Games lead charge on piracy fight

The video games industry is well ahead of music and DVD when it comes to combating IP theft, says trade body ELSPA.

The UK games industry was instrumental in securing prison sentences for 13 game pirates last year, and already in 2010 a further three people have been sent to jail for IP theft offences.

We are unique compared to the other digital industries because we spend millions protecting the product – both games and consoles – which is certainly not the case with music and film,” said ELSPA’s IP crime unit manager John Hillier.

This goes down well with the enforcement agencies, such as trading standards. We can show them that we have tried our best to protect our product.

It’s interesting to hear the comments made by judges. They treat piracy very seriously. It has taken potential jobs away from the games industry and is a reduction to the Government in terms of tax and revenue.

At the moment there are around 60 on-going active cases to do with circumvention devices – R4 cards and the like. That’s the indication of the action that is being taken.”

To read more about the piracy situation in the UK and Europe, including a platform-by-platform breakdown, click here to read our full feature.