UK fights back: Additional grants to combat piracy

Posted Feb 23, 2007 at 8:52AM by QJ Staff Listed in: News, Titles Tags: ELSPA, Paul Jackson, piracy
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British Flag - Image 1For the people who have been enjoying the latest trend of workarounds that have arrived for the Wii and quite possibly the PS3, brace yourselves.

In a bid to help up its fight against piracy, the UK-based Department of Trade and Industry is awarding trading standards officers more men, along with a £ 5-million government grant. This comes as part of the new powers being granted under UK's Copyright, Designs and Patents Act.

Going into detail, the new powers include making enforcement of copyright infringement the duty of Trading Standards, and give enforcement officers the power to make test purchases, enter premises, and inspect and seize goods and documents.

DTI minister Malcom Wicks issued this statement in front of the Intellectual Property (IP) Crime Group in London:

There will be an additional 4,500 pairs of Trading Standards eyes watching counterfeiters and pirates. This will mean more surprise raids at markets and car boot sales, more intelligence, more prosecutions and more criminals locked up.


He noted that film, music, and game piracy in the UK cost concerned industries up to £ 9 billion per year, with taxpayers losing out £ 300 million from the illegal trade.

Entertainment and Leisure Software Association (ELSPA) director Paul Jackson welcomes the DTI's initiative, which runs parallel to their recently announced anti-piracy plans for this year. "The fight against IP theft remains a massive problem for not only the games business but film, music and branded goods," Jackson said.

The new powers are scheduled to take effect this April 6.

 
 
 

Comments

by - 2007-02-23 12:24:21
..

99999999999999999999³³³³³³³³³³³³³³³³³³³³³³³billions..
by - 2007-02-23 13:01:06
bunch of arse mate!

yeah yeah, the old 9 billion in lost sales ploy, when will these prats stop harping on about this just because an individual didn't purchase the genuine item doesn't mean they would have in the first place, and if the so called media cartels weren't making record profits year on year despite piracy maybe i and other people might feel a little more sympathetic to them!! change the record!! (btw i am totally against piracy for profit) /end rant
by - 2007-02-23 13:45:14
Wrong Priorities

Again, the government has its priorities wrong. Wouldn't the extra man power and money be better spent tackling real crime, poverty or in the NHS?
by Koru-Kun - 2007-02-23 21:07:58
Right Priorities

For the record, piracy IS a "real crime". Poverty can't be fixed, it can only be helped so much until it becomes communism or socialism.
by - 2007-02-23 22:27:01
What amuses me....

Is they always call it "theft", yet when they charge people, it's with copyright infringement, not theft. It's absolute nonsense. Given the numbers they say are lost to piracy, games that go unpirated, like those with Starforce, should be the best selling games in the world. Which of course they aren't. It's ironic. You download a game, even if you go "Wow, this rocks!" and buy it, you're still a criminal. But if a software company puts out a game that won't run on your system, you can't return it, because you may have copied it, despite the fact it has copy protection... And they call the pirates criminals...

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