First New Super Mario Bros. Wii pirate fined $1.3 million

If you’ve ever considered a secret life as a video game pirate, this latest news story concerning the fate of a New Super Mario Bros. Wii distributor should change your mind. Nintendo Australia has just announced that it has settled out of court with 24 year old James Burt, who had the (dis)honor of being the first man to hack, upload and distribute New Super Mario Bros. Wii online. Under terms of the settlement, Burt will have to pay $1.5 million dollars Australian (around $1.3 million dollars American) in damages to Nintendo. He’ll also have to pay $100,000 Australian (around $87,070 American).

New Super Mario Bros. Wii was released November 11, 2009 in Australia, earlier than any other region. It was released November 15, 2009 in North America, November 20, 2009 in Europe and December 3, 2009 in Japan. To make matters even worse, Burt managed to find a store in Australia selling New Super Mario Bros. Wii before the authorized sell date. Burt ended up getting New Super Mario Bros. Wii uploaded to the internet on November 6, 2009.

Nintendo used some high-tech ninja skills to track Burt. Apparently the company was able to discover he was the source, contacted the Australia courst system and on November 23, 2009 had Burt’s home searched and property seized to collect evidence. The company must have had a great case built up, to get Burt for $1.3 million.

You almost wanna feel bad for the guy, but when you hear this is a 24 year old who got caught. If he was under 18, it wouldn’t be so bad because he’d be a dumb teenager. But this is an adult! Plus, he pirated the most popular Wii game of the 2009 holiday season! He couldn’t have honestly expected to do something like that without any repercussions.

Read [Vooks] Also Read [NYDailyNews.com] Via [Geek.com]