The pirating of video games has been around since games came on the archaic five-and-a-quarter inch floppy disks. Now as pirates have become more resilient, video game manufacturers have become more aggressive.
When games still came on floppy disks, it was easy for people to copy games from one disk to another, according to www.gamespot.com. It was illegal, but it was easy. People would make copies for their friends, but it was never as organized as it is today.
Now piracy has become much more complex. Video game companies such as Nintendo are asking for more help from foreign governments in the enforcement of copyright protection laws, according to a press release from Nintendo.
“China remains the world’s principal site for manufacturing of pirated cartridge-based video games, and Paraguay is a major transshipment point for regional distribution of pirated goods in the Western Hemisphere,” said Jodi Daugherty, director of anti-piracy for Nintendo of America in a press release. “In Mexico, Nintendo has been battling with a pirate over its famous Game Boy trademark for 10 years.”
Nintendo has continued to take action against video game pirates including 135 anti-piracy raids in China in 2002. According to a press release, those raids seized one million counterfeit products in 2002 which cost the company and its publishers and developers an estimated $649 million in lost sales.
Video game producers also are chasing pirates that do not sell physical copies of the games, but are using the Internet to distribute digital copies of the games known as “roms” and “warez.”
Last year, Nintendo and 11 other members of the Interactive Digital Software Association brought a lawsuit against four Web site operators for the alleged distribution of copyrighted materials. According to an IDSA press release, the Web site owners allegedly promoted copyright infringement by allowing visitors the ability to download illegal copies of games’ Web sites.
“These cases are part of our stepped up campaign against online piracy,” said Doug Lowenstein, president of the IDSA on its’ Web site www.idsa.com. “Unlike the first round we filed a few months ago, these cases target Internet warez and rom sites where games can be downloaded. We intend to continue our investigations of Internet copyright infringements and to file additional cases shortly.”
As video game developers attempt to crack down on the illegal copying of their software and video game pirates continue to find new ways to elude capture, the average consumer is forced to pay more for their products.