ESA Canada Schmoozes Lawmakers with Games, Anti-Piracy Pitch
ESA Canada Schmoozes Lawmakers with Games, Anti-Piracy Pitch
April 24, 2009
When the video game industry makes a lobbying push, it brings along the fun.
Canada.com reports that lawmakers played video games while ESA Canada execs pushed anti-piracy legislation this week at a lobbying event for members of Parliament in Ottowa.:
Conservative MP Mike Lake... took a break from playing the popular video game NHL 09 at the event, to talk about the ESAC's requests [for increased piracy protection].
Lake said the government plans to introduce a copyright bill, but wouldn't say exactly when. "It should happen in this Parliament," he offered.
The MP, whose Edmonton riding includes major game developer BioWare, said the bill is a "priority" for the government, adding the bill, if turned into law, wouldn't just benefit the gaming industry, but the music, movie and television industries also.
ESA Canada has been pushing hard in recent times for a north-of-the-border version of the USA's controversial Digital Millenium Copyright Act. Danielle Parr, executive director of ESA Canada, said:
At the federal level, the primary issue for us... is the protection of intellectual property... We really urge [Parliament] to [pass the legislation] as soon as possible... In Canada, [mod chips] are not illegal. They're illegal in virtually every other country.
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Posted 11/07/09 at 04:27pm
ZippyDSMlee: man I got alot of junk and dup files too >< god I need orginization...and no not the knee capping media mafia kind :P
ZippyDSMlee: man I got alot of junk and dup files too >< god I need orginization...and no not the knee capping media mafia kind :P
Posted 11/07/09 at 04:26pm
ZippyDSMlee: replaced :P
ZippyDSMlee: replaced :P
Posted 11/07/09 at 04:23pm
ZippyDSMlee: beemoh:hey its like 60GB porn,400GB anime 100GB games and crap I have took from all my DVDs, I hate waiting on dvds to install stuff..... oh and 40GB of my porn was in the found.000 folder...mostly corrupted.... least I got names of wut needs to be repa
ZippyDSMlee: beemoh:hey its like 60GB porn,400GB anime 100GB games and crap I have took from all my DVDs, I hate waiting on dvds to install stuff..... oh and 40GB of my porn was in the found.000 folder...mostly corrupted.... least I got names of wut needs to be repa
Posted 11/07/09 at 04:18pm
beemoh: @Zip: ...and you'd have to spend all that time re-downloading that porn?
beemoh: @Zip: ...and you'd have to spend all that time re-downloading that porn?
Posted 11/07/09 at 03:34pm
ZippyDSMlee: ggrrrrr......vista lost one of my hard drives and I had a heart attack thinking I lost 1TB of data....
ZippyDSMlee: ggrrrrr......vista lost one of my hard drives and I had a heart attack thinking I lost 1TB of data....
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:58am
JDKJ: Which could be explained by both (a) and (b).
JDKJ: Which could be explained by both (a) and (b).
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:56am
Austin_Lewis: JDKJ: You forgot C) the fact that, for some reason, every time he did something that would suggest he shouldn't be in the military, let alone an officer, higher ups ignored it or let it slide.
Austin_Lewis: JDKJ: You forgot C) the fact that, for some reason, every time he did something that would suggest he shouldn't be in the military, let alone an officer, higher ups ignored it or let it slide.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:51am
JDKJ: Part of the problem is, I believe, that (a) the Army had a lot of time and money already invested in him and which they were unwilling to simply write-off and (b) an increasing need for the type of skills and services he provided.
JDKJ: Part of the problem is, I believe, that (a) the Army had a lot of time and money already invested in him and which they were unwilling to simply write-off and (b) an increasing need for the type of skills and services he provided.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:48am
JDKJ: And that even if he was begging not to get cut loose, he was apparently a real good candidate for being cut loose, anyway.
JDKJ: And that even if he was begging not to get cut loose, he was apparently a real good candidate for being cut loose, anyway.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:11am
JDKJ: @chada: And while Kennedy once noted that there's usually more than enough blame for everyone to get a slice, the possibility that the Army was unwilling to cut loose someone who was asking to get cut loose could be a factor.
