Video Game Industry Applauds Multi-Million Dollar Ruling Against Piracy Offenders, The Entertainment Software Association Announced.Video Game Console A specialized desktop computer used to play video games. The three most popular game consoles are Sony's PlayStation 3 (PS3), Nintendo's GameCube and Microsoft's Xbox. Game software is available on CDs or DVDs, although earlier game machines used cartridges containing read only memory "Mod Chip An add-on chip for a gaming console that extends the capabilities of the machine. For example, games and DVDs with different regional encoding may be played. In some cases, the game console is made to function similar to a regular personal computer. See video game console. " Sellers Ordered to Pay Over $9 Million in Damages WASHINGTON -- In a major victory for the entertainment software industry, a federal court in California recently ordered a group of defendants to pay over $9 million in damages for violations of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a United States copyright law which implements two 1996 WIPO treaties. It criminalizes production and dissemination of technology, devices, or services that are used to measures that control access to copyrighted works (commonly (DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) A U.S. law enacted in late 1998 that provides penalties for developing hardware or software that overrides copy protection schemes for digital media. ), the Entertainment Software Association (ESA 1. (architecture) ESA - Enterprise Systems Architecture. 2. (body) ESA - European Space Agency. ) announced today. On September 11, 2006, Judge Claudia Wilken, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, awarded $3,750,200.00 in damages against corporate defendant Divineo, Inc., and Canadian resident Frederic Legault. She also awarded $5,791,400.00 in damages against corporate defendants Divineo U.K. and Divineo SARL SARL South African Radio League SARL Société Anonyme à Responsabilité Limitée (French: limited liability company) SARL Salem Animal Rescue League (Salem, NH) SARL Sociedade Anónima de Responsabilidade Limitada , and French resident Max Louarn. The Court's order related to violations of the DMCA described in the complaint as involving defendants' trafficking of modification chips (or "mod chips" as they are commonly called), and a software application circumvention device called HDLoader that allows copies of videogames to be downloaded directly onto the hard drive of a game console See video game console. . Mod chips and the HDLoader are devices that circumvent the copyright protection technology built into video game consoles This is a list of video game consoles by the era they appeared in. Eras are named based on the dominant console type of the era (even though not all consoles of those eras are of the same type). Some eras are referred to based on how many bits a major console could process. and video game software. Once installed in a game console, mod chips enable the console to play illegal copies of video games See video game console. . "Mod chips and HDLoaders are key elements in facilitating video game piracy because they allow people to play illegally copied games on illegally modified video game consoles," said Ric Hirsch, Senior Vice President of Intellectual Property Enforcement for the ESA, the trade group representing U.S. computer and video game publishers. "This Court order is very important because it recognizes the significant damage that mod chips and HDLoaders cause the entertainment software industry and delivers the clear message that trafficking in circumvention devices that enable game piracy will result in heavy penalties." This ruling follows the December 2005 decision by the US District Court, Northern District of California, that ordered Ohio resident Steven Filipiak to pay over $6 million in fees for violating the DMCA. In that ruling, which was the first published decision to apply the statutory damages provision of the DMCA, the Court stated that the "substantial" damage award of over $6 million was appropriate because of Filipiak's willful conduct and the need "to discourage wrongful conduct by other potential retailers who might be tempted to engage in what might otherwise appear to be a lucrative business selling illegal contravention A term of French law meaning an act violative of a law, a treaty, or an agreement made between parties; a breach of law punishable by a fine of fifteen francs or less and by an imprisonment of three days or less. In the U.S. devices." Trafficking in a technology that circumvents the copyright protection technology used by video game publishers and console manufacturers to protect their intellectual property rights violates the DMCA. The DMCA, which was enacted in 1998, prohibits the manufacture, distribution and sale of products or services that circumvent technological protection measures designed to prevent unauthorized access to, and copying of, copyrighted materials. The ESA is the U.S. association dedicated to serving the business and public affairs needs of the companies publishing interactive games for video game consoles, handheld devices, personal computers, and the Internet. ESA members collectively account for more than 90 percent of the $7 billion in entertainment software sales in the U.S. in 2005, and billions more in export sales of entertainment software. For more information about the ESA, please visit www.theESA.com. |
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