I would never participate in something like this. Also, these guys are insane if they thought they could sell pirated stuff publicly, without Nintendo or the US government noticing. I'd rather get a poor imitation of someone else's work for free than pay for pirated software and illegal hardware. And I don't even
like imitations!
If it was for the purpose of keeping Nintendo Switch games functional after the console is no longer supported, I'd participate. If it was for archiving Nintendo games to keep them from being lost forever, I'd participate. If it was for emulating Nintendo games that you legally own, on a different platform entirely, I'd participate. If it was even unofficial hardware that connected to the Switch version of the Nintendo eShop and allowed you to buy games for that unofficial platform, since the money would be sent to Nintendo, I'd participate. The problem here is that this hardware includes software that have been illegally obtained, and the developers are asking a licensing fee for others to pay, in order to play the games. This means that
Nintendo doesn't get any money, and
Team Xecuter gets all the money. This I will never contribute to.
While copyright laws may be a hinderance to some projects, there is a reason why they exist. Breaking copyright on abandonware may be overlooked by some companies, but there hardly is any company within the United States that will not seek legal action against pirates who obtain current retail software and hardware for free, and make money off of such. The reason being, this hurts the companies who made it, because they rely on it for income instead of things that they've since "put in the closet", so to speak. For instance, selling a pirated Super Mario 64 ROM may not cause a full scale lawsuit, since Nintendo doesn't maintain that game as much. However, selling a pirated Super Mario Odyssey ROM can cause Nintendo to investigate. It also depends on how much you're doing it - doing it once or twice may not get you caught. Doing it as much as Team Xecuter apparently was doing it, it's a wonder they lasted this long!
My advice? Regardless of whether you're considering to do it once or a hundred times, whether it's old or not yet released,
never sell pirated software. If in doubt of what to get or buy, and what to share for free or sell, check GBAtemp's Warez section in their
Terms and Rules. This will give you an idea of what can't be shared just about anywhere. If you're still unsure, ask before sharing, especially here on GBAtemp, but also anywhere else where unofficial hardware and software is involved - like XDA Developers, Discord servers like Nintendo Homebrew, GitHub and GitLab repos, and even social media. Don't be swayed by open-door policies set by sites like 4chan; illegally shared/sold software is
still illegal, even on those sites.
I hope Team Xecuter regrets their decision. I also hope that this doesn't cause the hacking community further problems with the addition of more legalities or something similar. One thing is sure - this will be something that us Tempers won't forget for a while, yet!
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