Dear to whom it may concern,
I am commenting on the recent cease and desist letter Nintendo's legal team sent internet fansites for Pokemon. As shown on Pokebeach.com...
"We just received a letter from a Nintendo lawyer (edited to remove personal info obviously) asking to take down all of our Black and White images or bad stuff will happen. I called the lawyer through his law firm and he said he'll be making the rounds on other Pokemon sites as well. I was the first website on their list.... I have 24 hours to remove the images, which means they'll be gone by tomorrow afternoon (Sunday). Joy! Anyways, we'll continue to play the game and report what we find like we've been doing."
The site also commented in Colbertian satire how Nintendo is going after the wrong people. In an era where Pokemon games still have strong sales, and ROM use, the actual spread of the games for free, is on the rise, I agree with Pokebeach and others that Nintendo's legal actions are highly imprudent.
The free service Serebii.net has provided over the years has renewed the dying embers of my Pokemon activities every time they waned. Even when Nintendo favored those who lived in bigger areas in the United States and didn't allow easy access to event pokemon, sites like Serebii provided me hope. For example, using Serebii's chat feature, I was able to find 4th generation event pokemon. This allowed me to trade for the pokemon I wanted when Nintendo failed to provide me an easy point of access to specific pokemon.
I understand Nintendo's concern for copyright violation. It is not fair for the hard-working people at Nintendo to create a project and then not receive the benefits of their labor when people pirate their games. This is exactly the reason I have bought every single Pokemon RPG produced (Red,Blue,Yellow,Gold, Silver, Crystal, Sapphire, Ruby, Emerald, FireRed, LeafGreen, Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, HeartGold, SoulSilver, Stadium 1 and 2, Colosseum XD, and Battle Revolution)along with thousands of dollars in other Pokemon products over the course of my involvement with the Pokemon franchise. Moreover, I planned on purchasing both Pokemon Black and White when they came out in America. However, as the current release only affected Japan, I must wait several months before my next Pokemon fix. What can I do in the meantime? I can look at the wonderful graphics of the new Pokemon generation and the new designs for the next set of Pokemon. Needless to say, the fact that I cannot see new images of the games I cannot purchase in English disheartens me greatly.
Normally, I would boycott such unjust actions taken by a corporation such as yourselves. Luckily for the profits you apparently wish to protect over your fanbase, I will still buy your Pokemon products with a heavy heart. I say this as a reminder; fansites such as Serebii and Pokebleach nurture your fanbase when you leave it out to dry. It is because of my undying support of Pokemon created by the wonderful resources of Serebii that I will continue to buy your products. And I know I am just one of many who feel the same.
I hope alienating your fanbase by rejecting what you feel as copyright infringement protects the profits you are after,
X
