Former Pirate Bay admin Frederik Neij hoped to combat the prison blues by playing some games on his Nintendo. Unfortunately for him, prison officials won’t let him have it because they don’t own a $2 screwdriver.
According to officials, “the console is sealed in such a way that it can not be opened without the machine being destroyed.” They added that “it is therefore impossible to ensure that this does not contain prohibited items.” To be fair, they’re not the first people to complain about Nintendo’s choice of screws.
Without that $2 screwdriver to crack it open, there’s just no way they’ll allow Neij to get his hands on the console. It could stuffed full of contraband for all they know… And although a decades-old Nintendo can’t connect to the Internet, who knows? Maybe someone’s cleverly hidden a Raspberry Pi and a cellular modem inside it. The prison couldn’t possibly allow a prisoner as prominent as Neij to somehow sneak online while he’s under their watch.
It’s not game over yet for Neij. He’s appealed the prison’s ruling and may yet be allowed to fire up his classic NES while behind bars. However things play out, at least he’s not in the same situation as co-admin Gottfrid Svartholm was.
Svartholm — who was convicted on hacking charges in Denmark in addition to the copyright charges brought against all three Pirate Bay admins (Neij, Svartholm, and Peter Sunde) — wasn’t even allowed access to a single piece of reading material. That finally changed in December following a petition signed by more than 100,000 supporters. He’s now allowed to take books, magazines, and newspapers from the prison library.
http://www.geek.com/games/pirate-bay-founder-denied-his-nintendo-over-a-2-screwdriver-1620784/
