Report: Publishers taking piracy fight to gamers

Lower the freaking cost of games and more people will buy them. A very simple fact. They will lose a bit of money lowering costs; yes, but isn't it better than not getting sales at all? If they keep raising the cost of games because people download things ilegally, it will just increase the number of illegal downloads. Kinda weird how the minds of the accountants work. I don't really see what the problem here. Most people I know that actually pirate stuff do so because they simply cannot afford to buy it. Where I live, console games cost on average 83$ and PC games cost aprox. 62$ Lower costs = more sales at lowered income or Sue and attack the people who can't afford the games they want = No sales, protests, zero loyalty.

@Everyone: It isn't illegal in Canada. :D Yet.

@otanikun: file-sharing them online is illegal itself. There is nothing more to it. If you downloaded the game for free you did an illegal action. Sharing(letting someone borrow) the actual physical game obviously isn't. And for a long while now limewire has prompt question when installing that asks if you are going to download copyrighted material(i.e., songs, movies, etc) if you click yes the installation stops. If you click No and you do you are now responsible for any downloading and Limewire is not liable. Given the nature of limewire and why most people use it. It is bad. But considering they have covered themselves with that little prompt loophole they can't be held responsible for what people upload and download.

They're gonna sue the gamers? Do that and you'll loose customers, besides what do they have to prove that so many people are sharing these games "illegally" when it's so easy to share them? That's like saying Limewire is bad, it's available and hasn't been shut down so......what's the problem?

The problem with the internet is that it's really hard to control the content on it, infact you just plain can't. If they thought this strategy was so effective they would have executed it long before now. The thing is this isn't going to work any better now than it did when they tried to do the same thing with the illegal downloading of music. Yeah, you can fine a few people, but the fact is there are millions of people downloading music and software illegally, and no one has sufficent resources to stop them.

The unfortunate thing about it is that piracy will always be a part of digital media. No matter what real world restrictions you put in place, eventually someone is gonna circumvent in, and in the mean time legitimate users of the product have to jump through hoops to use what they've bought. I think that what these companies are trying to do is a) totally within their rights and b) entirely pointless. the 25,000 people are a drop in the bucket to what's going happening, and until someone finds a way of addressing the real issues, we're always going to have this company vs. consumer fight going on.

I suspect those 16 thousand pounds doubled the amount of money Topware got out of that pinball game

while i do download certain games(I.E. games i'm not sure about) if there worth my money i ALWAYS buy them if not then Right Click>Delete>Empty Recycle Bin but i agree to go after the uploaders(without them there wouldn't be any downloaders)

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OMG they should just sue everyone. I have never met someone who hasn't downloaded at least one illegal file. Whether it be porn or music Also, may I point out that in Asia, you can get pirated copies of any video game you want LEGALLY. I got a copy of Assassins Creed for $1

WOW who'll they go after next? Parkinson ridden grannies?

@Cobra5: "And as for people saying its not stealing unless you are actually physically taking something from someone else... just "lol". There is no other response." Wow, I'm in total shock that you came up with such a compelling argument. Perhaps you did not understand. My point is that there is a difference between downloading a file that is on a public domain, and illegally copying a disc that they most likely got through illegal means, and sharing it with the Internet. @FireMaker005 Weird... Ubisoft seems to be doing fine financially...

Irritating. STOP TORRENTING GAMES. Except in the rare case that the game is so old that companies no longer support it. (Ie the original Sim City) I mean.. you are stealing from the developers that make you games. If they do not get paid for making games, they will no longer be able to make games.. And you'll have nothing left to steal.. While the rest of us who actually pay for games will have nothing to pay for.. I understand this is an exaggeration but still. I do think the single mother getting slammed with the $30,000 fine is pretty excessive and totally unreasonable. It should be the seeders and leechers getting slammed, not the parents of said twerps.

