This Press Release just crossed my desk. Apparently yet another software police NGO (non governmental organization) has appeared to kick ass in the US while letting things languish in Asia. Full press release below.
Entertainment Software Association Applauds Anti-Piracy Action
Federal Law Enforcement Charges Los Angeles-Area Game Store Owners
December 20, 2005 – Washington, DC – The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) today applauded the federal government’s crackdown on a major pirate game retailer in the Los Angeles area. After raiding ACME Game Store on Melrose Avenue, law enforcement officials charged the two store owners and a third man with both conspiring to commit criminal copyright infringement and to traffic in a technology used to circumvent a copyright protection system.
“We thank these government agencies for their commitment to combating intellectual property theft, and we will do whatever we can to support a successful prosecution of those charged in this pirate ring,” said Douglas Lowenstein, president of ESA, the trade association representing U.S. computer and video game publishers. “Our industry will continue to support all government efforts to fight game piracy in its many different forms.”
The three men charged in the complaint were ACME Game Store co-owner Jason Jones, 34, of Los Angeles; ACME Game Store co-owner Jonathan Bryant, 44, of Los Angeles; and, Pei “Patrick” Cai, 32, of Pico Rivera. According to the federal criminal complaint, co-owners Jones and Bryant sold modified Xbox consoles pre-loaded with copyrighted games out of their Melrose Avenue store. The consoles were modified by Cai out of his home, which was also raided by federal authorities.
The federal action was carried out through the joint participation of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California and the United States Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”).
Trafficking in a technology that circumvents the copyright protections systems used by game publishers to protect their intellectual property rights violates the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The DMCA, which was enacted in 1998, prohibits the manufacture and distribution of products or services that circumvent technological protection measures designed to prevent unauthorized access to and copying of copyrighted materials.
The ESA is the U.S. association dedicated to serving the business and public affairs needs of the companies publishing interactive games for video game consoles, handheld devices, personal computers, and the Internet. ESA members collectively account for more than 90 percent of the $7.3 billion in entertainment software sales in the U.S. in 2004, and billions more in export sales of entertainment software. For more information about the ESA, please visit www.theESA.com.
I have been to flea markets and have seen tons of pirated software. I saw one guy selling XP pro+Office+Photoshop with working keys for $30 a bundle. He told me he got it from Malaysia by the pallets. The product looked pretty good and the average customer wouldn’t question it. He said he could get DVD movies but the local sheriff asked him to stop selling that.
Steve: I agree that software is overpriced, but Wal-Mart is not the best example to support your argument. They’re paying less than $10 a day for people to make their products in China. The labor costs on those products is essentially nothing. Watch the new Wal-Mart documentary (the negative one, not the positive one) for more info.
“It’s a well known fact that cops are only concerned about crime when there’s someone bitching about it, or when there’s a body.”
Well, yes. That’s how it should be. Police officers don’t have the resources to catch rapists and murderers, so it seems like ensuring more profit for multi-million dollar companies would be somewhat far down on the list.
I would like to know where people’s priorities are. People on the street. Children starving. People without health care.
And we’re all upset about enuring that Hollywood and MS make their money? This is seriously one of the biggest moral screw-ups I can think of. And this from a government that appears to think of itself as the morality police.
I don’t recall a commandment regarding profits on software.
amen mr newlin. I have said for years Photoshop, witch is probebly the most bootleg software out there whould not be pirated if it were cheaper or at least not to the degree it is now. You are more likly to pay for something you feel is fairly priced.
Steve, Bob:
We live in a capitalist society (praise the lord), where the concepts of overpriced and underpriced shouldn’t really exist. Things are priced by the market (buyers vs. sellers).
Putting aside my disgust with having to factor “the ability to easily steal” in what the market price is, Photoshop probably presumes that it would make more money selling fewer units, but at a higher price. In products where there is a great flexibility in costs/prices, lots of thought goes into what’s the right price. Many software companies have gone out of business regardless of how low they price something.
I’m sure when either of you sell your car/house, you try to get as much money as you can, regardless of what you paid for it, whether the potential buyer desparately needs housing, etc.
“Can someone explain to me how CyberLink can sell DVD software for a whopping $69.95 (no case or CD, that’s the download price) when Wal-Mart can sell a complete DVD player for only $38.76?”
Excellent question. I think that software, not all software, is a big rip off. Look at music. The radio just played 12 songs, which cost me nothing. A CD with 12 songs costs you $15.00 or more and then installs an illegal root kit or who knows what on your machine.
I think the software industry, like the music industry is hurting itself trying to control things that are not within their control. Then they use propaganda, slick PR and marketing to try getting people to think a certain way. They promote what is called digital rights and few people can actually explain what digital rights are. They come up with protection features, which are always cracked by somebody, then use corporate police state tactics to go after the so called pirates. Sony or any company has a greater capacity for doing wrong than a single user. I believe there is no such thing as digital rights. It’s a myth to justify monopoly control and behavior by large corporations like MS and Sony. They are selling digital rights management software, which somebody will illegally copy and give away to people who find they don’t need it. I guess people are data hungry. My DVD player was twenty five bucks. I’ve spent more on media than the player over the years. They made money from me, but they can’t get enough. These guys make billions of dollars and sit around bitching and moaning about the average user using the tools they invented to do what they invented them to do. You can buy a burner but you can only burn what they want you to burn on a disc. You can burn your own OS, music or whatever now, which means people will do it if it saves time or money. You can’t build your own DVD player which is good news for Wal-Mart or K-Mart. The big problem is competition, which is also the solution.
>other software, then why are so many people taking it without paying?! >year. The fact that such egregious infringement is occurring is proof that >the prices have exceeded their market worth.
No, it means that people are willing to steal because the benefits of stealing are worth the possible costs. Why are people willing to steal cars? Obviously the car companies are charging too much and should just give away Escalades.
So what if Cyberlink has no manufacturing costs? They have to recoup their production costs, to a point where it’s worthwhile. They are entitled to charge what they want, and if you think it’s too high, then don’t buy it. As it is, it is very easy to get the software for a lower price. Buy a DVD drive with the software included. About $30, and then you could then turn around and sell the drive for $20 on Ebay.
We’re at a point with technology where hardware, after it has gone through a few generations, is cheaper to produce than software. It’s that simple.
Likewise, the risk of stealing software is nill. The worst that’s ever happened was the MPAA nailing a few people for distributing music, and we all bitched about the MPAA’s actions… not the crooks.
Meanwhile, the risk of stealing a DVD player, even at Wal-Mart, is high.