Is Pirate System Available Through Amazon?

August 20, 2008

Yesterday GamePolitics covered the Justice Department's announcement that 24-year-old Kifah Maswadi had been sentenced to 15 months jail time and fined $415,000.

His offense?

Selling the Power Player system, a handheld which connects to a television and offers players access to 76 old - but still copyrighted - NES games.

While federal court documents indicate that it took an FBI undercover operation to bring Maswadi down, we note that the Super Joy Power Player III remains available for purchase - right out in the open - on Amazon.com. While the system is not sold by Amazon itself, seven Amazon "sellers" offer the item under the Amazon logo, including Texas-based Anythingonsale and Darmah76 from New York. Prices range from $11.99 to $40.00.

The Amazon product description page describes the system, along with some of the NES titles it plays:

Included: Main System Controller, Joystick Control Pad, Light Gun, AC Adapter & AV Cable. Play Games Like Super Mario Bros., Pac-Man, 1942, Stargate, Joust, Dig-Dug, Galaga, Contra, Hogan's Alley, Donkey Kong, Space Invaders & Popeye.

Although Amazon provides the sales platform for its registered sellers, it is unclear how much oversight takes place. The Amazon sellers program website offers the following blanket disclaimer regarding copyright violations:

Amazon is not involved in the actual transaction between Sellers and Buyers... As a Seller, you may list any item on the Site unless it is a prohibited item... Without limitation, you may not list any item or link or post any related material that (a) infringes any third-party intellectual property rights (including copyright, trademark, patent, and trade secrets) or other proprietary rights... or (c) is counterfeited, illegal, stolen, or fraudulent.
 

With other sellers still openly peddling the Power Player, why was the FBI so interested in Maswadi?


Comments

Re: Is Pirate System Available Through Amazon?

I'm all for freedom of ttnet vitamin speech and allowing rent a car game makers to put whatever they want in games, but there's one thing about this app that has me scratching my head.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but from araç kiralama the previous article araba kiralama on this I gathered that players can use Google maps in-game to find the other (real-life?) dealers in their area.  If this is the case, has travesti anyone considered what's stopping someone from using this app to actually move drugs between hands for reals?

But majority araba kiralama of their outrage araç kiralama stems from what it could DO TO children, not the content itself.  Talk to one of these people and you'll find they don't think any books kiralık araba should be banned from children.  Mention American Psycho and they talk about kiralık araç the redeeming value of using imagination to construct a story.  Reading, no matter what the content, is largely viewed as a consequenceless activity for people of any age.  The reason why I mention American Psycho is because of the content itself.  Gaming never has and likely never will have any scenes where someone has sex with a severed head.  Not gonna happen.  Yet despite this, they'll fight tooth and nail to protect their children from two boys kissing in Bully but whatever they read is harmless... yeah.

The entire arguement is kiralık oto based upon a social normality inflicted by luddites who can't figure out the controls for Halo so it's frightening and terrifying and obviously the cause of youth violence on the rise even though, in reality, it's in decline (which is actually a HUGE suprise given minibüs kiralama the economies status).  In  a perfect world, we would have parents that actually parent.  The idea of sales restrictions on media on oto kiralama any form to accomidate parental unwillingness to get involved with their child's life is the real problem to me.  Here I am, 32 years old, and being held up at a self-scan rent a car needing to show ID before I can buy a $10 M rated game all because Soccer Momthra can't be bothered to look at the crap Billy Genericallystupidson does in his free time.  It's too hard for her, so I have to suffer?

Re: Is Pirate System Available Through Amazon?

I owned one of them sadly.  They sold one when my family and i went down to wildwood NJ many years ago.  it had "1000" games (by which was like the same 10 or so games repeated under a different file name).  It was meh...neat that it could actually play other NES games if I had the RIGHT MEANS TO DO SO.  It was a stupid cheap plastic toy that passed the time.  Glad I don't have it anymore...Wii does a better job.

Re: Is Pirate System Available Through Amazon?

A friend of mine ran a mall kiosks during the Christmas season. He spoke with the distributor of the product, intending to sell it, but backed out when he found out it wasn't an official Nintendo product. He sent a notice to Nintendo years ago about it.

Re: Is Pirate System Available Through Amazon?

Gave Amazon a notice that the product is the result if violating Copyright, etc. We'll see if they take it down.

---- There is a limit for both politicians against video games, and video games against politicians. http://www.goteamretard.com

Re: Is Pirate System Available Through Amazon?

