ESA Cheers For Pirates' Prison Sentences

[wraggster]

The Entertainment Software Association issued a press release today that for once wasn't scolding a U.S. state for pursuing unconstitutional game legislation. Instead, they take a moment to applaud the sentencing of two convicted software pirates - Kevin Fuchs of New York and Kifah Maswadi of Florida, both of whom received prison terms for their efforts at taking away money from hardworking developers and publishers.


“We commend the U.S. Department of Justice Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Western District of North Carolina and the Eastern District of Virginia and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for their work in bringing these criminals to justice,” said Michael D. Gallagher, CEO of the ESA... “These decisions illustrate, once again, that game piracy will not be tolerated and the extent at which these criminals will be prosecuted. The ESA and its members will continue to support law enforcement’s efforts to protect the intellectual property of our industry.”

It's just another friendly way of saying don't f*** with the ESA.

http://kotaku.com/5043123/esa-cheers-for-pirates-prison-sentences

[uberjack]

You're looking at guys that made hundreds of thousands of dollars selling pirated software. Cost to them: $0, cost to whichever sucker bought their bogus (and illegal) software: >$0

I personally think that these guys deserve whatever comes their way. These aren't two-bit pirates that are just hoarding software. These guys made a nice living out of stealing and scamming others.

[elk1007]

You're looking at guys that made hundreds of thousands of dollars selling pirated software. Cost to them: $0, cost to whichever sucker bought their bogus (and illegal) software: >$0

I personally think that these guys deserve whatever comes their way. These aren't two-bit pirates that are just hoarding software. These guys made a nice living out of stealing and scamming others.

I agree.

I have no problem with personal piracy.
Commercial piracy does logically take money from the developers.

[ricosuavez]

+1
agree with both above me... you sum it up nice...:thumbup:

[Kulawend]

Although I agree that pirating software is very wrong, I think that law enforcement should spend more time/energy/money into cleaning things like drugs, prostitution, and violence off the streets instead of chasing after software pirates who are relatively less dangerous in comparison.

[osgeld]

i agree pirating software is wrong

but theres no mention of them making profit doing this

not that im supporting it, im just pointing it out to those that assume they are living the high life, mass distributing under commercial pretenses

in these days where gas cost more than you get paid maybe, just maybe they had a reason (doubtful tho)

and if you support personal piracy, your in danger too, you may not be making a profit, you might even be taking a loss being the "cool guy" but your still a pirate and you will receive the most extreme punishment possible, cause your doing the hot topic "something terrible"

[Veskgar]

This is great and all, but until government expends resources on tackling problems that pose a PHYSICAL threat to citizens and their families, I think their priorities are misaligned.

I'm mainly referring to illegal immigration. My country is being invaded at a time when the financial, housing, and retail markets are not doing so well.

Tackling piracy is great. But lets not forget the past couple years have seen record growth and profits in the video game industry. The video gaming industry, if not already, is on its way to surpassing the movie industry.

[RamZee]

...but theres no mention of them making profit doing this
After a quick google search (as I'm unfamiliar with either case) it seems:-

1. Fuchs passed on pre-release copies of games to the warez scene. So no personal profit but potentially lost sales.

and

2. Kifah Maswadi was selling a cheap $24 TV Game that is a NES/Famicom clone with ~75 built in games. Clearly a breach of copyright by the manufacturer and personal profit for Maswadi but no lost sales to Nintendo (The Wii channel has a different demographic).

IMHO both have been punitively punished as a warning to others, rather than with consideration to the harm done.

I wonder how far ESA would like to go if it were unrestrained by consumer law.