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ESA, allies blame Canada for piracy

US trade groups say third world countries have done more to stop counterfeiting, estimates one-quarter of world's bootlegged movies were made north of the border.

We couldn't find any decent stills from the <i>South Park</i> movie.

We couldn't find any decent stills from the South Park movie.

A coalition of American media industry trade groups is asking the US government to put Canada on a list of the world's worst countries when it comes to enforcing intellectual property rights and fighting piracy, according to an article in The Globe and Mail.

The seven-member International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) includes trade groups, such as the Entertainment Software Association, the Motion Picture Association of America, and the Recording Industry Association of America. According to the IIPA, Canada has failed to deliver on promises of more stringent copyright laws and stepped-up enforcements for the laws already on the books.

Canada is a leading exporter of bootlegged films and mod chips for game systems, the group said. It also claimed that up to one-quarter of the bootlegged films sold around the world originate in Canada, and the country's mod chip businesses are run by organized crime rings.

"Canada remains far behind virtually all of its peers in the industrialized world with respect to its efforts to bring its copyright laws up to date with the realities of the global digital networked environment," the IIPA said. "Indeed, even the major developing countries have progressed further and faster than Canada in meeting the challenge."

The IIPA is asking the US to move Canada from a lower-priority watch list to the priority watch list for countries not respecting intellectual property issues. Other countries already on that priority watch list include Russia, China, Belize, Venezuela, and Turkey. If Canada is added to the list, failure to address the US government's concerns could lead to challenges in the World Trade Organization and possible sanctions.

A representative for Industry Canada, the group overseeing the country's copyright laws, told The Globe and Mail, "The government of Canada is working actively on the copyright file and will take the time necessary to ensure that revisions to this important framework legislation have been fully thought through."

Canada is by no means alone in being criticized by the IIPA. The Associated Press reported this week that the group recommended that dozens of countries be included on the US government's various watch lists, with 16 countries (including Canada) cited as having the worst records on piracy. The IIPA claimed that software piracy had cost copyright holders $12.3 billion last year, while music piracy affected US companies to the tune of $2.4 billion.

246 Comments

  • bloodcow666

    Posted Aug 25, 2008 10:46 am GMT

    Screw you America, just because Canada doesn't beleive in your coperate bull$*%# deosn't mean we should be punished because of it. Up with anti-copyright! Support the Pirate Bay!

  • theKSMM

    Posted Feb 18, 2007 12:38 am GMT

    Actually I've heard from people in the movie / music bootlegging business that Canada is the place to get the goods. I didn't know they had games and mod chips too!

    Still, Canada has a different set of priorities than the US, and it hasn't been their homegrown industries feeling the brunt of this piracy. Now if more game companies start moving to Montreal and finding their wares in the streets, there may be some pressure on them to change things. But I doubt the US wants to impose sanctions on a country to which we export jobs for cheaper labor.

  • Yuck_Too

    Posted Feb 16, 2007 6:28 am GMT

    The reason Canada is a leading exporter of stolen US goods is cause we just let the Yanks pass though here without blinking.

    We got less then 1/10th of the US population and if US citizens want to steal from each opther and ship it though Canada...who are we to say no.

  • TTDog

    Posted Feb 16, 2007 3:08 am GMT

    "Betasheet:
    This also comes on the heels of several economic studies stating that P2P has very littl impact on music sales." The last one I saw said that during the time Napster was a shady, non commercial organisation, CD sales actually went up.

  • TTDog

    Posted Feb 16, 2007 3:02 am GMT

    "Rimsa_Laded:
    Why the hell is the US getting itself involved with another country's behavior?"

    Oh yeah, I mean, its not as if America has interfered with another countries politics, government, wars before is it. Maybe Dubya thinks Canada had some huge vast Oil reserves hidden away somewhere.

  • YukoAsho

    Posted Feb 15, 2007 9:19 pm GMT

    That's a crock, matrixman. The majority of these people aren't poor at all. Mod chips for game consoles are expensive, at least if you're not getting a POS mod. Most of the time, it's just jerks who think their high-speed connection entitles them to everything for free.

