It’s now possible to emulate classic games on both iOS and Android devices, some via official apps and others via less authorized routes. Traditionally iOS has been the less flexible route due to the need for users to jailbreak their devices but in recent months the latest version of a Game Boy emulator has been tearing things up by allowing direct installation, no hacks needed.

GBA4iOS works very well indeed. The no-jailbreak installation on iPhone or iPad is achieved by exploiting a loophole in Apple’s Developer Enterprise Program and once in situ the user has access to countless games, accessible via an inbuilt browser and third party ROM sites. The latest version even has Dropbox integration.

The emulator is the brainchild of high-school student Riley Testut who back in February reported that the latest version of the software alone had achieved more than one million downloads. Now, however, the 18-year-old has the might of Nintendo of America to deal with.

Up until a few hours ago GBA4iOS was hosted on Github, but now the gaming giant’s legal team has hit the code sharing website with a takedown for the popular emulator.

“We represent Nintendo of America Inc. (“Nintendo”) in copyright matters. Certain material posted on the web site located at www.gba4iosapp.com infringes copyrights owned by Nintendo. GitHub, Inc. is identified as the internet service provider for this web site and IP Address 192.30.252.153. This notice is provided pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, 17 USC § 512,” the notice begins.

“Nintendo requests that GitHub, Inc. disable public access to the web site at www.gba4iosapp.com. This web site hosts a downloadable mobile application for iOS that provides users with access to unauthorized and illegal copies of Nintendo’s copyright-protected video games in violation of Nintendo’s exclusive rights.”

Nintendo signs off with a note that it would appreciate Github’s “expeditious removal” of all infringing content. Somewhat immediately, Github complied.

Riley Testus reports that while the emulator will continue to work, at least for now there will be no new downloads.

The teenager, who is very open with his identity online and is currently on an internship with Bottle Rocket Apps, has a new version with multi-player support in the pipeline but this action from Nintendo is bound to cast a huge shadow over that release.

Fighting it out with one of the world’s largest games companies at such a tender age is unlikely to end well, so if people have a copy of the software, archiving it now might be a wise decision. It could be the last one ever.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

The review is published annually and highlights countries that in the eyes of the U.S. are not doing enough to deter copyright infringement. Nintendo is one of the companies to submit recommendations on how other countries should tackle these issues.

The gaming company states that piracy is a chronic problem that results in “huge losses,” in part due to the inactivity of foreign countries who do very little to curb copyright infringement.

“In the past few years, the scope of online piracy for Nintendo has grown dramatically. Every month tens of thousands of illegal Nintendo game files are detected on the Internet. The legal environment to limit the flow of these files remains extremely challenging,” the company explains in its letter.

Like last year, Nintendo’s letter focuses on four countries – Brazil, China, Mexico and Spain – where these challenges remain unaddressed. For each of the countries the game company offers a set of recommendations on how the legal climate can be improved, hoping the United States Government will push for change.

According to statistics presented in the letter, no less than 16% of all online piracy of Nintendo products traces back to Spain. With 1.2 million downloads this is the second largest piracy market, just behind Italy with 1.4 million downloads.

Nintendo Piracy across the globe

While the volume of piracy has deceased somewhat compared to previous years, Nintendo wants Spain to take drastic action. Specifically, it points out that the local Intellectual Property Committee (IPC) should block pirate sites wherever possible.

“Since so many illegal video games are downloaded in Spain from foreign-based cyberlockers, and accessed through cyberlinkers or P2P linking sites hosted outside Spain, the IPC must address this issue by authorizing the blocking of linking sites,” Nintendo writes.

The irony of this suggestion is that Nintendo has made no efforts in the United States to have any of the major torrent or linking sites blocked. This is especially painful because their own research shows that many of the larger Spanish linking sites are hosted in America, and registered though U.S. companies.

In addition to blocking websites, the game company wants the U.S. Government to educate and train the Spanish on how to deal with copyright infringers effectively.

“The Spanish Government should work with the U.S. Government and rights holders to provide necessary IP training to Spanish prosecutors, judges and IPC officials, particularly focusing on Internet piracy and effective online investigation, prosecution, and adjudication of criminal copyright infringement on the Internet.”

Similar recommendations are made for Mexico, Brazil and China. In these countries Nintendo also wants ISPs to be held liable for their role in continuing high levels of Internet piracy. The gaming company says that this can be achieved by introducing notice and takedown procedures as well as stiffer penalties for companies that fail to take responsibility.

“Hold Internet Service Providers responsible for facilitating piracy under certain circumstances, including a requirement that ISPs expeditiously remove infringing content when notified by a rights holder representative,” Nintendo advises for Brazil.

Companies and individuals who continue to facilitate copyright infringement have to be prosecuted, Nintendo says, and to boost deterrence maximum penalties should be increased.

“Bring criminal prosecutions against major infringers, including those facilitating piracy on the Internet. The courts must impose stronger penalties against IP crimes, both traditional forms of piracy and online piracy, to raise awareness and foster deterrence,” Nintendo adds.

It is clear that Nintendo wants the U.S. to put more pressure on foreign countries, but whether these efforts will be successful has yet to be seen. In a few weeks the U.S. Trade Representative is expected to release its full Special 301 report.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

“Nintendo, along with its publishers and developers, is injured by the prevalence and ease of illegal online distribution,” the company explains in their letter.

