The long arm of the law (Nintendo) strikes again Japanwith the Police having recently a 36-year-old man arrestedin the Tokyo area, for having modified and sold saves of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.
According to the accusation, the man in question carried out tampering operations on Pokémon Scarlet and Violet by modifying the saves in order to unlock rare Pokémonand sold these modified saves to the public, through a site that functioned as a marketplace for this type of operation.
In particular, between December 2022 and March 2023, the subject in question would have sold various modified rescues, based on customer requests, with prices up to 13,000 yen (about 84 dollars), or other custom solutions for variable prices.
Up to 5 years in prison and fine
According to what was reported by NHK News, with text translated automatically, therefore it is not necessarily entirely precise, the suspect in question would have admitted of having carried out such operations, justifying it as a way to be able to pay for a living.
At this point, after the trial, if the thirty-six year old were to be found guilty he could face a sentence of up to 5 years imprisonmentand/or a fine of up to 5 million yen (approximately $33,000).
The operation carried out by the person in question in fact violates the Unfair Competition Prevention Act of 2019 in Japan, as well as probably having to do with the infringement of product use agreements, but the particularly severe penalty would seem to be linked precisely to the specificity within the law.
Pokémon therefore seem to remain at the center of several recent judicial and news cases, such as the case of the fake cards seized by the Guardia di Finanza in Italy a few days ago.
