📰 New article from TorrentFreak
Nintendo Piracy: NXBrew and NSWPedia Targeted in European Blocking Efforts
https://torrentfreak.com/nintendo-piracy-nxbrew-and-nswpedia-targeted-in-european-blocking-efforts/
Nintendo’s Piracy Crackdown Hits Europe: NXBrew and NSWPedia Blocked in NL & DE
Piracy just got harder for Nintendo Switch owners in Europe — and it’s not just about takedowns. In a coordinated legal push, Dutch and German courts have ordered ISPs to block two major piracy hubs: NXBrew.net in the Netherlands and NSWPedia in Germany.
In a historic first for Dutch gaming enforcement, Rotterdam’s court ordered Delta Fiber to block NXBrew — a site allegedly hosting over 12,000 pirated Switch games. Crucially, the order includes dynamic blocking, meaning any new domains or mirrors used by NXBrew can be added without returning to court. While Nintendo didn’t sue directly, anti-piracy group BREIN led the charge — and other Dutch ISPs agreed to voluntarily comply under a 2021 covenant. BREIN also asked Google to delist NXBrew, and the search giant usually complies — even when not legally required.
Meanwhile, Germany’s Cologne Regional Court ruled NSWPedia was “structurally infringing” — with up to 99.8% of its content deemed illegal. Under the CUII framework, German ISPs are required to block it quickly and uniformly — though transparency is thinner here: no official public blocklist exists, prompting a developer to launch an independent tracker, CUIIListe.de, to catch errors.
TL;DR:
- 🔒 First-ever Dutch gaming piracy block: NXBrew.net
- 🇩🇪 Germany blocks NSWPedia, citing overwhelming infringement
- ⚖️ Both orders rely on court rulings + ISP cooperation, not direct lawsuits
- 🕵️ Transparency gaps — especially in Germany — spark community-led oversight
Piracy sites may adapt, but legal tools are evolving faster.