If you’ve found a deal on a Nintendo DS and DS Lite that seems a bit too good to be true, then you might be about to get your fingers burned. Literally. HM Revenue & Customs is warning that hundreds of counterfeit handhelds, recently seized at national freight depots, have been found to contain power adaptors that have not met UK safety standards.
The fact that they have not been tested to UK standards, make them liable to cause “serious harm or injury”, claims HMRC’s head of intellectual property rights, Pamela Rogers.
As well as potentially setting fire to consumers, the fake machines don’t do the games industry and favours either. “Counterfeit goods also cause considerable damage the UK economy by undermining genuine UK retailers and small businesses who are honest and abide by the rules,” said Rogers.
While software piracy is now the most widely publicised form of copyright theft, it seems hardware piracy isn’t uncommon either. Knock-off DS consoles are apparently being sold for as little £40 by a range of websites, mainly based in Asia. Those sites do claim to sell “genuine Nintendo products”, but the absurd discounts should prove something of a giveaway.
Out now | From £99 | Nintendo
what is the exact parameter to judge whether a DS is the original one or not? How can the end customer validate whether its safe or not?
http://www.dslitereview.com