ESA Welcomes Game Pirate Jail Sentences

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The Entertainment Software Association--the industry organization assisting game makers in legal and governmental matters and organizes the annual E3 event-- today applauded the recent jail sentences of two American game pirates in a press release.

Kevin Fuchs of West Amherst, NY, and Kifah Maswadi of Oakland, FL, were sentenced to eight and 15 months in prison, respectively, this summer. Fuchs will follow that up with eight months of house arrest and another 16 months of court supervised release. Maswadi also received three years of court supervision, 50 hours of community service, and an order to pay $415,900 in restitution.

"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," said Michael Gallagher, CEO of the ESA. The sentencing follows a recent United Kingdom ruling which established a legal precedent in their courts.

The news comes at a time when piracy has had increasing influence on the gaming industry, prompting game makers to argue whether fighting piracy directly or finding other means is the right way to solve the problem. Others, like id Software, have responded by diversifying the platforms on which they release games.

In January 2007, Fuchs plead guilty to conspiring to reproduce and distribute copyrighted works. He had worked as a "supplier" in the piracy underground by obtaining pre-release copies of games to hand over to groups that would then "crack" the games by circumventing the games' copy protection systems.

Maswadi, on the other hand, plead guilty to criminal copyright infringement in June 2008. From 2006 to 2007, he had sold "Power Players," consoles pre-loaded with pirated games that connect directly to televisions. Mawadi made over $390,000 from sales and was facing three years in prison but received a reduced sentence for his cooperation with authorities.

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From The Chatty
  • reply
    August 28, 2008 10:38 AM

    I don't know if I should applaud them for protecting their assets or scream for what seems like a bit of overkill for the situation.

    Are they sending folks to prison who steal music and get caught?

    • reply
      August 28, 2008 10:45 AM

      The RIAA/MPAA is trying to get laws passed that will turn civil matters into criminal ones. So yes, they do want people who download mp3's to serve jail time, not just owe their entire life's earning potential like they've been doing so far. Seriously, some of the judgements against individuals who downloaded mp3's.. the amount of money; the people are better off killing themselves as they'd never be able to pay that money at any point in their life.

    • reply
      August 28, 2008 10:46 AM

      Not the mom and pops and their bastard children - but I believe they've been rounding up some of the hosts/seeders...

    • reply
      August 28, 2008 10:47 AM

      That's an easy conclusion to jump to, but it looks like in this case they weren't just guys who downloaded some games. One was a key member in distributing warez of new releases, and the other made a ton of money selling games illegally.

    • reply
      August 28, 2008 10:48 AM

      In one case, he was getting pre-release copies illegally and hanging them over to cracking groups so that they could release their warez in advance of or on the day of the official release.

      The other guy was selling unauthorized copies of games that are still in copyright.

      Both are fucktards.

    • reply
      August 28, 2008 10:53 AM

      I believe they're going after bigger people (well not literally)...basically people who make money from pirating by distributing pirated copies and essentially make a living from it...which I think is a much better approach than what the RIAA and MPAA is doing and just suing smaller people instead of going after the source

    • reply
      August 28, 2008 11:41 AM

      Should people who steal cars go to jail? Yes.
      Should people who steal games go to jail? Yes.

      They're both theft.

      • reply
        August 28, 2008 11:46 AM

        [deleted]

      • reply
        August 28, 2008 12:36 PM

        What about those that steal porn?

      • reply
        August 28, 2008 1:14 PM

        Has the game been stolen, or copied?
        If the boxed game (physical item) has been stolen then it's theft.
        If the game has been copied then it's copyright infringement.

        So it's not that simple, different rules apply.

    • reply
      August 28, 2008 12:33 PM

      IIf they aren't, they should.

      Theft is theft is theft. No matter how juvenile your excuse.

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