To reduce piracy on the Switch console, last week Nintendo used a DMCA notice to target a popular ‘sigpatch’ repository on Github. While the coding platform ultimately took the repo down, it appears there was a difference of opinion over what type of infringement they represent. So what are ‘sigpatches’, why do they even need to exist, and why might they breach copyright law?

Nintendo has been tackling videogame piracy for a very long time but a lot of water has gone under the bridge since the simplicity of the SNES-based Super Wild Card.

These days Nintendo has multiple attack vectors to cover, from bringing down commercial groups such as Team-Xecutor to blocking sites that distribute pirated Switch ROMs.

As a result, the Japanese gaming giant often finds itself taking action under the DMCA but as a case from late last week shows, that isn’t necessarily straightforward. It involves so-called ‘sigpatches’, software tools that play an enabling role in defeating access controls.

The rest of this article can be read on TorrentFreak.com

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