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.

 

[OrGoN3]

I'm still waiting to see these repos actually be affected. I was told they don't DMCA on the weekend so they should've done it today. Unless they wait X amount of days after receiving a DMCA, which doesn't make sense. Repos are still up.

I'll shut up now.

 

[Adran_Marit]

Repos down now

 

[l7777]

Someone should start a countdown of when it shows up again.

 

[Adran_Marit]

Someone should start a countdown of when it shows up again.

I mean it's on wyaback

 

[Slluxx]

Alternative tool to lockpick with the DMCA fix.

 

[Mthodmn101]

Alternative tool to lockpick with the DMCA fix.

the issue is keeping the tool up to date when there are new keys.... now the keys will just drop randomly online by someone

 

[smf]

You can't copyright the concept of cd or software keys, because every developer needs to be able to generate their own. Furthermore you can't copyright specific keys, because they might be randomly generated again in the future and thus re-used for different software. Instead it's Nintendo's assertion that copyright law was violated when people bypassed their shitty protection to access the keys, but again, that's legally dubious until it sees a challenge in court.

Keys can't be copyrighted, which is why they introduced the DMCA. Telling someone how to get hold of keys, or distributing something that can get hold of keys, is illegal. Atmosphere is illegal also.

DMCA has been tested in court, multiple times. All WIPO countries have enacted similar laws to the DMCA.

 

[Zajumino]

Keys can't be copyrighted, which is why they introduced the DMCA. Telling someone how to get hold of keys, or distributing something that can get hold of keys, is illegal. Atmosphere is illegal also.

DMCA has been tested in court, multiple times. All WIPO countries have enacted similar laws to the DMCA.

If Atmosphere is illegal, why hasn't it been DMCA'd? I'm pretty sure Nintendo wants to.

 

[Slluxx]

If Atmosphere is illegal, why hasn't it been DMCA'd? I'm pretty sure Nintendo wants to.

because it isnt

 

[SirByte]

...and there the other shoe dropped:

https://gbatemp.net/threads/nintendo-switch-firmware-16-0-3-released.632544/

TL;DR: FW 16.0.3 - Atmosphere impacted. Do not update!


EDIT: that was quick! Atmo 1.5.3 ( 85c23b5) out already!

 

[Mthodmn101]

...and there the other shoe dropped:

https://gbatemp.net/threads/nintendo-switch-firmware-16-0-3-released.632544/

TL;DR: FW 16.0.3 - Atmosphere impacted. Do not update!

new atmos already out

 

[urbanman2004]

Of course Skyline would be the sacrificial lamb/casualty caught in Nintendo's crossfire while Nintendo's on their scorched earth campaign, imposing their will w/ the supposed threat of litigation and bullying w/e entity that appears to encroach on their IPs regardless of how little of an impact they cause... Fuq Nintendo ‍♂

 

[ertaboy356b]

Exactly, convenience is king. While Sony, Xbox, and Valve are all moving toward a "play all your games on any device, anywhere and any time" model for the sake of increased convenience, you can only "legally" play $70 Nintendo exclusives at 720p and an unstable 30 FPS. As long as Ninty keeps creating new inconveniences and/or problems for their own user base, it'll be the pirates who keep offering solutions.

Sounds like the solution you're suggesting is a yearly spec bump for the switch which is unrealistic. There's a reason why consoles have longer cycles than mobile phones and that is stability. Also, you can't expect Nintendo to give up their main business (although they are currently expanding to other forms of entertainment now) for your personal satisfaction. You are saying that pirates offer solution but in the case of the switch, they don't. Not only do you need a beefy PC that probably costs several switches to feel the satisfaction of "better than switch", but pcs within the budget of a switch would probably perform worst. Unless Nintendo offers all their games for free, you can never beat pirate's free edition of games. You can have the best service in the world but nothing beats free games.

 

[TomSwitch]

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....

Switch was born weak in HW specs. No reason to state the obvious that has been the case for over six years.

Switch is stronger than ever. But even Nintendo don't think that will last so the next Switch is coming and they are now preparing for it with this action. Those clamoring for a HW update should be dancing for joy that Nintendo is acting strange

Nintendo expect you to kneel down and cray with joy when the next one that still isn't as good as a three year old PC comes.

PS: Nothing beats buying three copy of each Nintendo game, one to play, one to keep mint and one to say thank you Nintendo.
PPS: I don't like totk that much. I know many will still buy three copies.

