ESA happy about prison sentences for game pirates
by Alexander Sliwinski 
{ Aug 28th 2008 at 1:30PM }
Before freaking out and thinking the FBI and Justice Department are "in your internetz, ready to send you to prisons," it's worth noting the two men sentenced were pretty hardcore software pirates. Maswadi sold consoles with illegal copies of titles on the internet and made $390,000 on his business. So, if you made hundreds of thousands of dollars last year off illegal game sales ... might we suggest a new vocation?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Kizzle @ Aug 28th 2008 1:44PM
Looks like Kevin Fuch'd up.
Tee hee.
reppy @ Aug 28th 2008 1:46PM
That was giggle worthy.
Zertoss @ Aug 28th 2008 1:43PM
That picture is absolutely perfect.
reppy @ Aug 28th 2008 1:46PM
When will people ever learn? If you want to break the law, get into politics.
Farseer (GDI) @ Aug 28th 2008 1:50PM
Nice.
:)
Raikage (GOLDEN Gun Of The Patriots) @ Aug 28th 2008 1:52PM
FACT
BigD145 @ Aug 28th 2008 2:10PM
Kevin and Kifah probably had the "don't pay taxes" down, but they missed the next step of getting elected and doing favors for lobbyists. So close, yet so far.
Bass Masterson @ Aug 28th 2008 2:19PM
Ooh, trendy! You should write for Olbermann!
Raikage (GOLDEN Gun Of The Patriots) @ Aug 28th 2008 1:56PM
I didn't like the idea of prison time until I read how much they made... 8O Maybe prison is a fitting end...
Hmmm they seem pretty industrious, maybe if they could be pushed in the right direction they could do something pretty successful.
Vcize @ Aug 28th 2008 2:54PM
90% of the people that read this blog are capable of modding a console, putting games on it, and finding a place to sell it.
They're just not stupid enough to actually do it.
Seriously, I still see these things up on Craigslist from time to time and I just want to slap my forehead over it.
Autopsy15 @ Aug 28th 2008 5:29PM
Don't worry. Both of them will get something fitting in their ends.
Tim The Enchanter @ Aug 29th 2008 9:57AM
"Kent, people make up statistics all the time... 80% of people know that"
But you're right, of course. And lolz @ Autopsy
phr3qu3ncy441 @ Aug 28th 2008 1:59PM
now if we can only do something about them pesky pirate downloaders... a jail sentence would be nice too, but i suppose that might be a tad overkill? i dunno.
Raikage (GOLDEN Gun Of The Patriots) @ Aug 28th 2008 2:04PM
We don' like ya kind 'round heeya boyah, you best turn around an' leave while ya still can.
The Internet:
Serious Business
CaramelZappa @ Aug 28th 2008 2:05PM
Just have everything on steam at lower-than-retail pricing. Tons of people would stop pirating.
007craft @ Aug 28th 2008 2:05PM
if they though people in jail who pirate software/movies, 50% of the worlds population would be imprisoned lol.
Phantom @ Aug 28th 2008 4:55PM
The ESA should be sent to jail , not downloaders , I mean , they're the ones wokring with the government to destroy the world .
Autopsy15 @ Aug 28th 2008 5:32PM
El oh el. Phantom gets dumbest comment of the year award.
Jimiisama @ Aug 28th 2008 6:09PM
Most pirates I know would testify that 90% of the games they downloaded were not worth paying for.
BananaBoat @ Aug 28th 2008 2:01PM
Noone has a problem (except those "I don't pay for fake property!" hippie retards) with them going after people that are profiting from the hard work of others. Bootleggers should get the harshest penalty that is applicable.
Also... "ESA to Pirate: Stop hitting yourself! Stop hitting yourself! Stop hitting yourself! HA-HA!"
McWeen @ Aug 28th 2008 2:03PM
Do you mean to say that breaking the law has potential consequences?! Seriously though, if you are making that much cash off stolen stuff you can't exactly be going a low-key route.
Ken Shammy @ Aug 28th 2008 2:31PM
... :(
Ichi the One @ Aug 28th 2008 2:36PM
When I first heard about the punishment (before hearing about the crime) I thought it seemed harsh, but then I realized they sold some of these famiclones in local malls around here, and I wondered how they could get past the piracy crap and I even noticed how they renamed some games (to more popular names like Tekken). Yes, the guy deserves the punishment, in this case.
Riley @ Aug 28th 2008 3:01PM
because nintendo let the license on the NES run out a few years back, so anyone can make them
CJLopez @ Aug 28th 2008 2:42PM
Thanks good I live in Mexico, xDDDDDD
sicsided @ Aug 28th 2008 2:45PM
oh...... I'm sorry.
Anticrawl @ Aug 28th 2008 2:52PM
Stupid bastards, getting a copy for yourself if you weren't going to buy it is one thing but making illegal copies and distributing them for your own profit? That's fucked up, that breaks copyright laws. You'd think those billions of warnings before videos would have tought them something.
BigD145 @ Aug 28th 2008 3:23PM
That reasoning has never stopped the RIAA from going after people that share and don't charge for content.
koehler83 @ Aug 28th 2008 3:40PM
I agree with both those statements.
Career pirates should have the book thrown at them and the RIAA should be shot and pissed on.
Anticrawl @ Aug 28th 2008 4:09PM
Unlike every single other consumer good and service there is no true customer satisfaction or quality assurance with video games or entertainment. It is hardly fair to just expect the consumer to pour endless amounts of cash on a risky purchase with no insurance. I'd say pirating for personal use is entirely fair until the industry can figure out a way to assure us we will get our money's worth atleast half of the time.
