The much-hyped N-Gage was launched on 7th October. It is, according to the N-Gage web site, a game deck, an MP3 player, a wireless browser, and a phone. It is also Nokia's attempt to enter the gaming market dominated by Nintendo's Game Boy.
Rumours of the security breach surfaced at the start of the week, and on Wednesday Nokia confirmed that the worst had happened. Company spokesman Steven Knuff told internetnews.com:
"We've investigated rumours that the copy protections for the Nokia N-Gage game cards have been cracked. We have found that some of the copy protection mechanisms of some game titles have been disabled and the game titles have been disabled and the games available for download on various web sites."
He went on:
"We take these types of intellectual property offences very seriously and we have initiated a program to stop individuals, and or entities that are behind these IP violations. Nokia will cooperate with ISPs, auction sites and the relevant authorities to pursue all actions and remedies available to stop this illegal activity."
The new Copyright Regulations recently reviewed on OUT-LAW News have been designed to protect copyright owners against such activities. Nokia will be able to take advantage of the provisions targeting individuals who circumvent technological protection measures and will be able to pursue not only the individuals cracking the anti-piracy measures but any supplier of their equipment or publisher of information used by them.
Statutory Instrument Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 2003 can be found here