  • matrixman2k

    Posted Feb 15, 2007 6:21 pm GMT

    There'll always be people doing dodgy things and their customers are poor people who wouldn't otherwise pay full price of things anyway. So the estimated 12 billion is a joke because these lot wouldn't pay that amount. If forced they probably would live without the thing.

    MS did the wga - there are still people in the sunday markets selling vista etc. for a fiver. So thats a misleading figure and a waste of money, if you ask me. It would probably be better to go after businesses who can pay but won't pay. Besides if they lowered the prices after the initial 3-6 months then people would probably be abe to afford things and get things official - applies to many things.

    Still...hmmm...soon these lot will discover that piracy will always exist and sometimes it's good for growth. Think ps2 the most pirated and the most successful. So i think even bill gates won't admit it in public. But in private he's enjoying the growth and popularity piracy brings to his product. Lets face it MS is still the biggest software company - the last i checked anyway.

    Another thing is when you get something from the market, lets say a piece of software. The company gets all this free advertisment and never have to worry about things like support which again costs the company.

    the other day i read apples steve jobb say drm should be binned. But thats what happens when all the people who want something already have it sales freeze until price change.

    bottom line is some people will always find ways round things and supply the poor bums in society who otherwise will not bother to pay full price.

  • sped_ed

    Posted Feb 15, 2007 12:23 pm GMT

    Good for Canada, keep it up. Intellectual property is a fiction of your imagination.

  • SemiMaster

    Posted Feb 15, 2007 12:21 pm GMT

    Wapzod : I was referring to the US, where most of the "Pirated games" tend to come to. I know that Pirated Movies and Music are rampant here, but still the point that how does this article really affect the gaming world and why is it a big deal to Gamespot?

  • DJ-PRIME90

    Posted Feb 15, 2007 11:50 am GMT

    Go away and leave us the hell alone.

  • HyperMetaDragon

    Posted Feb 15, 2007 11:33 am GMT

    Who cares. Canadians still win because in the long run, they don't pay for games and music.

  • Kenny007

    Posted Feb 15, 2007 11:22 am GMT

    I'd just like to clear something up. It's legal to copy music in Canada for your own consumption, not for sale. Which is what I believe that the IIPA was talking about. That being said it's not like you can go out and buy a burned copy of that latest CD. I find it hard to believe that Canada is costing the US music industry $500,000,000 a year... Maybe they're talking $Cdn.

  • wapzod

    Posted Feb 15, 2007 11:06 am GMT

    actually "SemiMaster" piracy is very common in third world countries such as lebanon,u cant find an unmodded ps2 around here

  • cjcr_alexandru

    Posted Feb 15, 2007 10:32 am GMT

    Piracy, a modern world problem which will probably never be solved.

  • SemiMaster

    Posted Feb 15, 2007 10:08 am GMT

    nevereathim : I was thinking the same thing. We have buffoons arguing over Canada vs. the US...

    Since when has pirating games ever been an issue? I've never actually seen a pirated game beyond one modded Xbox...

  • guru_roodypoo

    Posted Feb 15, 2007 9:35 am GMT

    Yarrr, they found us out! Run, matey!

  • CheddarLimbo

    Posted Feb 15, 2007 9:31 am GMT

    239 comments so far, huh? I'm guessing that 80% of them are people singing "Blame Canada"...

  • Yuck_Too

    Posted Feb 15, 2007 8:25 am GMT

    And all this will lead to them justifying the "We're Sorry we see you are outside of the US and are not allowed to download the latest episode of whatever even if you want to pay a stupid amount of money for it.

    It's funny...if they really wanted to kill piracy once and for all then they just need to learn some basic math skills.

    For example say instead of trying to convince us a music album is worth $20 and needs umpteen billion dollars of anti-piracy built around it take just sell the thing for $5 and forget about spending money on Image Constraint Tokens and other nonsense that will be cracked before you 1-month anniversary.

    They might say a song is worth $1 but fact is if you sold it for $0.25 no one would bother to steal / rip / hunt for it anywhere else.

    The corporate world lost sight of the fact that just because you charge 2x more for something does not mean you will make 2x as much money off it.