To those who don't understand why the fans are still fans even though they have behaved like they hate Nintendo. It's cause that childhood memory that they crave to relive and the craving only become stronger after years of disappointment

 

[Xzi]

Sounds like the solution you're suggesting is a yearly spec bump for the switch which is unrealistic.

Not at all, I'm suggesting they don't rely on hardware that's already five years out of date at launch. Barring that, at least release a "Pro" revision after 3 or 4 years and a successor after 6 or 7.

Also, you can't expect Nintendo to give up their main business (although they are currently expanding to other forms of entertainment now) for your personal satisfaction.

Again no, I first and foremost expect them to expand and improve upon their own services, as it isn't cheap owning a Switch despite the low upfront cost of the console. Then they can maybe look into cloud streaming for Nintendo games, both new and old, to other devices. It could be done as a monthly fee type of deal, and they could give Switch owners automatic access to the games they've bought. God forbid Ninty does something customer-friendly that also makes them a ton of money, though.

Unless Nintendo offers all their games for free, you can never beat pirate's free edition of games.

And as I've said previously, it's not about eliminating piracy entirely, it's about at least offering an alternative. It's better to offer a good one, but any is still better than none. RIght now it's only Valve offering an alternative, as Deck plays most Switch games at their portable resolution and frame rate without issue, but it also plays next-gen games and emulates nearly every console ever. Not to mention easy access to every TV/music streaming service, straight out of the box.

 

[impeeza]

 

[JeepX87]

Switch was born weak in HW specs. No reason to state the obvious that has been the case for over six years.

Switch is stronger than ever. But even Nintendo don't think that will last so the next Switch is coming and they are now preparing for it with this action. Those clamoring for a HW update should be dancing for joy that Nintendo is acting strange

Nintendo expect you to kneel down and cray with joy when the next one that still isn't as good as a three year old PC comes.

PS: Nothing beats buying three copy of each Nintendo game, one to play, one to keep mint and one to say thank you Nintendo.
PPS: I don't like totk that much. I know many will still buy three copies.

To those who don't understand why the fans are still fans even though they have behaved like they hate Nintendo. It's cause that childhood memory that they crave to relive and the craving only become stronger after years of disappointment

Just curious, what is your thought on BOTW?

View attachment 370090

Yeah, I saw it and it took 4 days for GitHub to took it down after DMCA notice.

I thought that RCM Lockpick developer would fight the DMCA notice but nah.

 

[ChronosNotashi]

RIght now it's only Valve offering an alternative, as Deck plays most Switch games at their portable resolution and frame rate without issue, but it also plays next-gen games and emulates nearly every console ever. Not to mention easy access to every TV/music streaming service, straight out of the box.

So what you're saying is that the Steam Deck is every pirate's wet dream, able to provide everything imaginable right out of the box, all for the low, low price of the system itself. And that no other console or PC can ever hope to compete with that because they don't offer the same kind of deal.

 

[Foxi4]

Your comparing an Apple to the color red....

Your product key is not a core part of Windows, is not an encrypted security key and is not subject to Microsoft's very valid copyright over Windows.

Go try asking MS to give you a Windows kernel encryption key, see what they say.....

This is highly dependent on jurisdiction, but many forms of modification of copyrighted software are permissible so long as they are for personal use. DMCA features appropriate exceptions, and any licensing terms that are in violation of your rights as a consumer are automatically null and void. This is a complicated subject, to be sure, but you’re splitting hairs over an analogy - of course it’s not perfect. I very much doubt Microsoft would have much of an issue with a user attempting to crack their own Bitlocker so long as they’re not engaged in illegal activity while they’re at it.

 

[Xzi]

So what you're saying is that the Steam Deck is every pirate's wet dream, able to provide everything imaginable right out of the box, all for the low, low price of the system itself. And that no other console or PC can ever hope to compete with that because they don't offer the same kind of deal.

Alternately, I'm saying that whatever device the customer already has is the best device to sell them games on. Not everybody is going to want to buy a Switch, and that's fine. Not everybody is going to want to buy a Steam Deck either. If Nintendo made just some of their games available to stream to any smartphone or PC, that would not only generate extra profit, but also cut into piracy to some degree. For the third time, it doesn't matter that it wouldn't eliminate all piracy, because that's never going to be a reality for any system anyway.