News Releases
| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | CONTACT: Dan Hewitt – dhewitt@theESA.com or (202) 223-2400 |
Congress Singles Out Anti-Piracy Priorities
May 20, 2009 – Washington, DC – Today the Congressional International Anti-Piracy Caucus (IAPC) announced the countries it identified as priorities for 2009. It singled out Spain, Canada, Mexico, Russia and China as anti-piracy priorities, and urged those governments, in a series of announcements, to improve their enforcement legislation and enforcement practices. The Entertainment Software Association expressed appreciation for the work of the Caucus as well as for this year’s targeted country selections.
“The copyright-based industries will be leaders in our economic recovery – and the entertainment software industry, which had record sales in 2008, will continue to be a strong contributor to our nation’s GDP,” said Michael D. Gallagher, CEO of the ESA, which represents U.S. computer and video game publishers. “Exports can comprise as much as 30% of our members’ sales, and are a direct contributor to domestic job growth. The work of the Caucus helps us to grow our export markets, create jobs and strengthen our balance of trade. Additionally, stemming the flood of pirated creative works benefits and protects legitimate consumers everywhere.
“We thank the Caucus for this year issuing a challenge to Canada and Mexico to pass additional legislative protections – such as prohibitions on ‘mod chips’ and other circumvention devices that are used to play pirated games – and to follow through with greater enforcement and border controls,” said Gallagher.
“We also thank the Caucus for highlighting the severe problems that exist for our industry and other copyright industries in Spain. Online and peer-to-peer piracy are rampant and virtually unchecked in Spain and in other major European markets. Highlighting the problem is an important step, and, we hope, will spur efforts by all stakeholders to find a solution,” concluded Gallagher.
Since 2003 the IAPC has provided information on piracy problems to Congressional delegations traveling to countries with significant piracy problems, sponsored briefings on international intellectual property protection and piracy, held demonstrations highlighting emerging technologies, and worked with House and Senate committees on related hearings and legislation.
The Entertainment Software Association is the U.S. association dedicated to serving the business and public affairs needs of companies publishing interactive games for video game consoles, handheld devices, personal computers, and the Internet. The ESA offers services to interactive entertainment software publishers including a global anti-piracy program, owning the E3 Expo, business and consumer research, federal and state government relations, First Amendment and intellectual property protection efforts. For more information, please visit www.theESA.com.
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