  • Andrew_LL

    Posted Feb 15, 2007 8:05 am GMT

    Please stop generalizing American people. It's the corporations which HAS NOTHING to do with any of us. The main thing here is that infact, piracy is illegal and should be stopped.

  • BadAshJL

    Posted Feb 15, 2007 7:40 am GMT

    LOL I'd like to see the US place sanctions on Canada, seeing as the U.S. NEEDS imports from Canadian producers for a lot of their food and such. Not to mention all the Oil that we export to them.

    You have fun with your higher gas and produce prices, we'll just make bank exporting to other countries.

  • Royas

    Posted Feb 15, 2007 7:13 am GMT

    I have some real doubts that the mod chips industry is run by "organized crime rings". About the only time organized crime really gets into something is if it is really illegal, mod chips are in the grey area at worst. Sounds like the IIPA is talking out of its nether regions on this one. I'm still unclear on why a mod chip would be an IP violation, you can do whatever you want to your hardware.

  • baelrrogg

    Posted Feb 15, 2007 6:54 am GMT

    Poor little american companies...Oh what will they do?...This story is just hilarious...makes you proud to be a canuck..."The country's mod chip businesses are run by organized crime rings." That is the most ridiculously funny thing i heard in these news in quite some times....Yes the mafia is intalling mod chips all across canada now...I dunno if those geniuses at the IIPA know, but the mod chips themselves are sold online and anyone who has the skill to install them can (i have installed a few in the past myself)...And BTW Seafury0000 is right, we pay a duty on all blank media to protect us from s*** like piracy so suck it up IIPA...hehehehe

  • kakashi_00x000

    Posted Feb 15, 2007 6:01 am GMT

    It's true we Canadians aren't like the ones in Canaidan Bacon....but it is a funny movie.

  • Seafury0000

    Posted Feb 15, 2007 5:14 am GMT

    Just to clear up some wrong information. Downloading music from any internet source is legal in Canada, but it is not because of any loop hole. Blank media in Canada sells with an added charge, a few cents or whatever it is. This added charge is given to the music publisher. It was started years ago, back in the tape days as a way to consepensate artists for people making a second copy of a tape. The law carries over to other media types, ie blank cd's. Ever hear the RIAA talk about that? They recieved a fair amount of money last year but still want downloading music to become illegal.

  • nevereathim

    Posted Feb 15, 2007 4:48 am GMT

    I don't see how this affects video games

  • razu_gamer

    Posted Feb 15, 2007 3:34 am GMT

    I knew those canadians were up to no good.

  • Mr_Saturn26

    Posted Feb 15, 2007 3:27 am GMT

    OMG......blame Canada song.......coming on in my head......aaarrrrgg I blame u canada for puting this song from southpark in my head.

  • TavLok

    Posted Feb 15, 2007 2:26 am GMT

    Oh puh-lezze, this isn't news. What gamers living in North America didn't know about Canadian bootleg games?

    Mod chips? Anyone? Where do you think they all come from? Canada has some of the largest mod chip operations going.

  • zsc4

    Posted Feb 15, 2007 2:22 am GMT

    Canada.. quite unbelievable IMO.

  • Irve

    Posted Feb 15, 2007 1:27 am GMT

    come on ... this is a sout park joke right ? your going to invade canada ! quick .. build a link with terrorists !! and if it doesn't exist Blair will make it up for you ... good dog !

  • yboucher

    Posted Feb 15, 2007 12:52 am GMT

    OH MY GOD.... this is the WORST case of "Blame Canada" I have ever seen in my entire life..... This is pure and utter MADNESS. Piracy is AS LOW AS IT CAN POSSIBLY GET in here. BULL - SH*T.

  • xcube15

    Posted Feb 14, 2007 11:13 pm GMT

    Umm, greedy bankers

  • Ansem_Rev

    Posted Feb 14, 2007 11:09 pm GMT

    I live in Canada nothing bad goes on here.
    ANd uh yeah don't click my user name thanks ppl!

