I don't think that the photos you take with a 3DS are what Nintendo means by User Content. First, aren't the photos stored locally on the 3DS? They are on the DSi. Nintendo would have no access to them. I think User Content means all of the stuff you tell Nintendo that's not explicitly personal information (PI).
This is the definition taken directly from Nintendo 3DS End User License Agreement (Chapter VI, Article 13):
"User Content" means comments, messages, images, photos, movies, information, data and other content (which include the Nintendo 3DS user names, Mii, Mii nicknames, names of creators, and other names) which are created by, or licensed to Nintendo 3DS users including you, which will be used by Nintendo 3DS users including you in connection with the Nintendo 3DS Service.
The only wriggle room here is "in connection with the Nintendo 3DS Service". I'd rather err on the side of caution and interpret the whole thing to include "photos taken with the 3DS camera".
Is this different from what the iPhone, PS3, XBox and other consumer devices that connect to corporate networks do? That doesn't necessarily get Nintendo off the hook, but if we're going to having genuine discourse about this - and not just knee-jerk responses - then we need to know the full context.
Piracy, of course, is Nintendo's motivation here, and as I understand it, piracy on the DS was rampant.
Piracy or not, bricking the system should be unacceptable. Furthermore, I'm not convinced piracy was the primary motivator for EULA changes. A lot of this stuff looks like a "holy shit, look at what happened to Sony" kind of reaction.
I find the site's comment on this disingenuous: If children shouldn't use the device for what it is made for, then why is Nintendo marketing it toward children? There's more to the 3DS and its online play than sharing personal information.
Please be consistent. If you say that we "need to know the full context", then don't take things out of context yourself. Here's the relevant part of the EULA:
Children must not include any PII in their Nintendo 3DS System user name, Mii name, Mii profile information, in-game nicknames or other User Content. Children also must not disclose PII when communicating with other Nintendo 3DS System users or Nintendo through the Nintendo 3DS System wireless communication features. (Nintendo 3DS System Privacy Policy)
This means that if I want to give my kid a 3DS as a gift, I have to explain to him that he can't even use his real name when playing with other kids online. The sharing and the social aspect is obviously an integral part of the 3DS online play. Yes, it might not be the most important or most popular part, but it's integral. In that context, I fail to see how the site's comment you quoted is disingenuous.
I don't think that your photos are uploaded to Nintendo - I may be wrong, of course, but it doesn't make sense why that would happen. I assume they're thinking more of avatars that users may create themselves.
I also think it's unacceptable for a company to automatically disable a system. I'm not excusing their policies, but trying to understand them. But I think that clause was clearly because of piracy, as it was rampant on the DS. I don't see how anything they said could have prevented what happened to Sony.
I'm sorry if it seemed like I was taking the article out of context, that was not my intention at all. I assumed that whoever read my comment would have read the article, and I quoted the exact part just so it was clear what I was responding to.
With that said, I assumed that parents would, as a matter of course, tell their children not to share personal information online.
This is the definition taken directly from Nintendo 3DS End User License Agreement (Chapter VI, Article 13):
"User Content" means comments, messages, images, photos, movies, information, data and other content (which include the Nintendo 3DS user names, Mii, Mii nicknames, names of creators, and other names) which are created by, or licensed to Nintendo 3DS users including you, which will be used by Nintendo 3DS users including you in connection with the Nintendo 3DS Service.
The only wriggle room here is "in connection with the Nintendo 3DS Service". I'd rather err on the side of caution and interpret the whole thing to include "photos taken with the 3DS camera".
Is this different from what the iPhone, PS3, XBox and other consumer devices that connect to corporate networks do? That doesn't necessarily get Nintendo off the hook, but if we're going to having genuine discourse about this - and not just knee-jerk responses - then we need to know the full context.
Piracy, of course, is Nintendo's motivation here, and as I understand it, piracy on the DS was rampant.
Piracy or not, bricking the system should be unacceptable. Furthermore, I'm not convinced piracy was the primary motivator for EULA changes. A lot of this stuff looks like a "holy shit, look at what happened to Sony" kind of reaction.
I find the site's comment on this disingenuous: If children shouldn't use the device for what it is made for, then why is Nintendo marketing it toward children? There's more to the 3DS and its online play than sharing personal information.
Please be consistent. If you say that we "need to know the full context", then don't take things out of context yourself. Here's the relevant part of the EULA:
Children must not include any PII in their Nintendo 3DS System user name, Mii name, Mii profile information, in-game nicknames or other User Content. Children also must not disclose PII when communicating with other Nintendo 3DS System users or Nintendo through the Nintendo 3DS System wireless communication features. (Nintendo 3DS System Privacy Policy)
This means that if I want to give my kid a 3DS as a gift, I have to explain to him that he can't even use his real name when playing with other kids online. The sharing and the social aspect is obviously an integral part of the 3DS online play. Yes, it might not be the most important or most popular part, but it's integral. In that context, I fail to see how the site's comment you quoted is disingenuous.