A federal judge has ordered James Williams, a moderator of the r/SwitchPirates subreddit, to pay Nintendo $4.5 million in a copyright infringement case after he failed to respond to the lawsuit. The ruling includes an injunction requiring him to shut down piracy sites and social media accounts linked to distributing pirated games.
James Williams, known online as “archbox,” faces a $4.5 million default judgment from a U.S. District Court after allegedly promoting piracy through the r/SwitchPirates subreddit. Nintendo filed the lawsuit in 2024, accusing Williams of soliciting donations for pirated games and operating “online shops” that distributed copyrighted content. The court’s order mandates he immediately disable access to these platforms and social media accounts, including Instagram, X, and TikTok.
A Default Judgment for a Piracy Moderator
Williams’ $4.5 million penalty stems from 30 copyrighted games, with $150,000 allocated per violation, as detailed in a court order from U.S. District Judge Lauren King. The judge emphasized that Williams promoted online shops offering pirated Nintendo game files and circumvention software, including titles like Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Luigi’s Mansion 3, and Pikmin 4. “NOA [Nintendo of America] has demonstrated that Williams promoted online shops offering pirated Nintendo game files and circumvention software, encouraged others to contribute pirated Nintendo games to his pirate shops, and assisted others in distributing pirated Nintendo Switch games, even though he knew such activity violated copyright laws,” the judge wrote. Nintendo argued the damages were necessary to address the seriousness of the defendants’ conduct, though the company acknowledged the sum “nowhere near” fully compensating for the harm caused.
The Ripple Effect of a 2021 Precedent
This case follows a similar lawsuit against Ryan Daly, the owner of Modded Hardware, a site that specialized in selling modded original Switches, mod kits, and flash carts, who was forced to pay $2 million and surrender hardware that he used to mod consoles. Unlike Daly, Williams did not contest the claims, leading to the default judgment.
Williams’ $4.5 million penalty echoes a 2021 case involving Gary Bowser, who was ordered to pay $10 million for similar offenses. Bowser’s debt ultimately was upped to $10 million, which Bowser expects to continue paying back for the rest of his working life.
From Subreddit to Courtroom: Tracing the Case
Nintendo’s case against Williams began after he sent a Switch console for repair, revealing his location near Phoenix, AZ. The company’s lawyers used this information to serve legal papers, as reported by Game File. The default judgment was finalized when he cut off communication with the company in 2024. A court filing from 2025 noted Nintendo’s argument that the damages were extremely difficult to quantify, given the scale of Williams’ alleged violations. Here, the amount of money sufficient to remedy NOA’s injury would be extremely difficult to quantify; but it is indisputable that such amount would be large,
the company said in a filing, as reported by Polygon in 2025.
An Injunction Against Piracy
The injunction also bars Williams from distributing, advertising, marketing, selling, reselling, uploading, downloading, offering for sale, or otherwise disseminating
software or hardware related to pirating Nintendo games. This mirrors broader efforts by Nintendo to crack down on piracy, including a ruling against Mig Switch cards in the Netherlands, as noted by Aftermath.
The Gaming Industry’s Legal Tightening
The final order leaves no ambiguity about Nintendo’s resolve: Nintendo does not play when it comes to taking down pirates.