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Wednesday, 11 March 2009 18:48 |
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Raid Seizes Thousands of Illegal Computer and Video Games
March 11, 2009 – WASHINGTON, DC – The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) today applauded Mexico’s Metropolitan Delegation in Camarones of the Procuraduría General de la República (PGR) and the Federal Preventative Police for their recent raid in the Tepito area of Mexico City. The action resulted in the seizure of over 60,000 pirated computer and video games, 252 CD/DVD burners, and 98,000 pieces of packaging material used for pirated game software.
“Piracy hurts artists and entrepreneurs, paralyzes the development of a local game industry, and stymies our industry’s contributions to economies,” said Michael D. Gallagher, president and CEO of the ESA, the trade association representing U.S. computer and video game publishers. “We commend law enforcement officials for their actions in this raid and are fully committed to supporting authorities in Mexico and around the world in their efforts to combat entertainment software piracy.”
The Tepito action comes weeks after local law enforcement raided 37 apartments and dismantled pirating workshops, warehouses, and six pirate game software labs containing over 784 CD/DVD burners. Authorities also seized nearly 33,000 pirated games and over 1 million pieces of packaging material used to manufacture pirated games.
Tepito is one of the most popular shopping areas in Mexico City and is a local center of black market activity, including the manufacture and sale of pirated computer and video games. These two raids together represent the entertainment software industry’s largest strike against a pirate burning lab syndicate in Mexico City.
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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Sunday, 08 March 2009 23:53 |
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The RAND corporation has released an interesting report outlining the connection between Piracy and Terrorists. From the press release:
The RAND report outlines three cases where film piracy has helped support terrorist groups:
- Historically the best documented case involves the Irish Republican Army that used many criminal activities, including film piracy, to support its efforts to drive the British from Northern Ireland. A political agreement in 1998 ended its violent acts, but at least parts of the IRA continue to operate as a criminal enterprise that remains involved in counterfeiting activities.
- The D-Company is an organized crime group active for generations in India. Since the 1980s, it has been the major syndicate involved with film piracy in India. The group was transformed into a terrorist organization when it carried out the "Black Friday" bombings in Mumbai in 1993 that killed more than 257 people and injured hundreds more. It continues to advance a political agenda with its actions funded at least partly by the proceeds of crime.
- Another case involves the tri-border area of Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay that has emerged as the most important financing center for Islamic terrorism outside of the Middle East, channeling $20 million annually to Hezbollah. At least one transfer of $3.5 million was made to Hezbollah by known DVD pirate Assad Ahmad Barakat, who received a thank-you note from the Hezbollah leader. Barakat was labeled a "specially designated global terrorist" by the U.S. government in 2004.
You can download the report by clicking here |
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Monday, 15 December 2008 10:33 |
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Recently Axl Rose had a chat with the guys over at mygnrforum.com (unable to find the original link) but information on it and part of the transcript is posted over here at imperiumi.net. In it Axl talks about what we like the most, Piracy , among other things.
He also agrees that piracy cannot be stopped. “And it's too rampant and widespread. It's simply too huge a mess for the courts to deal with and in that with those #'s and the expense and manpower involved necessary at this time to curtail it... obviously there are more serious crimes for society to focus on”.
Axl says that neither the industry or the fans cares about the artists. “Besides, fuck musicians right? If they didn't make enough already then they probably suck anyway rt? "I ain't cryin' for no rich dude." Whatever”.
His interesting comment is how would the album have done had the illegal downloads been counted as sales. “”What are our #'s on the torrent sites for this album? I don't know. So I don't know how or if it's affected us in terms of sales this time around. Maybe not but w/the economy and the core of our market I'd think there's a possibility it has had a negative effect. Anyone?”
You can read the summary here at imperiumi.net |
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Monday, 08 December 2008 16:21 |
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Buyer Be Smart
Recently Microsoft Corporation has taken a stand against sellers of pirated software at online auction websites like ioffer.com. The 63 legal actions are taking place in 12 countries, including 16 in the United States, 12 in Germany, 12 in France and 7 in the United Kingdom, as well as proceedings in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Japan, Mexico and New Zealand. These cases are a timely reminder to consumers to be vigilant during this holiday season to avoid falling prey to fakes when shopping online for good deals on software.
The article on microsoft’s website mentions “Windows XP Blue Edition” which, I have never seen before except for on one site which appears to be a haven for those selling warez, ioffer.com.
“Dishonest auctioneers are too often using these online auction sites to sell counterfeit and illegal copies of Microsoft software, taking advantage of unsuspecting customers around the world,” said David Finn, associate general counsel for Worldwide Anti-Piracy and Anti-Counterfeiting at Microsoft. “These dealers are peddling bogus products that can put customers and their personal information at serious risk.”
This comes right after the BSA launched a similar campaign against those selling pirated software both in the United States and the United Kingdom.
“By taking legal action against these and other alleged counterfeiters, Microsoft is helping ensure that consumers around the world are protected from those who sell counterfeit software over the Internet,” Finn said. We are also continuing to arm our customers with the information they need to keep from falling victim to counterfeit software. Consumers should be aware that the so-called ‘Blue Edition’ software is nothing more than low-quality counterfeit software burned onto a CD.” |
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Sunday, 07 December 2008 15:26 |
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I get a lot of questions regarding people in the present and past that were involved with the warez community in one way or another. I have put this database together to answer those questions. The goal of the database is to be able to search by Real Name, Group Name, or Nickname, and to be able to find out what happened to that person, his sentencing, and to read court documents if available.
I have spoken too many of the people on the database and they all agree with me: getting involved with warez is just not worth it. That is the entire point of this website. Companies get paid millions of dollars to lobby the government to go after the warez community. This is very real and it’s not going away any time soon. It’s just not worth it.
You will notice some very interesting cases in the database. Foe example, a supplier for a warez group might get a lesser of a sentence then a person who just downloaded for personal use. Or a trader gets jail time but the leader of a very large music group gets off with probation.
If you are in this database and wish to be removed, please email
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
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Bugs in the database:
1) no way of starting a new search, for a new search keep pressing your BACK button or just go back to www.piracyisacrime.org.
2) Missing a lot of people, I have some 170 people added but am still missing a lot more. This gets very expensive to find a document (and download) court documents. Give me some time, will be here soon =)
3) Speed. (slower then I would like)
TO USE THE DATABASE LOOK ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE OF THE WEBSITE ->
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