More raids being
planned
Another shop raided; 14 devices that let users play pirated games
seized
Straits Times, The
(Singapore)
Home
November 17, 2007
Author: Irene Tham
VIDEO-GAME industry watchdog Entertainment Software Association has
warned retailers that the year-end holiday season may not provide
much reason to be jolly if they sell pirated goods.
It raided six shops at IT mall Sim Lim Square on Thursday and
another shop there yesterday.
Nobody was arrested, but association spokesman Cyril Chua said: 'We
will not hesitate to take people to court if pirates don't clean up
their act.'
More enforcement action is on the way, he said, with raids perhaps
as soon as next week and even in housing estates, if sellers of
bootleg games do not heed the warning.
'This is a critical period with the school holidays and Christmas
coming,' said Mr Chua.
The busted Sim Lim shops were said to be selling devices that allow
users to download and play pirated games on their Nintendo DS
handheld consoles.
Fourteen devices, priced at about $40 apiece, were confiscated by
the police yesterday, while more than 200 were seized on Thursday.
The police conducted the raids with the association.
The United States-based anti-piracy body's members include some of
the world's largest video-game publishers - Electronic Arts,
Vivendi Games and Square Enix. They produce popular games like
World Of Warcraft and Final Fantasy.
This week's raids were the first time that the police have seized
the piracy-enabling devices here.
The gadget bypasses the game console's copyright protection
mechanisms by fooling the system into thinking it is an original
game cartridge.
The product in question can either store pirated games or read
bootleg games kept in micro-SD removable storage cards. They were
imported from Hong Kong.
Mr Chua, an intellectual property lawyer with Alban Tay Mahtani
& de Silva, said such devices are illegal under the Singapore
Copyright Act. Those found guilty face fines of up to $20,000 or up
to two years' jail, or both.
The law firm represents the anti-piracy body, formerly called the
Interactive Digital Software Association, and has been working with
the police against games pirates since 1999.
During 1999 and 2000, at least 200 raids were carried out in Sim
Lim Square, which had to live down a reputation as a pirates'
haven.
A Sim Lim Square management committee member who declined to be
named told The Straits Times yesterday: 'We have no control over
what people sell. If there are complaints, we will work with the
authorities.'
Since 1999, more than 100 people have been convicted to date for
selling illegal games in Singapore.
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Copyright, 2007, Singapore Press Holdings Limited
