[tachyoff]

Mens rea (i.e. intent) is part of common law criminality (along with actus reus, which is the actual doing of something illegal). The United States, having its legal system derived from that of England’s (and thus being a common law legal system), absolutely requires intent when considering whether or not someone or some organization has committed a crime.

I’m not familiar with the referenced Nintendo case, but mens rea is usually only considered in criminal cases. Unless you’re prosecuting someone for illegally downloading copyrighted material or some such thing, intent wouldn’t be considered (it can increase liability in civil cases, though).

[tluyben2]

Now that you mention it; I do see it in crime shows. But the case I mentioned was about if a Nintendo modchip could be used for good or only for evil according to the EU while the US court just yelled copyright infringement and put some hacker in jail. Those are the cases we read about in the press over here and most people find it ridiculous over here to go to jail (aka ruin lives) over something as small as copyright infringement. Courts agree as they usually mostly slap on a fine based on the intent.