Andre Yoskowitz
10 Apr 2007 9:41
We reported last week that the US was filing a piracy case against China, and after the decision was made, Nintendo of America declared very strong support for the government and their efforts to crack down on video game piracy in particular in China.
Each year, the US Trade Representatives gets reports from companies about foreign piracy and this year Nintendo gave evidence about piracy in China, Hong Kong, Mexico, Paraguay, and Brazil.
According to Nintendo's report there have been more than 7.7 million counterfeit videogame products seized from Chinese factories and retailers in the last 10 years.
In a statement, the company said China is "the leading production site and exporter for counterfeit Nintendo videogame products", and also has the largest domestic consumption - but there has only been one criminal prosecution.
"Numerous factories, where tens of thousands of counterfeit Nintendo products were seized, escaped with only trivial fines or no penalty at all. And often these production sites continue to operate after products are seized,"
Nintendo's senior director of anti-piracy praised the goverment highly for their latest efforts: "Nintendo will continue to work with the U.S. government while aggressively pursuing counterfeit Nintendo products in China.
"We're pleased the US government is pushing China to comply with its trade commitments in an effort to protect the lifeblood of the copyright and trademark industries."
Source:
Gamesindustry.biz