Nintendo, which has been encouraging people to “rat out” retailers of modded cartridges, has successfully sued a company that sells them – in Australia.

Nintendo has won its second legal victory of the month in Australia, with a seller of R4 flash cartridges in the country ordered to pay the Japanese company over AUD$500,000 in fines.

Local tech distributors RSJ. IT Solutions, which had been selling the cartridges – which allow for the use of both legally-acquired homebrew and illegally-acquired pirated games on a Nintendo DS – must cease the sale of all carts immediately, and relinquish all remaining stock and all promotional material associated with them.

In addition to the corporate fine, two men named individually in the case, Patrick & James Li, must also pay AUD$100,000 in penalties.

The decision is both absurd and wrong, and akin to fining importers of VHS recorders because they can play pirated movies.
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