Is it possible that the suits at the ESA have a sense of humor?
We have to ask because yesterday was International Talk Like a Pirate Day (Yarrr!) and, lo and behold, an e-mail arrived from the ESA trumpeting the jail sentence imposed on a game software pirate in California.
From the press release:
In June 2007, acting on a tip from ESA investigators, members of the Computer and Technology Crime High-Tech Response Team (CATCH) arrested [Frederick] Brown for trafficking in pirated game software. A search of his premises resulted in the confiscation of hundreds of illegal game discs. On August 1, 2007, Mr. Brown pleaded guilty to two felony counts of trafficking in counterfeit products.
Said Ric Hirsch, the ESA's IP enforcer:
We commend the work of the San Diego CATCH team and the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office. Sentences that include jail time send a clear message that violating intellectual property rights is a serious crime with significant consequences and violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Brown definitely took a lashing. On top of the jail time, the judge imposed a $100,000 fine and the convicted pirate must reimburse the ESA $10,000. And when he gets out, it's unlikely that Brown will be playing much Pirates of the Burning Sea, since his computer time will also be restricted.
So - if someone at the ESA planned the subtle humor behind all of this, well played!
If not, we'll just chalk it up as an incredibly serendipitous week for the video game biz, given that a federal judge in Oklahoma threw out that state's video game law on constitutional grounds on Monday, which just happened to be Constitution Day here in the United States.
Comments
While music and movies are not to big an issue, in the game world, there is a major part of it that has Led to piracy becoming rampant. Import gaming.
Many people, myself included, have often bought games legally from other countries, but due to the retarded region lockout that exsists on my my consoles, to play those games I have to use some means to circumvent this . As a result, it wasn't long before the same people who were legally circumventing region lockouts discovered they could use the same methods to play bootlegs, and thus, piracy took off.
Had there been no region lockout, piracy would have never gotten as popular as it has become, and in fact, some would argue that rather then using region lockouts, companies could have used better, more effective measures to thwart pirates while still allowing legal gamers to play there imports.
While Im a big supporter of the esa and the industry in general, i find little reason to celebrate when I see stories like this.
If the industry hadn't made it so hard to play legal games, there would have been no market for illegal games to begin with.
Least, thats my take on the issue.
I am sorry, I have to disagree. While region lockout is an annoying issue and a waste of time, it is not the source of game pirating. Pirating anything has been around since the advent of the printing press. It will always be around. Every time a new medium comes along, pirating expands in that direction. The only single source of pirating is the fact that there are people out there that want to make a buck off of other people's work.
But the industry is not doing all they can to prevent it though. I am not saying that I agree with DRM, just that it is possible to stop a lot of it. By making the game easier for the consumer to acquire and use, it will stop some forms of pirates. Pirates will always be around and the more DRM you put in, the more they work to get the games for free. But the easier the developer makes for real consumers to get the game, the less likely these consumers will go through less legal means to get it.
E. Zachary Knight
Divine Knight Gaming
OK Game Devs
Random Tower
Punishment should fit the crime, he must have pirated a lot of discs to have cost the ECA that much cash. The ridiculous amount will not be a deterrant for any other pirates, except not to be so blatent.
It's up to you what you belive, and thats cool. I've been in the emulaton scene for the past 15 years, and the most common reason why emulaton becomes popular, and the reason most of the people I know chose to pursue mod chips and other such devices, is not for piracy ,but for importing. Least that was my experiance.
my point being, that regional lockouts don't deter piracy, they only help to encourage it. If you used some other method that didn't prevent people from playing legally aquired imports, I would bet that you'd see a sharp decline in the use of modchips and other devices.
Personally, I think the DMCA is Garbage and should be revoked and banned, but thats me. DRM is a joke, the DMCA is a farce, and the media companies are using it as a club to attack the american citizen.
To me, thats the problem, no piracy.
I think you mean the ESA
@ Yuki
I agree with you on region lockout. It is stupid. I just don't think it is as big of a player in the piracy thing as you seem to think. (although it is part of it.)
E. Zachary Knight
Divine Knight Gaming
OK Game Devs
Random Tower
To the ICE and the NSA that is probably watching this: ICE, go fuck yourself. You have proven time and again to be absolutely worthless, and just a draw on the taxpayers' dollars.
The life of a child is very complicated in today's society. It helps to have someone you can turn to, trust, and look up to. Usually this is a parent or relative, but increasingly, it is a day-care center, an organized group for after- school care,...
Ninjas>Pirates!
Except Gráinne Mhaol, our national Heroine. She's alright.
Innocent man? It says in the article that he plead guilty to trafficking counterfeit products. It also says authorities found HUNDREDS of illegal discs. He wasn't just circumventing region lockout to play a few games; he may have even been selling illegal copies as well.
Don't let your hatred for the ICE blind you; this guy was no angel.
He wasn't an angel, but ICE has better things to do than be hit man for the copyright mafias.
Anyway, you can read more about it at:
https://secure.eff.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=271
Agreed, but I was simply making the point that he's not innocent.
Movie -19.00
CD - 14.00
Videogame - 50-60.00
Then alot of people of course dont have that money but they want to play the game.
The biggest thing i wonder is.. I play steam games. Why the hell does a game thats compleatly digital cost the same if i bought it at the store?
Then there is the region lockout like yuki said, but things beyond the region lock out though.
You know, were the japense make a game for the PC (no lockout) but due to our anal retentive goverment, and just the fact its not very profitable sometimes, we never get it in the states.
So we import it, and then boom! they port it over, and we get attacked for piracy. (similar to anime)
But still i think the biggest contender is, Overhyped games, with greedy players/producers.
Like Lair. They go OMG lair tis the awsome, everyone play lair! play it play it play! look at the pretties! then compleatly blow the gameplay.
So now the players are out 50 dollars, and have a crappy game.
The BX here still is charging 40 dollars for IGN 2, and so that creates more problems.
They also went and bought like 200 copies of 50 cent bullet proof and didnt sell those well enough. So now they are out about $ 1,000.
And all sorts of other crud. lost train of though.. hunger... Dave and Busters soon.
ARG, Ye maties!
But the people who crack down on it aren't exactly good guys either.
Let's think about it.
If somehow pirating was stopped tomorrow, do you even think for a second that game developers would put more money into their games or pass down even a slight fraction of the extra money onto the consumer?
No chance in hell.
These people only make things we like because it makes them money. They know people are used to todays game prices, so why would they have a reason to lower them?
This is a business, not a charity.