I believe this is a racial case, they coming after him becuase of his name.

Re: Is Pirate System Available Through Amazon?

You're right. It has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that he created the product and marketed it and sold it. It is all becasue of the color of skin his name reminds you of.

E. Zachary Knight
http://www.editorialgames.com
Oklahoma City Chapter of the ECA
MySpace Page: http://www.myspace.com/okceca
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Re: Is Pirate System Available Through Amazon?

He created the Power Player? Wow, here I thought most famiclones originated from Asia. So did he create the "famicom on a chip" too?

Re: Is Pirate System Available Through Amazon?

This is a pirate issue, so why are we making it a racial issue?

Re: Is Pirate System Available Through Amazon?

contra... my favourite game when i was kid... i spend hours and hours playing it...

Re: Is Pirate System Available Through Amazon?

Clearly they're interested in him because he has a scary brown-skinned-sounding name.  Fucking pigs.

Re: Is Pirate System Available Through Amazon?

"With other sellers still openly peddling the Power Player, why was the FBI so interested in Maswadi?"

because he invented, produced, and wholsaled the units? These guys are probably selling them second hand....

Re: Is Pirate System Available Through Amazon?

They sell this exact thing at the Brea Mall in one of those little shop Kiosks. They have been selling these things for years now.

Re: Is Pirate System Available Through Amazon?

you sure it's the same thing? there are many "plug it in and play old games" machines out there, but most of them have license agreements with the copyright holders of the games available.

Re: Is Pirate System Available Through Amazon?

No it is the exact one. I am thinking about having some fun with the annoying people who work at the kiosk :D.

Re: Is Pirate System Available Through Amazon?

"With other sellers still openly peddling the Power Player, why was the FBI so interested in Maswadi?"

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say it's because Maswadi made over $390,000 selling the systems (as reported on this very site) and admitted to knowing that the systems infringed on copyright (again, as reported on this very site).

Re: Is Pirate System Available Through Amazon?

With other sellers still openly peddling the Power Player, why was the FBI so interested in Maswadi?

Look at his name. Sadly, there IS still discrimination. A Smith would probably get off a lot easier.

Re: Is Pirate System Available Through Amazon?

Bullshit.

You have no idea how the FBI is forced to work.  Read above for the reason.

~~All Knowledge is Worth Having~~

~~All Knowledge is Worth Having~~

Re: Is Pirate System Available Through Amazon?

This is not terribly surprising.

If you poke around amazon, pirated material is pretty easy to find.   I have not peeked in a while but I know that anime searches used to return piles of pirated 'imports' for sale, mostly from a few very well revied sellers.

Re: Is Pirate System Available Through Amazon?

the freelaoder and Gamecube action reply are dubed "pirated material" by ebay, so I would not be suprised is amazon had thigns the indutry "dislikes" lol.

 

I is fuzzy brained mew =^^=
http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com/
(in need of a bad overhaul)


Copyright infringement is nothing more than civil disobedience to a bad set of laws. Let's renegotiate them.

---

http://zippydsm.deviantart.com/

Re: Is Pirate System Available Through Amazon?

Hmm, guess I should weigh in on this since my bachelors is in victim studies (criminal justice). Despite what is said, the FBI has a rather extensive protocal for investigative work. For everything to be "legal" they have to do x and y, have definitive proof of z, and etc.

Besides, the general tactic for them is to scare the pants off a group by prosecuting an individual. Do the work on one person to stop an entire group, or at least that's the thought. It's not very productive in today's society... but there you have it.

Re: Is Pirate System Available Through Amazon?

God, I see crap-mongers flogging these pieces of shit downtown all the time!

Personally, I'll stick with my emulators.

-------------------------------------------------- I LIKE the fence. I get 2 groups to laugh at then.

Re: Is Pirate System Available Through Amazon?

ya emluation on the DS and PSP andin genreal is still light years beyond what teh retial emu stuff is, really the indutry neds to catch up...

I is fuzzy brained mew =^^=
http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com/
(in need of a bad overhaul)


Copyright infringement is nothing more than civil disobedience to a bad set of laws. Let's renegotiate them.

---

http://zippydsm.deviantart.com/

Re: Is Pirate System Available Through Amazon?

Because the random poor guy makes the better scape goat, that or the FBI is truly inpt...

I is fuzzy brained mew =^^=
http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com/
(in need of a bad overhaul)


Copyright infringement is nothing more than civil disobedience to a bad set of laws. Let's renegotiate them.

---

http://zippydsm.deviantart.com/

 
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