R4 ban extends to all DS copy devices

It has been confirmed that the recent High Court ruling that illegalised the R4 DS card in the UK has also illegalised a number of other devices designed to perform the same task on Nintendo’s handheld.

Specifically, the ruling applies to R4 DS, CycloDS Evolution, M3 DS, DS Linker, EZ, DS One Supercard, DSTT, N5 and Acekard, all of which were sold by defendant Playables Ltd.

The High Court of Justice Chancery Division’s judgement obtained by Eurogamer says these devices were included in the ruling as enable Nintendo DS users to play unlawful copies of Nintendo DS games which they have downloaded using the internet”.

The documents also outlined the security measures Nintendo had implemented on DS that such accessories would need to circumvent to fall under the ruling’s jurisdiction. These include the shape of the game cards, the embedded boot software that checks for the presence of the Nintendo Logo Data File (NLDF) and shared encryption technology.

Each game card has the code relevant to the NLDF installed on it,” the Honourable Mr Justice Floyd who sat on the case stated. I cannot see how it can be said that Nintendo authorised the copying of this into RAM. The accused devices are much more than the reel-to-reel tape recorders in CBS v Amstrad (1998). They are templates for infringement.”

The net effect of the Court’s decision is that it is now illegal to manufacture, import, distribute or sell any device that’s primarily designed the allow the bypassing of DS security measures, though owning such products remains legal.