IEAA strikes at Piracy
September 5th 2007 03:17
People who play pirated games, please put your hands up. No? Then I'll just assume the smiles mean otherwise. Piracy is a common problem in the videogame industry like pirated DVD's are for the movies, and Australia's videogames “watchdog” the Interactive Entertainment Association (IEAA), is sick of it.
The IEAA has shown their support for Sony's and Microsoft's initiative in bringing down the iron bars over game seller, Mr Wen Bin Gu, for selling hundreds of pirated games across Australia.
The case against Mr Gru in the Federal Court will see his assets frozen until it is resolved and fined a non-trivial settlement of AUS$190,000.
Chris Hanlon, CEO of the IEAA, has said this case will be the catalyst in preventing piracy games from being sold
"This case should serve as a warning to those organisations involved in the importing, distributing and selling of illegal pirated games," Mr Hanlon said.
“(We are) committed to taking whatever steps are needed to protect its members copyright. For the games industry to continue to innovate and be vibrant it needs to protect its IP."
The IEAA claims piracy has cost over AUS$100 million of lost revenue each year.
Essays can be written over how piracy has been slowly killing the industry and with little chance of getting caught, making it seemingly impossible to stop. The bottom line is that the IEAA is just one combined industry entity that plans to stop the gaming world from falling.
FACT: A 2004 research revealed 41 per cent of people would knowingly buy pirated games if it were 75 per cent cheaper than the market price.
*Sourced from IEAA and PALGN
| 56 |
| Vote |
Add To: 
subscribe to this blog
