Sued Switch modchip seller denies claims, will seemingly take on Nintendo without a lawyer

A Switch modchip seller who was sued by Nintendo in July has denied the claims and will now seemingly take on the company without a lawyer.

Nintendo filed a complaint against Michigan-based Ryan Daly, who operates a store called Modded Hardware.

The lawsuit claims that Nintendo contacted Daly in March and threatened to sue him unless he stopped selling modded Switch consoles and MIG Switches (which enable pirated Switch games to be played on unmodded hardware).

According to Nintendo’s complaint, Daly agreed in March to stop selling the unauthorised devices, but continued to do so, claiming that he was looking for a new lawyer.

Nintendo therefore filed a complaint at a federal court in Seattle, accusing Daly of six charges including “trafficking in circumvention devices” and copyright infringement.

Now Daly – who has still yet to hire an attorney – has filed a response to Nintendo’s complaint, denying any wrongdoing.

As reported by TorrentFreak, Daly kept his answers short to each of Nintendo’s claims, either saying “denied” or claiming that he doesn’t have enough information to admit or deny them, and therefore denies them.

Daly also listed 17 ‘affirmative defences’ – defences in which the defendant introduces evidence which could excuse them from liability – including fair use, invalid copyrights, unjust enrichment and fraudulent enducement.

The case will now move on to the discovery process, where both parties can start gaining evidence, though it appears that this will continue with Daly representing himself instead of hiring an attorney.

Nintendo’s lawsuit claims that Daly not only sold mods to customers, but also offered a mail-in service which enabled players to send in their Switch consoles and have them returned modded, often with pirated games installed.

“Defendant not only offers the hardware and firmware to create and play pirated games, but he also provides his customers with copies of pirated Nintendo games,” the platform holder’s complaint says.

“Typically, when a customer purchases a hacked console or the circumvention services, Defendant preinstalls on the console a portfolio of ready-to-play pirated games, including some of Nintendo’s most popular titles such as its Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda, and Metroid games.”