The Feds Go After Illegal Games

So, you know I am not a gamer… but my son, Benjamin, is the Gamemaster! So, he would be more interested in this story than I would… not because he uses illegal games… all his are fully legal (I should know… my wife, Belinda or I buy them for him!) But, he does stay on top of what is going on in the gaming world.

US Gov’t Cracks Down On Pirated Games

“The US Government said Wednesday that it had executed 32 search warrants in 16 states as part of a crackdown on devices and chips which allow pirated games to be played on gaming consoles. Government officials say the targets of the raids were company’s that produce devices to circumvent copyright protections on Sony’s PlayStation 2, Microsoft’s Xbox and Xbox 360, and Nintendo’s Wii, among others. The industry claims these chips cause billions of dollars in lost revenue each year. The raids were the largest of their kind to to date, and were the result of investigations by the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office in Cleveland, Ohio. ICE says that in 2006, seizures of pirated works increased by 83 percent. ‘Illicit devices like the ones targeted today are created with one purpose in mind, subverting copyright protections,’ ICE Homeland Security assistant secretary Julie Myers said. ‘These crimes cost legitimate businesses billions of dollars annually and facilitate multiple other layers of criminality, such as smuggling, software piracy and money laundering.'”