense but I can't say I'm surprised. If I recall correctly Japan also has laws against console modding
- iirc its the sale specificly of moddified content. you can do services yourself, but the sale of mod services, content and tools is illegal.
  so modding a game, console is okay.
  modding to seek profit is not okay.

Til learned Japan has pokemon data integrity laws
- "Today I learned learned"

I'm going to believe that the thumbnail is the detective that solved the case.

I'm glad that psycho has been caught.

Such a weird thing to be arrested for, stealing physical items sure, modifying an item you already own and paid for, no way.
- It's the selling part that got him.
  
  But that still is somewhat odd, like if I buy a car I can take it to any mechanic to get it fixed or modified. I would then need to pay them, but I own the car.
  The mechanic should not be arrested for modifying my car.
  I suppose the "grey zone" is if the modifications allow the owner to access unpaid content. Like maybe heated seats ;)
  
  So?? If I buy something and modify I can no longer sell it? dafuk?

Is it illegal in Japan to break a corporation's EULA?
This seems bizarre.
- No idea, but it wouldn't surprise me. The corporations are basically the modern gods of Japan.

Maybe someone providing the same save data for free or someone doing save tampering for their own personal play experience wouldn't have been in violation of that 2019 act?

20 comments