JDKJ: @chada: And while Kennedy once noted that there's usually more than enough blame for everyone to get a slice, the possibility that the Army was unwilling to cut loose someone who was asking to get cut loose could be a factor.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:07am
ZippyDSMlee: *noms on his feet*..nomnomnomnom*droooll* ...wuuutttttt uuu looking at?
ZippyDSMlee: *noms on his feet*..nomnomnomnom*droooll* ...wuuutttttt uuu looking at?
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:05am
JDKJ: I'm no psychologist, but I'm told that crazy people have a tendency to do crazy things.
JDKJ: I'm no psychologist, but I'm told that crazy people have a tendency to do crazy things.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:03am
chadachada321: Whoops, was out of the convo for awhile. I do wonder what type of ammo he used etc, but the real issue is WHY he did it, not HOW
chadachada321: Whoops, was out of the convo for awhile. I do wonder what type of ammo he used etc, but the real issue is WHY he did it, not HOW
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:56am
JDKJ: But if it turns out that they actually did, they'll have Hell to pay.
JDKJ: But if it turns out that they actually did, they'll have Hell to pay.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:45am
JDKJ: And I'd tend to rule out the possibilty of FN Herstal supplying restricted ammunition to someone merely because they're ordering it from a military base.
JDKJ: And I'd tend to rule out the possibilty of FN Herstal supplying restricted ammunition to someone merely because they're ordering it from a military base.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:37am
JDKJ: I know you don't leave your gated community and get around much in dark alleys, so you may be surprised to learn that there's this thing called "the black market" where, if you've got enough money, ain't too much of anything which can't be bought.
JDKJ: I know you don't leave your gated community and get around much in dark alleys, so you may be surprised to learn that there's this thing called "the black market" where, if you've got enough money, ain't too much of anything which can't be bought.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:36am
Austin_Lewis: Or, maybe he or someone else at the base ordered the SS190 from FN Herstal.
Austin_Lewis: Or, maybe he or someone else at the base ordered the SS190 from FN Herstal.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:32am
Austin_Lewis: the hands of private owners. They run about 300 dollars minimum for a box of 50, and boxes of AP 5.7 are extremely scarce, mainly residing in the hands of Class III stores or individuals who for one reason or another got a demo box of it.
Austin_Lewis: the hands of private owners. They run about 300 dollars minimum for a box of 50, and boxes of AP 5.7 are extremely scarce, mainly residing in the hands of Class III stores or individuals who for one reason or another got a demo box of it.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:30am
Austin_Lewis: There are other firearms that fire the 5.7. However, I too would like to know where he got the ammo and what kind was used. Maybe Hasan, planning not to live through this, went out and bought one the boxes of SS190 that are floating around in
Austin_Lewis: There are other firearms that fire the 5.7. However, I too would like to know where he got the ammo and what kind was used. Maybe Hasan, planning not to live through this, went out and bought one the boxes of SS190 that are floating around in
Posted 11/07/09 at 08:44am
JDKJ: And it isn't yet clear what type of ammunition Hasan used. It's strange that he purchased a gun but didn't purchase ammunition for it at the same place and time. Especially because the calibre required is peculiar to the actual gun.
JDKJ: And it isn't yet clear what type of ammunition Hasan used. It's strange that he purchased a gun but didn't purchase ammunition for it at the same place and time. Especially because the calibre required is peculiar to the actual gun.
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Comments
Hate being this guy, but it's Ottawa.
Also, we're already taxed on all recordable media. I thought that was our compromise to avoid DMCA.
I think only recordable CD's are taxed and that goes to the recording industry (not the video game companies). Blank DVDs on the other hand are not taxed at all. Maybe they should be though. I wouldn't mind paying a few cents more per disc if it kept insane laws similar to the DMCA out of Canada. But wait. with the growing popularity of iPods (and similar devices) as well as the low price of high capacity external HDD's, who even uses blank CDs and DVDs anymore? The only time I've used my DVD drive is to re-install Windows periodically.
Now even if such a law WAS passed, what would happen next? They would start tapping into P2P networks looking for filesharers like they do in several other countries? We all know how well that usually goes. Not only that, it wouldn't be difficult for me to purchase a premium rapidshare account and download easily while avoiding detection from the ESA/MAFIAA spies.
