In December of last year, the Norwegian consumer rights council, Forbrukerrådet, launched an investigation into the practices of online game shops. They found that four shops, EA (Origin), Valve (Steam), Sony (PlayStation Store), and Nintendo (eShop) were in violation of the consumer law in Norway and the EU. The first three do not inform the consumer that a purchase negates normal consumer rights, something that the buyer should be informed of. Nintendo, however, is guilty of a more serious infraction as they do not allow you to cancel a pre-order.
The investigation into Nintendo was therefore given priority and has now been passed on to German authorities (Justiz und für Verbraucherschutz) as they according to EU rules govern Nintendo of Europe (resides in Germany). Nintendo on their hand claim that as the player can download files prior to the release of the game it should be regarded as the purchase being made final.
Hopefully, Nintendo will change their practices to be more consumer-friendly, but the wheels of consumer rights are in motion, and even if they spin slowly, Nintendo could face some serious fine down the line.
Thanks, Pressfire.no.