On January 1 of this year, Japanese copyright law changed. If you've seen this warning screen and you're downloading DS games from the internet, you might end up on the wrong side of Johnny Law.
In The Land of the Rising Sun, uploading files like video games is illegal, but Japanese gamers who download these titles were always able to play dumb in the past and say they didn't know.
According to the changes implemented starting this January, a new amendment states that individuals who know they are downloading illegal content are breaking the law.
So how do gamers know about these changes? New DSi titles like Hudson game Momotaro Dentetsu World featuring warning screens like this that inform gamers of the changes, and thus, essentially eradicating any legal maneuvering whatsoever.
The warning message appears not only when the game boots the first time, but also each time the game is turned on. Not every new game has the warning message. For example, Mario Vs. Donkey: Mini-Land Mayhem, which went on sale the same day as Momotaro Dentetsu World does not. But that doesn't mean one day that all games won't.
違法行為禁止 ― DSゲーム起動時に警告メッセージ [インサイド]