Some fallout from the early leak of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom appears to be taking place. As players are loading the game into emulators and playing them unofficially on their computers, prior to the launch date, Nintendo is taking action to prevent that from happening. Lockpick and Lockpick_RCM are homebrew tools that allow users to dump unique keys from their Nintendo Switch console, which are required for numerous Switch hacking-related programs, including the Ryujinx and Yuzu Switch emulators. While Lockpick has been around for years, Nintendo has reportedly decided to go after it, by issuing a DMCA takedown to the GitHub project page, igniting concern and discussion within the community.

At the time of writing, Lockpick_RCM's repository is still active, it could be due to GitHub providing a grace period following a DMCA notice. Twitter user Simon Aarons was made aware of the takedown, after forking Lockpick, and allegedly receiving an email from GitHub, on behalf of Nintendo of America's legal team, who asserts that Lockpick is "circumvention software that infringes Nintendo’s intellectual property rights. Specifically, the reported repository provides Lockpick to users. The use of Lockpick with a modified Nintendo Switch console allows users to bypass Nintendo’s Technological Measures for video games; specifically, Lockpick bypasses the Console TPMs to permit unauthorized access to, extraction of, and decryption of all the cryptographic keys, including product keys, contained in the Nintendo Switch. The decrypted keys facilitate copyright infringement by permitting users to play pirated versions of Nintendo’s copyright-protected game software on systems without Nintendo’s Console TPMs or systems on which Nintendo’s Console TPMs have been disabled. Trafficking in circumvention software, such as Lockpick, violates the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of the United States (specifically, 17 U.S.C. §1201), and infringes copyrights owned by Nintendo."

Shortly after this, Skyline Emulator, a Switch emulator for Android devices, made the decision to shut down development, via a post on their Discord Server. Since you need the keys dumped from Lockpick in order to run Skyline, the team behind the emulator is concerned that it means Nintendo will target them for also violating their copyright.

It is with great sadness that we bring you this news. Recently, Nintendo has issued a DMCA takedown notice against Lockpick RCM which will likely come into effect on Monday, Lockpick is a core part of legally dumping keys from the Switch. They claim that it circumvents their copy protection (TPMs) and therefore violates their copyright. We find ourselves in a position where we are potentially violating their copyright by continuing to develop our project, Skyline, by dumping keys from our own Switches.

The Skyline team will be making their incomplete source code public, at the very least, and will keep the emulator's GitHub page active. Other homebrew projects are rumored to have been hit with DMCA notices as well. Ryujinx's emulator team stated that they will not be shutting down, following worries after Skyline.

 

[WhileTrueBreak]

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[TomSwitch]

Should I buy overpriced ancient android in order to play 2 games that interest me in its library, Xenoblade 2 & 3, or should I just play them on the platform I already own and which runs them probably better than the intended hardware? In my case, Nintendo loses money due platform locking. (And I sincerely hope Monolith will split from the big N.)

Usually when a company starts trashing about like Nintendo is doing at the moment, it means death throes.

You can always buy the game if you feel bad stealing from the developer that had brought you joy. If you don't want a Switch don't buy one or sell it or donate it to charity

Post automatically merged: May 8, 2023

Yeah, there are legitimate use cases, no doubt. And I won't pretend to really understand Lockpick since I'm not in the Switch homebrew community, but I'm guessing one needs to use a tool like Lockpick to dump keys before a game can be illegally redistributed for pirates, correct?


Fair enough, but, as above, homebrew like Lockpick does need to be used before a game can be redistributed illegally online, right? So Nintendo cracking down on such tools isn't arbitrary. It would be more of a "this is why we can't have nice things" situation.

Pirates don't need to download Lockpick from github. Removing it from github only affects average joe.

 

[ertaboy356b]

Should I buy overpriced ancient android in order to play 2 games that interest me in its library, Xenoblade 2 & 3, or should I just play them on the platform I already own and which runs them probably better than the intended hardware? In my case, Nintendo loses money due platform locking. (And I sincerely hope Monolith will split from the big N.)

Usually when a company starts trashing about like Nintendo is doing at the moment, it means death throes.

You'll need a modded Switch in order to emulate "legally", otherwise you're stealing console keys which was what Lockpick is for. This is why most of those steam deck users that brags about the system being able to play switch games are mostly just pirates because they don't dump their own keys.

 

[Xzi]

You'll need a modded Switch in order to emulate "legally", otherwise you're stealing console keys which was what Lockpick is for. This is why most of those steam deck users that brags about the system being able to play switch games are mostly just pirates because they don't dump their own keys.

