Dcubed Posted November 6, 2013 Posted November 6, 2013 Yep, sounds about right. Nintendo aren't stupid, of course they knew that the service could be used to exchange porn pictures and dick scribbles; they wouldn't shut it down if they found out that it was being used by a few people for that. But when child porn gets into the picture? They HAVE to act, they had no choice (not just for brand protection, but legally they HAD to take action as well)
Agent Gibbs Posted November 6, 2013 Posted November 6, 2013 WOW i totally understand why they closed it down now! but this leads in to @Wii's point in a normal system they'd ban those guys id's ban their emails, IP's whatever and then increase security, and obviously pass on details to the police..............but with friend codes all they can do is ban the offending consoles, and the perps can buy new ones, nintendo are powerless to stop them, and powerless to stop others as all they can do is ban consoles when the problems occur.... Maybe now they've learnt the hardway why accounts and ways of banning individuals is better than console id's Its like if you got caught for drink driving and all the police could do is take your car, (assuming you had the cash) you'd buy another! an id relating specifically to the end user allows them to be banned from all networks/products etc but back to the dirty pedo's......good lord they are sick son of bitches who i hope are done with the full force of Japan's legal system
Helmsly Posted November 6, 2013 Posted November 6, 2013 Fat load of good friend codes are/were. yeah, Friend codes haven't protected anyone from anything. All they have done is create an unnecessary cumbersome way to add friends to a friends list.
Cube Posted November 6, 2013 Posted November 6, 2013 While the thing that happened is terrible, it's still utterly ridiculous to end the service. It just adds to how backwards Nintendo's views on online is. in a normal system they'd ban those guys id's ban their emails, IP's whatever None of that would do anything. They can just get new ones.
david.dakota Posted November 6, 2013 Posted November 6, 2013 @Cube I don't see what else Nintendo could do; at first I think we all assumed it was overkill and people were just sending comedy cocknballs but arrests for child rape and child pornography changes the game. We know paedophiles will use every tool available to them to find their victims and providers of connected services - whether games, forums and social networks have a responsibility to ensure safety of minors. Speaking as a parent - a responsible one too - i can assure you it is incredibly difficult to monitor something as discrete as portable gaming device (or phone) 100% of the time; whilst parents do need to take responsibly for their child, they also need have absolute trust in parental controls offered. Nintendo's parental controls - and its friend code system - were/are not robust enough. A system of accounts - with regular payments or bank card based ID checks - and sub accounts for minors which can be monitored by parents is the only option if Nintendo are to allow communication between individuals.
Cube Posted November 6, 2013 Posted November 6, 2013 @Cube I don't see what else Nintendo could do There's nothing. Sadly, this stuff happens. The best that they can do is report stuff to the police. Microsoft and Sony haven't shut down communications on Xbox Live and PSN. Skype/Kik/Whatsapp/MMS/hundreds of similar services haven't been shut down. The internet is still functioning. You can't just shut down a communications tool because of it.
Sheikah Posted November 6, 2013 Posted November 6, 2013 While the thing that happened is terrible, it's still utterly ridiculous to end the service. It just adds to how backwards Nintendo's views on online is. None of that would do anything. They can just get new ones. It's ridiculous and the people defending their decision are hilariously out of touch, I think. It's as bad as a knife company shutting down because their knives were used to kill people. Or Facebook shutting down since it can be used to share dodgy things too. Anyone on PSN can attach whatever photos they want and circulate it. They would ban the users and not the service. It really goes back to Nintendo's obsession with being child friendly, and it really stops me taking them seriously sometimes. In my opinion, all sharing features should just be locked away under parental controls. That way it's the duty of parents and adult gamers won't be affected.
david.dakota Posted November 6, 2013 Posted November 6, 2013 It's ridiculous and the people defending their decision are hilariously out of touch, I think. I'm not sure how its "out of touch"... I'd say you are out of touch; Nintendo is - and always has been - pretty conservative. You really should know that by now. Let's be really clear it is alleged that a child has been raped; thats an abhorrent act and something had to happen to minimise risk. Many of the services mentioned by @Cube carry age restrictions some have additional restrictions right up until adulthood. Nintendo does not have that luxury - they should, but they don't. I cannot see what else Nintendo could quickly do to minimise risk. One child rape is one too many, i'm sure we can agree on that. It really goes back to Nintendo's obsession with being child friendly, and it really stops me taking them seriously sometimes. In my opinion, all sharing features should just be locked away under parental controls. That way it's the duty of parents and adult gamers won't be affected. I don't think it's an 'obsession'; its no more of an obsession as Tetley selling to people with kettles. Nintendo primarily market to children and families and they're taking their responsibilities seriously which is to be applauded; its pretty clear that with better software, better application of technology we'd not have lost a service no one used but hopefully thats a lesson for them going forward.
Sheikah Posted November 6, 2013 Posted November 6, 2013 That's what I have the problem with, that they're marketing to children. They should be marketing to gamers. They could have parental control block this out (or maybe restrict the feature for everyone and only allow unlocking of the feature through age verification - in the same way as many phone companies have automatic adult content blocks on 3G data).
Cube Posted November 6, 2013 Posted November 6, 2013 @Cube carry age restrictions some have additional restrictions right up until adulthood. "Please enter your age" is in no way an age restriction. Some of those services (like Kik) are popular because so many kids use it.
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