NationStates Jolt Archive

http://gamepolitics.com/2008/02/12/esa-wants-govt-help-against-canada-others-over-game-piracy/

Or so sayeth the ESA.
But, judging by the comments on the article, it seems Canada has stricter copyright laws than the US. Of course, it ALSO seems that Canadian politicians are more vulnerable to bri-...lobbying than Swedish politicians.
Ah, well. So much for my plans to run a massive software piracy ring through Canada. Guess I'll take my business to...uh...Poland.

Laws are no good unless they are enforced. Apparently Canadians are to busy enforcing drunkenness and getting high to bother with something like copyright laws.

Open Letter to the ESA:

STOP MAKING SHITTY GAMES WITH NO DEMOS AND PEOPLE WILL PAY THE $50 TO PLAY THEM.

Oh, I forgot it's Canada, make that $80 for no reason at all.

Open Letter to the ESA:

STOP MAKING SHITTY GAMES WITH NO DEMOS AND PEOPLE WILL PAY THE $50 TO PLAY THEM.

Make games that are worth replaying.

Laws are no good unless they are enforced. Apparently Canadians are to busy enforcing drunkenness and getting high to bother with something like copyright laws.
At least they've got their priorities right. =)

Countries that support computer and video game piracy discourage publishers from establishing viable and legitimate markets… In 2007, our industry had a record-breaking year with receipts totaling $18.85 billion, but piracy closes off promising markets, artificially limiting our industry’s ability to contribute even more economic growth to the American high-tech economy and economies of our trading partners.

Does anyone else feel bad for them only making a record 18.85 billion? I mean they could have made more if everyone followed the rules!

Edit: Also the comment about legitimate markets is moot because of the Internet and international shipping. Literally everywhere is a legitimate market. Also want to pile on the comments earlier about the $50 shitty games. How many times have we all been burned and felt like our $50 was stolen by a over hyped piece of crap game? Where is our justice?

Edit: Also the comment about legitimate markets is moot because of the Internet and international shipping. Literally everywhere is a legitimate market. Also want to pile on the comments earlier about the $50 shitty games. How many times have we all been burned and felt like our $50 was stolen by a over hyped piece of crap game? Where is our justice?

It was also pointed out in the comments that people who pirate games usually dont buy them even if theyre made avalible for a lower price or if the copy protection is increased.
Somebody posted an article about a casual games company that published a game and found out that they had a %92 piracy rate. Increased copy protection saw purchases rise %30 or something like that.

I also like how they just assume that people pirating games in, say, India, can AFFORD to buy a game for the equivalent of $50. The CIA world factbook says the average income there is $2,700/year.
I dont know about you, but I wouldnt risk %2 of MY yearly income on what, these days, is good odds that the item your purchasing a) Wont work or b) Sucks. And since most stores refuse to allow returns of already-open games, its pretty much a big 'screw you' to people who feel ripped off.

Try the Caymen Islands. *nods*

It was also pointed out in the comments that people who pirate games usually dont buy them even if theyre made avalible for a lower price
Because they are still shitty, overpriced games that you can't try out before buying. Nor can you return them.

or if the copy protection is increased.
99% of the time more copy protection hurts legitimate consumers more than pirates.

Because they are still shitty, overpriced games that you can't try out before buying. Nor can you return them.
Quite. And those games that have demos now arent too helpful either, since they tend to be ~10 minutes long (and a 1gb download to boot).

99% of the time more copy protection hurts legitimate consumers more than pirates.
That was discussed extensivly in the comments as well. Bioshock was used as a prime example where many legit customers were locked out by its limited installation thingy, while most who downloaded it illigaly had a crack within a couple days of its release.

In 2007, our industry had a record-breaking year with receipts totaling $18.85 billion, but piracy closes off promising markets, artificially limiting our industry’s ability to contribute even more economic growth to the American high-tech economy and economies of our trading partners.

You poor corporate executives...only 18.85 Billion Dollars...

We look forward to working with USTR and other supporting government agencies to achieve tangible results and hopefully succeed in lowering piracy in these key countries. Freeing these markets from the pirates’ stranglehold will also help empower a local video game economy.

No just because someone pirated a game, and then couldn't later doesn't mean they'll then buy your game...

As we believe that we are decreasing the number of pirates downloading the game with our DRM fixes, combining the increased sales number together with the decreased downloads, we find 1 additional sale for every 1,000 less pirated downloads. Put another way, for every 1,000 pirated copies we eliminated, we created 1 additional sale.

Link (http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=17350)