  • drunkenmoron

    Posted Feb 14, 2007 10:36 pm GMT

    This is dumb. When the World Trade Organization said that US tariff on softwood lumber was illegal, the US didn't care. Now they are going to go whinning to the WTO about Canada. This just shows that the US government is self center and greedy

  • Axemetal

    Posted Feb 14, 2007 9:21 pm GMT

    well if things werent so expensive we wouldn't have to do this..........not that I do................um...........I'm a lumberjack and it's ok I sleep all night and I work all day oh.......

  • FamineGT

    Posted Feb 14, 2007 9:10 pm GMT

    Big deal...if I really liked something, I'd get the real thing and if I can eliminate the middle men and go straight to the creator(s) then even better!

    These Americans are so funny...so full or corporate and political $H!t

    I'll enjoy staying up here in the Great White North focusing on more important matters at hand. Canada FTW!!!!

  • AuthenticM

    Posted Feb 14, 2007 8:37 pm GMT

    Um, are the United States even on the list?

  • runbmp

    Posted Feb 14, 2007 7:52 pm GMT

    IIPA stop it, just stop. Or I shall have to taunt you a secondddde time and perhaps burn down the white house, again.

    while drinking real beer... in my lumber jack hat.

  • d3funkt

    Posted Feb 14, 2007 7:41 pm GMT

    We rule.

  • msim

    Posted Feb 14, 2007 7:21 pm GMT

    htekemerald " for this reason Canada > US"
    yeah but i hear they are all forced to wear funny hats and take up careers as lumberjacks. plus they have quebec. jk canada i love you and your silly hats.

  • Chainblast

    Posted Feb 14, 2007 7:18 pm GMT

    Got to blame someone right?

    Here's a thought, maybe if industry players (large corporations and such) wouldn't totally **** over their customers with higher than needed prices, bare-bones garbage, silly release schedules and constant multi-dipping of products we said customers might engage industry distribution with more respect and buy these products.

    Here's the problem I have with music, for example. I don't want the boxed copy because I'll just take it home, rip it to my computer and put the case/disc on the shelf to collect dust and take up space. I also won't buy from iTunes because as far as I know they don't license the music to you like Nintendo does with the Wii shopping channel. If my computer crashes I loose everything.

    End of point...listen to consumers and stop throwing spin and garbage in their face posing as a series answer. Maybe we'll start buying again.

  • Valen_Ca

    Posted Feb 14, 2007 6:34 pm GMT

    No offense, but any special interest group that includes the RIAA and MPAA should never be taken seriously when it comes to copyright enforcement.

  • crazy_boy166

    Posted Feb 14, 2007 6:32 pm GMT

    YEEEEhhhhhh go canada!!!!!

  • Tuna13

    Posted Feb 14, 2007 6:28 pm GMT

    Well, this is how I see it. If the CD is good enough, people will go out and buy it, if not they'll download it for the one or two songs that are actually good. What's wrong with this? Well, I think it's perfectly fine, since more than likely they wouldn't have bought the CD anyways even if pirated copies or downloadable files weren't available. They industry is only complaining about profits they were never gonna make in the first place, in my opinion.

    Oh yeh, all those Canadians saying you can get pirated copies in Canada so easily, I can guarantee are **** and are probably Americans pretending to be us Canadians. Stop trying to give Canada a bad name and no you don't find pirated copies everywhere like people say. If you go to countries like Vietnam (giggles, I come from there) the only copies they have for sale are the pirated ones. No one ever imports the authentic stuff cause it would cost an entire days salary or more for someone who graduated university (based on the average university graduates salary from 2005).

  • ryanthegreat232

    Posted Feb 14, 2007 5:56 pm GMT

    Ya dont blame all of canada, Blame Quebec, everyone knows montreal is the hot bed for piracy.

  • Proust

    Posted Feb 14, 2007 5:46 pm GMT

    This article is priceless. Good for Canada.

  • PuffstaJones

    Posted Feb 14, 2007 5:43 pm GMT

    Us crazy canucks never obey the rules.

  • Atomic_Mutant

    Posted Feb 14, 2007 5:27 pm GMT

    :Salute:

    Now if they only legalize marijuana...

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