Lol nobody cares about being called a pirate, especially when trying to access content they've paid for, and it's at best legally dubious to try to claim a violation of copyright law by retrieving strings of random letters and numbers.

As ever, piracy remains a service issue. Nobody in the gaming industry seems to hate their own customers more than Nintendo, and the piracy scene surrounding their consoles in particular is a direct reflection of that. Of course people are going to want to play their games on a more modern-feeling device when Ninty stuck 2002's online infrastructure into 2012's tablet hardware, and then made the eShop more painful to navigate than 1992's AOL as the cherry on top.

 

[TomSwitch]

I suppose most of these "pirates" actually are madly in love with Nintendo and had paid for more than one copy of the games that they love so much. One to play and one to keep mint and maybe one to say thank you very much Nintendo.

They are the "yo ho ho" pirates that even Steve Jobs said he don't think any of his engineers would not want to be in his pirate speech to Apple engineers.

 

[x149te]

I like this show. Nintendo, please continue.

 

[Adran_Marit]

The average user on GBATemp lol.
Maybe if it wasn't for the huge unpatchable Tegra exploit... Things would've been way different.

apparently they knew about the bug before launch as well

 

[TomSwitch]

apparently they knew about the bug before launch as well

It's call confidence. The know their fans won't let them down. They will buy three copies of each game Nintendo published.

 

[Xzi]

I suppose most of these "pirates" actually are madly in love with Nintendo and had paid for more than one copy of the games that they love so much. One to play and one to keep mint and maybe one to say thank you very much Nintendo.

Not always the case, but I do have a large physical library of Nintendo, Sony, and Sega games and systems. Most of which was bought used, so Nintendo saw no profit from it anyway. Sure, I could go through the trouble of buying the necessary hardware and dumping all my carts individually, but why not work smarter instead of harder. I'm entitled to backups and my ROM downloads don't deprive anyone of any profit. People who don't intend to buy a Switch and mass download ROMs for older systems also aren't costing Nintendo anything, because the only way to "obtain" those games is to rent them through Nintendo Online.

Hell, Ninty could have a third-party dev start porting Gamecube games to PC with some upscaling and charge $60 a pop, they'd sell millions if not tens of millions for some titles. If they've left that money on the table this long then they're always going to, might as well use Dolphin to pump up internal resolution and enjoy guilt-free.

Sony is at the very least smart enough to continue producing some older games, back to and including even PS1 titles. Keeps prices reasonable and they see some direct profit from it, however diminishing.

 

[ertaboy356b]

Lol nobody cares about being called a pirate, especially when trying to access content they've paid for, and it's at best legally dubious to try to claim a violation of copyright law by retrieving strings of random letters and numbers.

Well everyone in this site has a history of piracy at some point in their life. When pirates claims that emulation is preservation, which is true in terms of old games and such, but for current and unreleased games where copies are widely available, this point is moot.

As ever, piracy remains a service issue. Nobody in the gaming industry seems to hate their own customers more than Nintendo, and the piracy scene surrounding their consoles in particular is a direct reflection of that. Of course people are going to want to play their games on a more modern-feeling device when Ninty stuck 2002's online infrastructure into 2012's tablet hardware, and then made the eShop more painful to navigate than 1992's AOL as the cherry on top.

You can say that it's a service issue but almost every single player games on steam have been pirated except for those denuvo games that takes a while to crack. It just so happens that users opt for convenience so they buy on steam, similar to how console users buy games even though a pirated copy is available. For the switch case though, only miniscule amount of the sold switch are modded. The real problem is when these games are emulated with pirated keys.

 

[Localhorst86]

I am not sure Nintendo achieved it's goal there.

Before the weekend, Lockpick_RCM had about 60 forks.

Today, it's 175.

Since, apparently, Nintendo needs to identify and name the offending forks, too in order for them to be removed, they just managed to spread the code further.

 

[TomSwitch]

I am not sure Nintendo achieved it's goal there.

Before the weekend, Lockpick_RCM had about 60 forks.

Today, it's 175.

Since, apparently, Nintendo needs to identify and name the offending forks, too in order for them to be removed, they just managed to spread the code further.

I think it's all about what shchmue choose to do, if she quits then Nintendo wins.

The forks or download of the source code means little. Whether it is 90 or 150 there may be no one who is serious about updating it when the time comes. And they all can be taken down with little effort but the source code cannot be wiped from Earth.

