Bowser to spend long time in prison for Nintendo theft
Because of the sale of custom firmware for Nintendo Switch, hacker Gary Bowser probably has to prepare for more years in prison. Among other things, the US government wants to deter further offenders with an increased penalty for the future.
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At the end of last year, we reported about a Canadian hacker named Gary Bowser who was selling custom firmware for Nintendo Switch as part of a hacker group. Buyers of this software had the ability to play pirated titles on their console, among other things. Bowser earned about $320,000 with his illegal activities.
First a fine and now prison?
Gary Bowser was arrested by the authorities in September 2020 and sued in a first court case for a payment of 4.5 million US dollars. Bowser has pleaded guilty to two of a total of eleven charges. In a second session of the judges, a potential prison sentence was now discussed. Here, the U.S. government has also come forward to demand a higher penalty to deter further offenders in the future.
This is the prison sentence the U.S. government is demanding for Bowser
According to available court documents, the U.S. government is pleading for a prison sentence with a length of five years. After that, three more years of probation are to be added for the hacker. The $4.5 million will also continue to be due. The defense is asking the judges for a prison sentence of 19 months. This means that Bowser should leave prison in just three months.
Another civil case leads to the next million-dollar fine
After the first court battle between Gary Bowser and Nintendo, an additional civil case followed a little later, which resulted in an even higher fine. Accordingly, the hacker has to pay another ten million US dollars to the Japanese company for selling mods for Nintendo Switch and Nintendo 3DS.
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