French prosecutors are appealing a court ruling that favors Nintendo DS flash cartridge seller Divineo -- and Nintendo is backing the appeal, alleging it's been victimized by the company's hardware.
Pirates can use devices sold by Divineo to illegally download and share DS games. Nintendo has previously won a court case against the company in Hong Kong, where the products are illegal -- and says it has yet to receive the €45 million in damages ($66 million) that it was awarded.
The French judge said Nintendo unlawfully locks developers out of its devices and should orient itself more like Microsoft's Windows, where anyone can develop games for the operating system.
In a statement to media outlets
including UK trade site MCV, Nintendo said it "is extremely disappointed with the decision by Paris’ Criminal Court to find Max Louarn, his company, Divineo, and other co-defendants not guilty in the criminal case involving the sale and distribution of game copying devices."
The statement continued: "Nintendo welcomes the Prosecutor’s decision to Appeal the Judgment. As a victim Nintendo will join his Appeal. Nintendo supports action against the distributors of such devices."
Louarn also owns consumer website MaxConsole, which
posted a report indicating that the ruling means that "flash carts are actually legal", and emphasizing that "this truly was a HUGE court case, up in the main court of Paris France and seems likely to be relevant to the whole of Europe."
In 2006, a California judge
levied some $9 million in damages against Divineo and associated defendants over game copying devices.
