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  As part of an ongoing piracy lawsuit, Nintendo has filed a motion to
  subpoena Reddit, Discord, and other online platforms for information
  related to the alleged operator of several pirate shops. The game giant
  seeks information on the defendant, who previously served as a
  moderator of the SwitchPirates subreddit, and suggests that Reddit may
  be able to identify additional 'pirates'.

  nintendo Nintendo is doing everything in its power to stop the public
  from playing pirated games on the Switch console.

  This involves sending a steady stream of cease and desist letters and
  takedown notices. If those don’t work, Nintendo is prepared to go to
  court as well.

Nintendo Sues r/SwitchPirates Mod

  In July, Nintendo filed a [4]lawsuit at a Washington federal court
  against Arizona-resident J. Williams, known online as ‘Archbox’.
  Nintendo accused Archbox of being involved in several ‘pirate shops’
  through which copies of unauthorized games are distributed.

  “Defendant is the operator, overseer, and driving force behind several
  Pirate Shops, through which Defendant has offered massive libraries of
  pirated Nintendo Switch games,” the complaint read.

  Nintendo specifically named ‘Jack-in-the-Shop’, ‘Turtle in the Shop’
  and ‘NekoDrive’, which were shut down following a cease and desist
  letter Nintendo sent in March. A fourth shop, LiberaShop, remained on
  Telegram, but [5]shut down soon after the complaint was filed.

  In addition to running these pirate shops, the defendant allegedly
  helped people to obtain and use circumvention software, so they could
  play pirated games. Nintendo says that this activity was boosted
  through the SwitchPirates subreddit, where Archbox was a moderator.

  “Defendant became a leading (if not the primary) moderator of the
  SwitchPirates Reddit community, which he helped grow to nearly 190,000
  members,” the complaint read.

  According to Nintendo, the moderator used Reddit to direct people to
  pirate shops, show them how to download and install circumvention
  software, and guide them on playing pirated Nintendo Switch games.

Nintendo Seeks Info From Reddit, Discord, Google, and Others

  After filing the lawsuit, Nintendo had trouble serving the defendant,
  but it eventually managed to do so in August. However, Mr. Williams
  didn’t file an answer to the complaint, which [6]led to an [7]entry of
  default earlier this month.

  In the absence of a defense, Nintendo can now request a default
  judgment, ideally based on additional evidence not yet in its
  possession. As a result, Nintendo is requesting a subpoena to obtain
  information from Reddit, Discord, Google, GitHub, Namecheap and other
  third party services.

  These companies may hold evidence to strengthen the claims against Mr.
  Williams and may be able to help identify additional defendants,
  including members of the r/SwitchPirates subreddit who were also
  involved in the pirate shops.

  “[W]ithout third party discovery it will be impossible for [Nintendo]
  to ascertain the identity of the unnamed individuals who worked with
  Mr. Williams in operating the Pirate Shops or otherwise making
  available to the public pirated Nintendo games,” the company writes.

  Nintendo says that it’s looking for limited information that can help
  to identify account holders and payment streams, as well as traffic and
  access statistics for the pirate shops.

    Namecheap, Tucows, GoDaddy, Cloudflare, GitHub, Discord, Google and
                                  Reddit

                            likmited discovery

Identifying More Reddit Users?

  In addition to revealing the owners of various accounts, some companies
  can likely provide more detailed information. GitHub, for example, may
  know how often ‘circumvention’ software was downloaded, and Google can
  share Gmail data and traffic statistics for the files it stored.

  Reddit may also hold key information, as the SwitchPirates subreddit
  plays a central role in the accusations. Nintendo believes that the
  defendant was a moderator there and may have controlled other user
  handles, or collaborated with other potential defendants.

  Through the requested subpoenas, Nintendo hopes to get more clarity and
  potentially identify any additional defendants.

  “Reddit is therefore likely to be in possession of information that
  will aid in preparation of Nintendo’s anticipated motion for a default
  judgment against Defendant, and that will assist in identifying any
  other individuals appropriate to name in an amended complaint.

  “Reddit is also expected to have information pertaining to the growth
  of, and traffic to, the SwitchPirates subreddit during the relevant
  period of Defendant’s activities,” Nintendo adds.

                                Reddit Info

                                reddit info

  At the time of writing, the court has yet to grant the motion. If
  Nintendo is allowed to proceed, it’s possible that additionally
  defendants will eventually be added to the lawsuit.

  —

  A copy of Nintendo’s ex parte motion for leave to take limited early
  discovery is available [8]here (pdf)

References

  1. https://torrentfreak.com/
  2. https://torrentfreak.com/category/lawsuits/
  3. https://torrentfreak.com/category/lawsuits/apps-and-sites/
  4. https://torrentfreak.com/nintendo-sues-modded-hardware-and-r-switchpirates-moderator-archbox-240701/
  5. https://www.reddit.com/r/SwitchPirates/comments/1dvdqhu/statement_from_liberashop_owner_on_telegram/
  6. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.wawd.336727/gov.uscourts.wawd.336727.18.0.pdf
  7. https://www.bloomberglaw.com/external/document/XC1DPLV4000000/litigation-overview-entry-of-default-and-default-judgments
  8. https://torrentfreak.com/images/nintendo-subreq-more-1.pdf