Anti-Piracy Training
In order to better control the manufacture and distribution of pirate and counterfeit game software, the ESA conducts training seminars for enforcement officials around the world. These officials are important allies in the global effort against game piracy. The cost of this training is entirely underwritten by our members. The goal of such training is to provide enforcement officials with the skills and knowledge required to identify infringing product, investigate its production and distribution, and pursue enforcement actions and prosecutions against those responsible. Since 2000, the ESA has conducted more than 600 trainings in the United States and Canada with federal law enforcement agencies (such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security), numerous state and local enforcement officials, and Canadian enforcement bodies (such as Canada Customs and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police). ESA has also been very active in training foreign officials in countries where it operates industry enforcement programs, such as Hong Kong, Mexico, Brazil, and Malaysia, as well as other countries where ESA members pursue their own enforcement efforts.
The ESA provides free in-depth training manuals, access to the ESA interactive training Web site, and industry contacts for further support and assistance on the identification of suspect software.
If you know of enforcement officials who you believe would be interested in such training, please have them contact the ESA Anti-Piracy Department to make arrangements.
Internet Piracy
The ESA Online Monitoring and Enforcement Program monitors the Internet (Web sites, FTP sites, newsgroups, IRC channels, auction sites, chat rooms, forums, etc.) for instances of piracy of ESA members' products and requests ISPs to take down sites or accounts featuring infringing game product. Since the program's inception in 1998, the ESA has obtained the takedown of more than 150,000 sites dealing in pirated entertainment software. The ESA estimates it takes down nearly 14 million infringing game files annually.
The ESA aggressively pursues enforcement against individuals on the Internet who are involved in the illegal online distribution of our members' software, whether through criminal investigation and prosecution or civil litigation. In addition to providing support to several ongoing investigations of Internet pirate groups, ESA has also pursued civil remedies against individuals that have been identified as engaging in infringing activity via the Internet.
ESA's Anti-Piracy Program Profiled on G4TV's "Pulse" Weekly Video Game Industry News Show
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