because trying to sue someone when they steal from you is wrong. amirite? I still can't understand why people don't think its a big deal. Even if I steal candy from a convenience store, and they catch me, they'll do something about it (Take the candy, make me pay for it, or give me a small fine). And if someone steals a $60 video game, its suddenly bad to try and do something about. As for people saying they can't find proof, well, that's what courts are for. And as for people saying its not stealing unless you are actually physically taking something from someone else... just "lol". There is no other response. Then again, talking about piracy on the internet is like trying to discuss atheism in a church.

also, i wonder how they find out about people downloading? they must hack into peoples computers or something......

thats funny what they said about music because almost everyone does it and if you tell them youll tell the cops theyll probably laugh. i personnally dont download music :)

@Madjik2k2 It's only copyright infringement if I were to sell the car as my own. And it isn`t stealing unless I take something from someone else, e.g. stolen a physical copy of the game. I just don`t agree with the way these companies are going about this. If you want to stop piracy, you have to go after the people doing the actual physical stealing, and the actual copyright infringement. Taking the fight to the downloaders is not going to stop the uploaders, who are the real root of the problem.

Thanks Madjik2k2 for writing. Your posts are very well said... The people that are in favor of piracy always ends in the same argument: MONEY. They say that games costs a lot, and the piracy is cheap, or free. In the end the money justify the illegal action for them .. all to save some bucks.. The money is a way to justify the crime.. It doesn't matter if it's crime since they make a big deal.

Good. It's about time people are punished for stealing.Hopefully this will open some eyes. It may not be a perfect solution, but at least somebody is doing something.

big business is always more important then citizens... duh...

can't fight the power of big business !! but i think that 16k they got out of that woman was more than dream pinball 3d made in retail !

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wow as much as I hate game piracy this is ridiculous. The game developers might as well start wearing red Swastikas on black armbands right now. Its a shame too I like some to those companies products. But you know what they say vote with your wallet. So guess I don't need atari's nwn2 sequel after all. So that just leaves me one thing to say to the game companies. Hail Hitler

@deathstar79 You say it isn't stealing, but I'm willing to bet if the roles were reversed, and you came up with this really great idea for a game and could make some good money off of it, you'd get really pissed off at anyone who ripped that idea off of you. You're TAKING something you didn't PAY for. That IS stealing. You just simply cannot get around it like that, and are opening yourself up to legal action in the exact same way as the aforementioned single mother. Law is clear about this; and you wouldn't be able to argue your way out of court with that kind of logic. Making an exact copy of a car is copyright infringement and is TOTALLY different, but still open to legal action, albeit for different reasons all together.

I agree pirating needs to stop, but come on... 30K fine for a lady whos kids most likely downloaded it and didn't think twice is extreme.

It isn't stealing. If you had a fancy car, for instance, and I created a device that copied that car almost exactly, does anyone lose anything? Besides, most of the people who pirate the games probably wouldn't have bought the game anyway.

I think that the developers should start trying to find ways to cram even more sponsor ads in games to make up for the money they lose from pirates, so when you go to play your favorite FPS, you'll be inundated with so much product placement, it'll give you precedent to kick the ass of anyone you know is pirating games. And anyone who brags about pirating should have a brick dropped on their head. Imagine if you made anything worth buying and instead of people compensating you, they just stole it? If I knew someone who was pirating games, I'd steal their car, just to even out their karma.

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I bet a lot of torrent users in the UK are worried right about now... But, honestly, who would even want to pirate anything from those companies?

I say flog them all.. I hate pirates and now that they are getting what they deserve... I say more power to the game companies...

funny joke..

@kungi No matter how you try to justify it, it is still theft; and your free downloads cost the end-user who actually pays for the game even more. Your theft of the game costs everybody else, including the developer, and they have every right to protect their intellectual property. If you can afford high speed internet, you can afford the price of games, and if you CAN'T afford the price games, you shouldn't be playing them.

I dont understand how could they get o muh money from unemployed mother of two. And for game that probably sucks and is just another variation on pinball. I havent bought games since i got internet with 100kbps speed. Its not worth spending so much money on a game, especially in smaller or poorer countrys like mine. Thats why it better to get it for free over internet.

