WotC may have sent the Pinkertons to a magic leakers home. Update: WotC confirms it and has a response.

[Umbran]

If they were stolen, the police would have been at his door, and this would be a non-story. If the distributor was suspected, WotC would be menacing them primarily.

How does WotC know which distributor before getting hands on the physical product and checking the various tracking numbers on it? How is WotC supposed to know if this is a matter of theft or contractual embargo violation before being able to identify where in the supply chain they went missing?

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

That's an interesting argument to me, @Snarf Zagyg because at a previous international law firm I worked at, we have a list of US PI organisations we could hire from, that were preferred - it was very long and covered every state - and we also had a relatively short blacklist of "do not hire" companies, and guess who was on there? Yes, the Pinkertons. Not Securitas in general, but them specifically. A reason wasn't given, but I think we can see what it might be.

I'm sorry, but I just don't believe you. Personal anecdotes are just that- personal. Given the size and scope of the Pinkertons (and they operate internationally), I find that claim to be extraordinary. Especially if you worked with Securitas AB. Especially given that this was an international law firm.

But I think we're good based on past history. More than good.

 

[eyeheartawk]

IIRC Nintendo is also at this moment aggressively seeking out the leaker for the art book of the upcoming Zelda game.

Nintendo also has a reputation for generating...let's say 1980-1990s TSR levels of goodwill among its fans.

 

[Umbran]

People's issues with the Pinkertons aren't due to popular culture portrayal.

Yeah! Peoples' issue with the Pinkertons are due to actions the company took over a century ago!

 

[Mannahnin]

Because I don't assume that everything Wizards does is automatically bad just because they're Wizards, and I have yet to see a convincing argument for why this specific incident was a big deal.

"BUT PINKERTONS" ain't it. Their thuggery in the Gilded Age is no more relevant today than their work on behalf of Lincoln and the Union in the Civil War. So what makes them bad now? Well, let's see... their Wikipedia article says Amazon hired them to spy on union activists. Being Wikipedia, it's nice enough to provide a citation for this claim. I followed the citation to an article, which made the same assertion, provided no evidence, and linked another article. This second article finally mentioned -- way down the page -- that Amazon had hired Pinkerton to investigate an allegation that managers were coaching job applicants.

Not quite the same thing, is it?

Thank you. Memes aren't always the best source of info, evidently.

Has anyone got anything more recent to support the premise that Pinkerton currently or has recently been engaged in union-busting or other thuggery?

If the negative associations with their name are principally due to ancient history, then it sounds a lot less nefarious. And given that the Risk exec at Hasbro someone here turned up on LinkedIn apparently worked there for several years, it seems less surprising that they'd be used.

 

[Guest 7031328]

Yeah! Peoples' issue with the Pinkertons are due to actions the company took over a century ago!

And behavior in modern times, and their blatant decision of continued use of the name fully understanding the association with that name in the United States. As an extreme example, if the KKK were to no longer actively take public actions towards what they're famously known for, but keep use of their name under a rebranded "more kinder KKK", they are making a decision to continue use of that name for a reason.

 

[trappedslider]

IIRC Nintendo is also at this moment aggressively seeking out the leaker for the art book of the upcoming Zelda game.

yes they are Nintendo isn't messing around searching for the Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom leaker

Nintendo is now seeking out the leaker's identity. Since the leak originated on Discord, “Nintendo of America is requesting the attached proposed subpoena that would order Discord Inc. ("Discord") to disclose the identity, including the name(s), address(es), telephone number(s), and e-mail addresses(es) of the user Julien#2743, who is responsible for posting infringing content that appeared at the following Discord channel Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom”, Nintendo of America said in the subpoena request.


EDIT:
This isn’t the first time Discord has been at the center of Nintendo leak. In 2019, former employees took pictures of the then-unreleased title Pokémon Sword and Shield and shared them over social media platforms like Reddit and Discord.

These photos depicted details of the strategy guide, which included new features like Gigantamax forms of certain Pokémon. As you can probably guess, Nintendo wasn’t too fond of this breach of trust and took the leakers to court(opens in new tab), with each defendant paying $150,000 in damages.

It’s more than likely that the Tears of the Kingdom leaker will meet the same fate. Despite the art book leaks not being the most earth-shattering of leaks, Nintendo will likely want to take legal action as a preventative measure to deter future would-be leakers. Spoiling video game information tends to cause more harm than good. It’s better to wait for the release date like everyone else rather than jump the gun and spoil the thrilling mysteries hidden in new releases.

And As I've pointed out in a previous case of a leak, they (WotC) settled out of court for an undisclosed amount of money. And other leaks have been met with banning from competition (also impact money-making), being backlisted (which can impact content creators making money)

 

[trappedslider]

 

[darjr]

Yeah! Peoples' issue with the Pinkertons are due to actions the company took over a century ago!

As of today they are known for armed union busting and standing on people’s doorsteps acting like authorities making threats over magic cards.

 

[Cadence]

Thinking about some earlier comments, what is fair use vs, copyright infringement in sharing full images of someone else's artwork without permission? Does it matter if it's just to show it vs. to comment/review on it? Does it matter if it is an image or two vs. the entire product?