Nintendo has sent four DMCA takedown notices to GitHub targeting two Nintendo Switch emulators, Yuzu and Citron Neo, along with mod chip firmware.

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[–] 15 points 17 hours ago* (6 children)

Even if they use the console keys, that shouldn't be violating anything. You need a legit key and you can dump your own from a legit console just like the games. But DMCA takedowns are notoriously easy to abuse and slow to rectify abuses of it, while Nintendo is one of the biggest abusers of the system, using it to remove things that don't actually violate any copyrights.

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  • [–] 8 points 15 hours ago* (1 child)

    Unfortunately, the settlement with Yuzu set a dangerous precedent. The judge decided that since Yuzu requires the keys to play the games, then Yuzu is clearly "primarily designed to circumvent encryption to directly violate the DMCA" or whatever.

    So Switch 2 emulators not using keys at all in any part of the process maybe protects them from that angle. They require decrypted games, so only the decrypting/dumping tools might be susceptible to takedown in the same way.

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  • [–] 3 points 11 hours ago

    Yuzu settled out of court didn't they?

    Plus nintendo only swooped in after yuzu released an update optimising for an game not yet released - destroying any kind of clean room argument.

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  • [–] 6 points 17 hours ago

    I see Github takedowns in a similar light to Google YouTube strikes. There's no humanity or any attempt at defending creators, just spineless or bot corporate actions. Usually bots.

    A fool uses Github for spicy code now. Like a 14 year old recompiling OOT with Claude from what I hear.

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  • [–] 3 points 12 hours ago (2 children)

    The issue is the whole “circumventing encryption” thing, which is what led to the infamous win for Nintendo. The judge ruled that by using an official Switch’s encryption keys, the emulator was primarily designed to circumvent encryption and sided with Nintendo.

    I agree that it shouldn’t be violating anything. But clearly, Nintendo managed to convince that judge. And since courts look at precedent and case law when issuing rulings, any future rulings will likely go the same way unless a higher court overturns it.

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  • [–] 1 point 8 hours ago

    Technically the judge never ruled, but Yuzu settled the lawsuit, either because they didn't feel confident about their odds of winning, or that Nintendo just had more resources to fight a protracted lawsuit and the Yuzu devs did not.

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