“In the past few years, the scope of online piracy for Nintendo has grown dramatically. Every month tens of thousands of illegal Nintendo game files are detected on the Internet. The legal environment to limit the flow of these files remains extremely challenging.”

Nintendo wants Mexico, China, Brazil and Spain to be listed on the Government’s copyright watch list this year, and recommends specific actions to be taken in each of the countries. The game company picked these countries because of their high prevalence of game piracy, and the lack of enforcement.

Brazil is called out as one of the worst actors and Nintendo suggests that the country starts high-profile cases against online pirates and site owners, to deter others from committing the same offenses.

“Publicize legal actions and raids taken against infringers, especially for online piracy, to increase awareness and deterrence,” is Nintendo’s first suggestion.

In addition there should be stronger penalties against online pirates as well as criminal prosecutions of major infringers.

“Bring criminal prosecutions of major infringers, including those facilitating piracy on the Internet. The courts must impose stronger penalties against IP crimes (both traditional forms of piracy and online piracy) to raise awareness and foster deterrence,” Nintendo writes.

Nintendo further wants Brazil to implement new legislation so that circumvention of digital protection becomes unlawful and Internet providers can be held responsible for online piracy.

“Adopt and strictly enforce new laws that explicitly protect against the circumvention of technical protection measures and trafficking in circumvention devices; hold Internet Service Providers responsible for facilitating piracy under certain circumstances including a requirement that ISPs take down infringing content when notified by a rights holder representative.”

Nintendo makes similar suggestions for Spain, but here the company goes even further by specifically outlining how the text of the current copyright law should be amended.

Apparently, Nintendo is well-aware of the U.S. Government’s ability to alter Spanish legislation. In recent years the U.S. has been heavily involved in changing Spain’s copyright law, under threat of severe trade sanctions.

On top of these changes, Nintendo also wants Spain’s Intellectual Property Commission to block foreign file-sharing and cyberlocker sites and allocate more resources to the prosecution of both off- and online pirates.

“Since so many illegal video games are downloaded in Spain from foreign-based cyberlockers, and accessed through cyberlinkers or P2P linking sites hosted outside Spain, the IPC must address this issue by authorizing the blocking of linking sites,” the letter reads.

“Courts should be provided with greater resources to take on additional IP cases. Due to an overloaded Spanish judicial system, IP cases move too slowly to resolution.”

Nintendo’s recommendations for Mexico and China show some overlap with the above, but also focus more on circumvention devices.

Interestingly, several of the suggestions for foreign countries are still lacking in the United States as well. Many copyright holders are asking for site blocking provisions in other countries, while the U.S. public can still access these sites just fine.

Nintendo did support SOPA, which would make site blocking easier, but this bill failed.

Similarly, Nintendo requests more legal action against copyright infringers abroad, but is yet to sue a U.S. file-sharer. In fact, the game company isn’t even taking part in the “six strikes” scheme that will go live today.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

Nintendo says that “any existing or future unauthorized technical modification of the hardware or software of your Nintendo 3DS System, or the use of an unauthorized device in connection with your system, will render the system permanently unplayable.”

The folks over at Defective By Design (DBD) are very disappointed by the stance taken by Nintendo and are running a campaign to get the company to reverse its decision.

For every donation they receive, DBD are sending large ‘bricks’ to Reggie Fils-Aime, President and COO of Nintendo of America, which are meant to represent the usefulness of modified 3DS consoles after Nintendo makes good on their threat.

For those who don’t want to send bricks, there is another and arguably more effective protest that costs much less money – don’t buy a 3DS.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

Unsurprisingly, the v1.4.2 update did successfully block flash cards, the devices which allow the playing of back up games.

Success, however, is a term used loosely in this instance since Nintendo’s counter-measures were almost immediately defeated.

“Attention: If your NDSi has been updated to V1.4.2 [then] your R4iDSN can not work on it,” wrote the manufacturer of the R4iDSN flash card on their website yesterday.

On the same page, however, the company provides a patch to overcome this temporary glitch and undo all of Nintendo’s anti-piracy work to date.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

James Burt, a 24 year-old manager at games retailer Electronics Boutique, admitted uploading the game on November 6th, a week before its commercial release in Australia.

In a statement the Japanese games giant said it used a range of forensic techniques to track down the uploader and on 23rd November obtained a Federal Court search order. This was used to locate and seize items from Burt’s property in Sinnamon Park, Queensland, to be used in evidence in the case against him.

As part of the investigation, Burt was also ordered to allow access using his passwords to social networking sites, email accounts and other websites he had used.

Australia traditionally lags behind the United States and Japan when it comes to media releases, but with the release of New Super Mario Bros. for the Wii the reverse was true, leading Nintendo to refer to the leak as a “global issue”.

“This legal proceeding was commenced to protect the creative rights and innovation of game developers, and to combat the growing international problem of Internet piracy,” the company said in a statement.

The game was a sure fire hit on BitTorrent. Data collected by TorrentFreak indicated that by December 27th 2009, the game had been downloaded 1,150,000 times.

Nevertheless, the game was still a huge commercial success. The game sold in excess of 10 million units in its first 2 months on sale – that’s 1 in 6 of all Wii gamers buying a copy – making it the fastest-selling single-platform game ever.

It’s unclear how Mr Burt will be able to pay this huge amount in damages. His salary at Electronics Boutique is unlikely to cover it – if he still has a job there.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.