 

[britain4]

It is explicitly not illegal to bypass DRM for content you paid for, so long as you don't then share it with other people. Backups have long been legal. Section 117 of the US Copyright Act specifically allows it.

What Nintendo is trying to do here is use their financial might to bully people who are creating completely legal methods to backup Switch games into shutting down their projects. Nintendo is circumventing the law.

Legality aside can’t blame them for trying to pursue tools that break their TOS.

Lockpick is also a tool which can be used for playing pirated games on emulators which realistically is going to be what most people have ever used it for

 

[Foxi4]

It is always morally justifiable to pirate Nintendo software.

Legality aside can’t blame them for trying to pursue tools that break their TOS.

TOS is not law. I’m not interested in using their service, so I don’t - I’m interested in the device, so I bought it. If I go to Best Buy right now and buy a laptop, it will likely come with Windows pre-installed. I can extract a key for that installation if I so please, and Microsoft has nothing to say about that - I own a license, what I do with it is up to me. The purchase was already made, Microsoft de facto does not stand to lose money from my activity. The same applies to Nintendo. A unique key is a unique key. Now, admittedly, one’s an installation key and one’s an encryption key, but ultimately they’re unique *because* they’re specifically from one unique copy of software that came pre-installed on the hardware, so for all intents and purposes they demonstrate the same point in the example.

 

[1NOOB]

i love how i didn't know about this emu before this news (not that i ever looked for an android switch emu tho) good advertisement .

 

[stanleyopar2000]

Legality aside can’t blame them for trying to pursue tools that break their TOS.

Lockpick is also a tool which can be used for playing pirated games on emulators which realistically is going to be what most people have ever used it for

Exactly. They didn’t do this to stop distribution of lockpick . They did it to stop UPDATES.

 

[DavidinCT]

what tf do they think who they are? Ok protecting their shit is understandable.....but that rn is just exagerated. i dont think that will do shit, because i am sure someone will continue that what lockpick did.

They are, LockPick is only used to crack the Nintendo Switch and download the protected Keys. Although the crack was there because of a flaw in the NVidia chipset. LockPick does what it says, it picks the lock on the Nintendo Switch. THE ONLY reason to rip the KEYS is to play ripped games on another system.

So, yea, they are kind of protecting their shit here. I think it's a reach as this has been out for years now, they could have gone after this years ago but why now?

I do hope the LockPick team tells Nintendo to F off.... Nintendo is known to bankrupt people so time will tell here. Just because they sent the letter does not mean anything will happen here.

 

[l7777]

Lockpick is also a tool which can be used for playing pirated games on emulators which realistically is going to be what most people have ever used it for

This is a stretch. Lockpick's only purpose is to get a key. With many more steps in the process that key could be used to play a game, but that has little to do with Lockpick.

 

[ChronosNotashi]

TOS is not law. I’m not interested in using their service, so I don’t - I’m interested in the device, so I bought it. If I go to Best Buy right now and buy a laptop, it will likely come with Windows pre-installed. I can extract a key for that installation if I so please, and Microsoft has nothing to say about that - I own a license, what I do with it is up to me. The purchase was already made, Microsoft de facto does not stand to lose money from my activity.

Actually...Microsoft potentially does have a say in the matter as part of the Microsoft License Terms (i.e. the license agreement), which you agree to the moment you boot up the laptop and begin the setup process. Now, if you extracted the installation key and such solely for making a personal backup copy (as permitted), that would usually be acceptable (unless the license agreement were to change to void that). But attempting to distribute said key and such to other people, or making multiple copies beyond what is permitted for backup / making copies for reasons that aren't backup-related, would be a direct violation of the Microsoft License Terms, at which point Microsoft could very easily revoke your access to the license you own if they felt the violation warrants them to take that action.

Now could you potentially take legal action against them to try to protect your perceived right to use the license as you see fit? Possibly, depending on where you live. The odds that you'll actually win the case and/or not burn through your entire legal budget by the time all is said and done? Between slim and none. Courts tend to not look favorably upon those who breach ToS or license agreements for perceived malicious purposes/intents, unless it can feasibly be proven without a shadow of doubt that the intents are fully non-malicious.

 

[DavidinCT]

This is a stretch. Lockpick's only purpose is to get a key. With many more steps in the process that key could be used to play a game, but that has little to do with Lockpick.

Nintendo's view is, If Lockpick was not there, Switch emulation would not exist. IT does crack Nintendo's security on the Switch and that alone could be why they are going after them.

The Switch console is weak today, any game that is stuck at 30fps on the Switch could be played 60+fps on a 3 year old PC....