Also, mod-chips have more uses than allowing free and rampant piracy (although I have to admit, that is their most common use):
A. They let you run home-brewn applications on your console with FULL access to all the hardware (console manufacturers typically do not like this for whatever reason)
B. They let you play backup copies of your games so that you don't ruin your original discs (higher resale value when you eventually do sell the game since it will still be in perfect condition)
You forget they consider B. a clear case of piracy, and if you read the legal garbage that comes with your console, you are more or less leasing the console. So they feel it is with in their rights not to allow A.
~Weatherlight~
"In Canada, [mod chips] are not illegal. They're illegal in virtually every other country."
That's like winning Olympic Gold in the high jump and then saying "wait, wait, lower the bar, I think I can do worse!" :(
Or like seeing everybody else trip over their hurdles, assuming that's what you're supposed to do too, and tripping over the next one intentionally.
Sadly, the Tories wouldn't catch either of those references, as they don't care enough to properly fund our Olympic athletes.
---
The Mammon Philosophy
Bioware, home province REPRESENT!
Anyways, I don't think Bioware would be very supportive of this measure as they very well know that DRM does more harm than good to their industry. Or maybe i'm wrong since basically every game they have released past KOTOR 1 has included some kind of form of DRM.
The only reason why Piracy is rampant is because of Digitial Rights Media in which has hurt the sales of all major gaming companies and because of other instrusive methods in the game.
ESA give me a break, go after the game developers you all want to stop selling used games gain another profit well throwing out crappy buggy games and then whining. Remember when the Gears of War Developer whined because people said the PC port was crappy but of course he was silent when the DRM made all games fail because it was programmed to fail after a certain date.
@Neo_DrKefka: The Gears of War incident wasn't DRM though. It had to do with the anti-cheat system misfiring thanks to a digital certificate on the game's executable expiring when the developers forgot to replace the one used in Beta Testing with something suitable for an actual release (i.e. NO expiry). In fact, I don't think this article even has to do with DRM at all but it sure is a good motivator to pirate. Even when it's not implemented in an insane sort of way, DRM in general still has really gotten a bad reputation after Spore and thus becomes an instant turn off for many people.
@lumi: I agree with your analogy 100%. Just because "the majority" in the group do something, it does not make it the better choice. To be honest, Canada seems to be one of the few countries that still has relatively mild copyright laws. USA has it a LOT worse and in UK it's just insane (i.e. never mind games, you can't even sing Happy Birthday in public without a license).
Fair use? Backups of media you own?
The ESA knows not these things.
Nooo, and I was so happy about living in Canada, the last bastion of sanity in a world gone mad with copyright.
If it's anything at all like the DMCA that would be terrible. I do know that there are some MPs that are heavily against anything like the DMCA but I don't know if they'll be able to make their voices heard amidst the lobbying pressure.
*sigh* is all this Ottawan can say
DRM has been unpopular whenever it becomes intrusive.
I am in a financial position to buy any game I want. However at times I must ask myself now, is it better to buy the game and have some intrusive DRM disable my virtual drives or Blue Ray. HD-DVD, DVD drives and take full access to my computer disabling all my drives or pirating a copy in which has been cleaned of the intrusive DRM not to mention most CD Checks and DRM has been disabled which makes my game run 110% faster.
Before Bit Torrent sites, all there was, was Warez sites in which honestly if you download a game, you’ll most likely download a virus. The risk of downloading a virus on a Bit Torrent Site is rare and if it happens it’s because the RIAA, MPAA are uploading viruses or disturbing a torrent.
Also you were not very honest in your answer or you’re new to the gaming scene. DRM became extremely unpopular and higher criticized by StarForce. We all tend to forget about one of the most corrupt organizations out there. Installing a PC game bundled with Star Force only meant your computer was infected with one of the most complex virus ever seen. Well, I am kind of exaggerating but the affects of Star Force are still out there for those unlucky enough to buy a PC game in the bargain bin at an old store.
Developers are so pompous in which they can’t seem to understand why PC gaming is failing. Bad ports, and intrusive methods of DRM are the reason.
Back in the days of Yore before CD Checks, they used to make you read the entire instruction book and then take a quiz before each and every time you play which is no joke. Even for Street Fighter on the PC you needed to take a long quiz before you can play. And when that stopped PC Gaming boomed.
ECA and game developers are you listening?!