“We support the House and Senate proposals”
In the wake of three major companies–Electronic Arts, Microsoft, and Nintendo–formally withdrawing official support of the Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, the Entertainment Software Association, the industry’s premiere trade association and lobbyist, issued a statement to various news outlets today re-affirming their support for the bill and similar measures working through the US Congress.
The ESA represents more than 30 video game companies, including the aforementioned three companies, and Sega, where no official statement for or against the efforts have been made.
In the ESA statement, which is provided below, the trade group says they are aware of concerns surrounding both SOPA and an alternate bill, the Protect IP Act. Nevertheless, the group broadly believes pirate websites “restrict demand” for their constituents’ products, and ultimately invoke the current political buzzword of jobs to justify the argument:
As an industry of innovators and creators, we understand the importance of both technological innovation and content protection, and do not believe the two are mutually exclusive. Rogue websites – those singularly devoted to profiting from their blatant illegal piracy – restrict demand for legitimate video game products and services, thereby costing jobs. Our industry needs effective remedies to address this specific problem, and we support the House and Senate proposals to achieve this objective. We are mindful of concerns raised about a negative impact on innovation. We look forward to working with the House and Senate, and all interested parties, to find the right balance and define useful remedies to combat willful wrongdoers that do not impede lawful product and business model innovation.
Many may remember when the ESA called on supporters to get involved in Brown v. EMA, the case concerning a California law prohibiting the sale of “violent” video games that was ultimately deemed unconstitutional by the US Supreme Court. Given the ESA’s activity there supporting the industry’s right to free speech, many opposed to SOPA and PIPA find a tinge of hypocrisy on a part of the ESA, when it comes to what they feel is a strike against that same First Amendment principle.
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DASBOSCHITT!!
Yup, thought so.
I say retaliate by pirating all you can.
The ESA must realize that this shit is NOT the right way to stop piracy.
I understand that piracy IS a serious issue, but there’s BETTER ideas than this.
I don’t think ESA would want to listen to you about having better ideas QuietGuy92.
They think SOPA is the better idea.
^
based on their statement…it looks like they do…That’s why I’m very confident that this act will NEVER pass…you can’t deal with crime by punishing those not doing anything illegal. Hence they’re statement of working with them to find the right “balance” of a resolution.
I dont understand what everyone is worried about. No way will this act pass. The justice system is shaky with some cases, but when it regards the Bill of Rights, mostly the first amendment, they dont fuck around.
@darkgomugomu
Obama just passed a Bill that ignores that legal mumbo jumbo, anything is possible.
How did he do that?
No, they didn’t http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120103/00304017255/no-sony-electronics-nintendo-ea-have-not-publicly-changed-their-position-sopa.shtml
@Ee
…Please shoot me.
@Ee
…. Err… for the suspect of terrorism only. Stop to begin SOOO sensacionalist, please…
I think these companies should take a step back and reevaluate the situation. They will then realize that letting the government filter the internet is an insane idea. First off, piracy “limits demand for products”? That is absolutely NOT TRUE. The only reason I ever got into Sonic in the first place was because I stumbled upon a Master System emulation site that let me play Sonic 1 8-bit. And from that one “pirated” game, what did Sega get? About 10 more sales. That’s a pretty good deal for ONE emulated game, from one person. Piracy doesn’t reduce demand for games; in fact, in many cases it’s likely to increase sales.
Also, who is the government to limit our freedom? I know China currently filters their internet, something which I absolutely DESPISE and is what’s keeping me from even visiting there. This doesn’t mean that we should follow suit. Besides, the government should know very well what will happen even if they manage to pass the bill: people will find a way around it. Just like flashcards for the DSi, everytime a new system update was released to block flashcards, workarounds were developed. The government can’t expect to completely block off piracy by this route.
Best way to challenge piracy is to attack the moral value of it. Convince people that it’s a bad thing to do and you’re set. Brute force is going to get nowhere.
I say to anyone and everyone…resist this with everything left within you…cause its bad enough we are in debt up to our eyeballs to China…let us not become like them. If they vote this in…VOTE THEM OUT when their time comes! remember US Senators & Congressmen..watch your step…we are watching you…remember what happened to arlen specter? He thought he was smart playing party flip flop…and that flop flipped his @$$ out on the next election for em too.
They need to target piracy and piracy only, not slam the entire Internet.
This bill is way too vague, and it gives them too much power, which I think is being done not out of incompetence but out of sheer greed.
Okay so…. how can SOPA stop the people already doing illegal actions such as piracy? I mean clearly they’re in the wrong now, and they will still be doing wrong if/after this bill passes. Hackers and script kiddies seems to always be a few steps ahead when coming up with ways to bypass security barriers that any organization implements.
As I see it, the bill would make normal folk more pissed at the bill than at pirates.
@SegaMew
Thank you! If this bill got passed, that would mean I can’t post a video of me playing Sonic Generations! Now it would be another thing if some guy posted the code of the entire game on his blog. It’s not like those books you see that say “No part of this book may be duplicated“. You don’t see that in video games, do you?
Now the real question is this: is it Sega as a whole who supports it, or just the corporate executives?
God damn it, SEGA.
You know, you can’t really blame Sega for wanting to stop piracy, cause they make games. But as I said before, through some research, you’ll find that piracy often encourages people to buy games. I tried a Spirit Tracks rom on a computer once, and it was nearly impossible to play with a mouse, which prompted me to go out and buy the full game. The only way I ever got into games was through emulation. I see no problem with emulation introducing people to the world of high-quality dedicated platform games (opposed to all those crappy flashes online).
But what they don’t seem to realize is that they would, in effect, limit the spread of their own products if they helped pass this bill.
@Killer Bunny: See, it’s those walkthroughs on Youtube that led me to get several of the games I own. If it weren’t for Youtube, I wouldn’t have even ever known about Generations.
Upload Sonic speedrun to Youtube.
*video removed due to copyright infringement*
HERP DERP
@SEGAMew – I absolutely agree. Hackers and pirates will always be a step ahead anyway. It’s like everyone’s getting punished for the actions of a select few. I don’t think that’s right. It’s like going up to a child drawing a picture of Sonic, ripping his drawing to shreds, and saying “that’s what you get for copyright infringement.” Absolutely ridiculous…
And as we all know, most corporations have inhouse hackers/programmers working on network security. Sabotage/purposely weakening the network due to political disagreements is inevitable.