Autopsy15 @ Aug 28th 2008 5:52PM
No quality assurance huh? What about the fact that pretty much every video game company has a quality assurance team work on the game for months and months. And besides, you don't have to buy a game without knowing anything about the quality. It's called a review. If it gets bad reviews consistently, common sense would dictate that you don't buy it. And pirating for personal use is totally not fair at all. Even if you don't distribute it or resell it, you're still costing the developers money on a lost sale. OMGWTFBBQ!
Jimiisama @ Aug 28th 2008 6:11PM
The gaming industry is fine, Auto; I've played games with good reviews I thought were horrible. Reviews are no assurance at all.
Anticrawl @ Aug 28th 2008 8:25PM
Reviews mean nothing Auto. Shadowrun was a magnificant game and only got 6's while Grand Theft Auto IV was the same mindless dribble we've played several times before but got 10's.
What I want is atleast a 12-24 hour full refund return period, that would be more than enough. I sink thousands of dollars each year in the gaming industry. I think we as consumers deserve atleast that much. The gaming industry is the biggest entertainment industry on the planet and we still have no quality assurance.
Dr. Katz @ Aug 28th 2008 3:00PM
@CJLopez
I "thanks good" you live in Mexico too.
Ignatius @ Aug 28th 2008 3:04PM
Maybe they should put the people who keep churning out Sims 2 expansions in jail. That would stop their piracy altogether. Imagine if someone was dumb enough to buy everything at launch for that game.
The Sims 2: $50
University: $35
Nightlife: $35
Open for Business: $35
Pets: $35
Seasons: $35
Bon Voyage: $35
FreeTime: $35
Apartment Life: $35
Holiday Party Pack: $20
Family Fun Stuff: $20
Glamour Life Stuff: $20
Happy Holiday Stuff: $20
Celebration Stuff: $20
H&M Fashion Stuff: $20
Teen Style Stuff: $20
Kitchen and Bath Interior Design Stuff: $20
IKEA Home Stuff: $20
Castaway Stories: $20
Pet Stories: $20
Life Stories: $20
Total: $570. Disgusting.
caserb @ Aug 28th 2008 6:50PM
OMG I totally bought all of those at launch, and my favorite is IKEA Home Stuff because after spending that much money on shitty game expansions, I no longer could actually buy any furniture - even cheaply made cardboard bookshelves from IKEA...
BUT MY VIRTUAL HOME IS A TWELVE STORY MANSION FURNISHED COMPLETELY WITH STUFF BEARING BIZARRE SWEDISH NAMES!
...I'm so hungry. :(
theturtle363 @ Aug 28th 2008 4:09PM
That's probably the most appropriate picture for any article ever
Albanian_Killa @ Aug 28th 2008 4:24PM
Those guys deserved the sentence. They stole big. I think one or two games should give you a warning or fine. Not a prison sentence. I don't pirate games, so I'm good :)
Monte @ Aug 28th 2008 4:46PM
I can picture it now. These two nerds getting butt-raped because they pirated games, serves them right
Conor @ Aug 28th 2008 5:57PM
The ESA are a bunch of rats.
brain @ Aug 28th 2008 6:31PM
.... o0 ... *closes uTorrent*
opifex @ Aug 28th 2008 6:45PM
Shush you idiot! you'll ruin everything!
DavidX @ Sep 6th 2008 1:53PM
Let me get this straight. A man makes above $300,000, which is well above what most people make in a year or a lifetime in some cases, and all he gets is 15 months in jail. Doesn't that seem a little light?
kchenisp @ Aug 28th 2008 11:20PM
This story makes it sound as if the pirates here were lifting thousands of dollars worth of 0-day warez and selling them. In fact, the pirated games in question are NES titles. They're abandonware, and not currently sold by their owners.
Ok, granted, these guys are technically breaking the law (as are most of you, if you've ever downloaded ROMs and such for an emulator, or have certain trademarked characters appearing as an icon). And they're a step above the casual pirate because they're profiteering. However, these things are only illegal because of the perversion of copyright. Under original copyright laws, games this old would already have been forced into the public domain, and it would be, and should be, perfectly legal for anyone to reproduce and sell them, if they were willing to take on the financial risk in doing so (that's how old books get reprinted).
The fact that the publishers have no interest in publishing these games should indicate that they have long passed the point of fair compensation for these works. It doesn't benefit society to have these properties locked up forever, and it is *only* the law that prevents copies from being distributed.
So yes, under the current copyright system, these guys committed serious offenses and you can't say much else from a legal standpoint. But if anything, this should serve as a wake-up call to voters to block new copyright addendums, and for legislators to overturn the addendums that have been added in the past. Note that these laws make it so that YOUR grandchildren will likely be dead before Super Mario Bros enters public domain. And it doesn't answer this question: what did Shigeru Miyamoto's grandchildren do that they should be entitled to collect royalties from yours?
Current copyright law has nothing to do with fair compensation, it currently serves only to build IP dynasties and allows authors to renege on their part of the social contract. Copyright is not a human right. It is a government-granted monopoly that was created for economic, not moral, reasons. There is no moral right to stop people from copying things, only a right to receive fair (not "eternal" or "limitless") compensation for creating the work. As a non-violent crime that has only economic damages, the penalties should not include lengthy jail time. Send the guys to the poor house but let them keep their freedom and let them get jobs doing something productive. Sending these people to prison for years, where they'll be living off your dime as a taxpayer, where previously they were productive, non-violent, self-sufficient individuals, is not smart. The payoff for society will come at the end of those prison sentences, when we put two now-hardened criminals back on the streets because someone decided that this was a great tradeoff to get game publishers a few more bucks on their inventory of old games.
To me, this is another example of how the ESA is only interested in working for game publishers and not for you.
W @ Aug 29th 2008 5:10AM
Don't drop the soap in the prison :)