@ToJPhantom Dream Pinball 3D goes for $14.99. It doesn't matter if the game costs $2, $20 or $200, people will still steal it. That's why it is now very hard to find a game that will run on your PC without a disk in the drive, and it's only going to become more difficult for the consumer as time passes and more people get "Free" games. Look into what some manufactures are doing to prevent theft now-a-days. Look at what Microsoft does to protect Windows; and that is what is likely in your future for video games. EA has already taken the first steps towards this...

I pay for all of my games.

So what! A bunch of crappy game companies are getting mad because no one is shelling out $50 bucks for a 3D Pinball game? That's hilarious...and if publishers would lower their prices down to $30 than no one would pirate...but they won't lower prices until piracy goes down! NO ONE WINS! HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA

With the amount of games I've pirated a $563 fine would basically be a give-away. This isn't going to stop anyone from pirating games. Nothing will. Also: Congratulations on stealing the unemployed single mothers money. (fukken lol ^_^)

I don't agree with pirating games. I download mp3s but then I always buy the cd, i only download to see what the band is like before wasting money on a rubbish cd. I also download movies, usually so I don;t have to wait for the dvd. I will always replace the downloaded copy with the dvd when it comes out. I know many people who do the same.

"the firm won a £16,000 ($30,000) judgment against an unemployed mother of two", that's the spirit... eat balls, you'll manage nothing... piracy will never end.

Moore is right - these tactics haven't worked in the past with the music industry, so why would they work now? This seems unlikely to deter people from downloading games as you have the same chance of winning the lottery as you do of being sued. There needs to be new, innovative ways of getting consumers to pay for their products.

Completely in agreement with Waskallywabbit, piracy of a video game is wrong and should be punishable by law. Piracy is often a touchy subject because a lot of people download music or movies, but in my opinion thats a little different than burning a game onto something or flashing it up on a PSP. If I download an album that I enjoy or from an artist that I really enjoy; then I will go out and buy the album. However, if I do not enjoy their music I'm not about to pay $15 for a single song that I enjoy listening to off of the album. Movies; I'm not going to go watch a terrible movie in the theaters paying $10 to do so, when I can download and watch it and make sure its good. For no brainers like the Dark Knight; I'll obviously just go to the theaters. However, for questionable movies or just purely retarded movies that are terrible; I will either not watch them, or watch them on my computer screen. Piracy is piracy no matter which way you look at it, however, certain degrees cause it to be worse imo. If you traffic it then it is worse than if you just do it for personal use. But honestly if you're a true gamer, man up and spend the dollars on some real stuff because it honestly is worth it.

That's pretty ridiculous, I mean, I wouldn't pirate a game (as I am anti-piracy) but if you start charging 120 AUD per game (and the AUD is very close the US dollar, we are essentially paying twice as much as them) then you are going to have to expect some piracy and tolerate it. I know this is about UK gamers, but I am pretty sure they have outrageous prices for there games as well.

If games weren't ridiculously over priced then people would be able to buy all there games instead of getting them illegally. Why should people pay A$100 for a game when it may only last them under 10 hours. RIP OFF!!!

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They should pay for their crime.

The biggest pity with this is that the laws have been perverted to become everything they fought against. Copyright was intended to protect small developers FOR A TIME and stop large companies exploiting them. Now copyright is used by large companies to keep people from developing new ideas, as if they include anything remotely similar they get sued. Additionally they are using these laws as a weapon. They were never intended to be a sword but a shield for the little guy. Sorry Disney but it's time for Mickey to become public domain!

lol thank god I purchase my games. but yea Atari sux and codemasters sux end of story

If devs want us to pay for their games, they should start by doing GOOD games...

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Piracy is wrong and those who claim to love games should show their enthusiasm by purchasing games, making it possible to keep people employed to make more. Like any big business, everyone will want their cut and people will find a way to get their fix without paying the price. PC gamers especially need to wake up and stop downloading games. The lack of a sustained PC market for anything but top triple A titles means that more and more top PC developers are moving to more money safe venues, like consoles. Yes, there are large gray areas at work here, but it's time for fans to take a stand. Stop trying to justify what you know is wrong and just stop doing it.