R4 distributor hit with heavy fine
Website ordered to pay Nintendo for selling piracy device
Australian site gadgetgear.com.au has been fined AUD $520,000 (£299,000 / $466,000) for selling the notorious R4 cartridge for the Nintendo DS.
The cartridge - which also requires a memory card and plugs directly into the console - bypasses security on the hardware and allows users to play hacked games acquired via torrent sites.
The site, along with affiliated respondents Patrick Li and James Li, have also been ordered to pay Nintendo a further AUD $100,000, reports IT News.
R4 cartridges are widely and easily available on the internet, and sell for as little £15.
Nintendo has already had some success battling piracy in Australia this year. Last month a Brisbane man was fined AUD $1.5 million for uploading a copy of New Super Mario Bros. Wii to the internet before the game was released in shops.