The introduction of disc-based game systems and affordable disc recording drives for the PC, made way for the modchip, that would rise to prominence and be used for some fairly nefarious things like overriding or substituting a console"s security measures for the purpose of playing copied media.
Although these have been in circulation for quite some time and have been created for pretty much every console released after the original PlayStation, Nintendo has finally claimed victory over a modchip distributor awarding the firm with nearly $13 million CAD, including $1 million in punitive damages.
"A Canadian court ruled in favor of Nintendo against Go Cyber Shopping Ltd. The case is the first of its kind to test the Canadian Copyright Act’s Anti-Circumvention law and resulted in a resounding win for Nintendo."
As part of its punishment, Go Cyber Shopping Ltd. will also have to post a public apology on its website. Currently, there doesn"t seem to be an apology, but browsing its offerings, it appears that a majority of the mod items for Nintendo products like the 3DS, DSi and DS have been removed.
Image via HPZeta