Peter Moore Says No To Anti-Piracy Lawsuits

[Andy Chalk]

Peter Moore Says No To Anti-Piracy Lawsuits

Videogamers outraged over the recent decision by five companies in the U.K. to sue pirates may be surprised to find that outspoken industry figure Peter Moore is on their side.

Five game companies in the U.K. Dream Pinball 3D [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/85791-U-K-Games-Industry-Starts-Playing-Hardball], and lawyers for the company said "there would be a lot more."

But GamesIndustry [http://www.easports.com] that litigation against its consumer base "didn't work for the music industry."

"I'm not a huge fan of trying to punish your customer. Albeit these people have clearly stolen intellectual property, I think there are better ways of resolving this within our power as developers and publishers," he said.

"Yes, we've got to find solutions. We absolutely should crack down on piracy. People put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into their content and deserve to be paid for it. It's absolutely wrong, it is stealing," Moore continued. "But at the same time I think there are better solutions than chasing people for money. I'm not sure what they are, other than to build game experiences that make it more difficult for there to be any value in pirating games."

Moore said the videogame industry could learn lessons on how to approach piracy from other industries, particularly the music industry, which pioneered the concept of punishing downloaders through lawsuits. In Moore's opinion, it would be a mistake for the videogame industry to pursue a similar course, and he said that as far as he knew Codemasters [http://www.ea.com] and chase down consumers."


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[snuffler]

In Canada, you can't be sued for downloading something from a file-sharing site; it's not your fault it's there, the blame falls solely on the hoster.

You can, however, be sued for redistributing it. So set your Limewire, Nano Torrent, and others to Zero Upload and go crazy!

 

[thebobmaster_v1legacy]

Ah, the story of EA...showing the fall of a colossus, then its hard work for redemption. Honestly, EA seems to be doing everything they can to make up for their screw-ups to gamers. Probably financial in goal, but as long as they change their ways, I don't care why they did it, just the fact that they did.

 

[HobbesMkii]

Hrm... this must be a trap. Either it's to encourage more pirates so that their lawsuits are profitable, or it's so Peter Moore can pretend to be with it. I don't care what he says, I can read the context. He can talk about an anti-pirate gaming experience, but we all know the truth: he's preaching more of the ridiculous DRM EA has been pushing on us for ages.

 

[Doug]

Indeed... it comes more across as 'Don't bother suing them, its not worth it - instead, buy our DRM systems '

 

[_Nocturnal]

And... those people surely know they're not making any friends with the lawsuits, yes?
Sue for $30,000, lose a lot more in reputation and therefore future sells after that.
As for EA, they clearly state "we're just evil, not stupid, guys, pick us!". Good for them.

 

[Lt. Sera]

At least Peter Moore learn from the mistakes the RIAA etc made. Now if only the RIAA etc would do the same..

From GamePolitics:

But at the same time I think there are better solutions than chasing people for money. I'm not sure what they are, other than to build game experiences that make it more difficult for there to be any value in pirating games.

It seems like he is not particularly aiming for DRM, but is considering all other options at this point.

 

[SilentHunter7]

"But at the same time I think there are better solutions than chasing people for money. I'm not sure what they are, other than to build game experiences that make it more difficult for there to be any value in pirating games."

Wait. He listed "...build game experiences" so that there isnt "any value in pirating games" as a better solution???

lol that has to be a misquote, or piss poor proofreading on EA's part. It sounds like he wants to make games so shitty noone will even want to pirate them. (which actually would explain a lot of EA games from past years )

That said, new EA is so much more awesome than old EA.

 

[Doug]

At least Peter Moore learn from the mistakes the RIAA etc made. Now if only the RIAA etc would do the same..

From GamePolitics:

But at the same time I think there are better solutions than chasing people for money. I'm not sure what they are, other than to build game experiences that make it more difficult for there to be any value in pirating games.

It seems like he is not particularly aiming for DRM, but is considering all other options at this point.

Possibly, possibly...

Although by the same token, the ingame adverts for BF2142 were meant to pay for new content as well as server maintaince....*checks* Yup, £5 for the Northen Strike pack (stuff Valve would give away for free as an update) and servers require renting.

Although I will say begrudingly in EA's favour I don't think the Ingame adverts got the kind of money they were thinking it would. Intel seems to have been the only company to have bought adspace when I was last there.

"But at the same time I think there are better solutions than chasing people for money. I'm not sure what they are, other than to build game experiences that make it more difficult for there to be any value in pirating games."

Wait. He listed "...build game experiences" so that there isnt "any value in pirating games" as a better solution???

lol that has to be a misquote, or piss poor proofreading on EA's part. It sounds like he wants to make games so shitty noone will even want to pirate them. (which actually would explain a lot of EA games from past years )

That said, new EA is so much more awesome than old EA.

Hehehe, I have to admit, I did wonder about that too. It does read as 'lets make the games so poor that the pirates won't be able to sell it for more than they cost to copy'

 

[stompy]

... Why is EA being so nice all of a sudden? ... Something's not right...

 

[Asehujiko]

I'm not a huge fan of trying to punish your customer.

And yet he works for one of the 2 companies thinking that drm is the solution to every probem in the world.

 

[Xvito]

... Why is EA being so nice all of a sudden? ... Something's not right...

Agreed.

 

[qbert4ever]

And... those people surely know they're not making any friends with the lawsuits, yes?
Sue for $30,000, lose a lot more in reputation and therefore future sells after that.

See, here's what I don't get. If you pirate software, you're stealing. Plain and simple. I don't give two shits if you "plan on buying it later if it's good" or if you're "only getting the single player". It's still stealing, and therefore against the law. If somebody breaks into my house, grabs a few things, and then I come home and catch him, I don't care if he has an apple or a t.v. I'm still going to bust his face open and call the cops. And I can't imagine there are many people here that would say "oh, it's no big deal, that radio is old anyway. No, don't worry about the window, I can fix it later".

So, why do people (other then the tards that get caught) get pissed off when EA, or any other developer, publisher, or what have you decide to punish the people stealing from them to the full extent of the law?

 

[Lt. Sera]

Because they are punishing the wrong people. Instead of heavily punishing the little guy (downloader/leecher), they should target the actual thieves (the people who steal the gold copies, the uploaders/seeders).

Look at what happened with the RIAA. They went after the little guy, look where it got them. They never made a difference, they only lost money on it so far and they made themselves hated along the process.


Instead of treating the symptons, treat the disease.

 

[HobbesMkii]

Because, Qbert, it'd be like if any other company created some anti-theft measure to prevent your stuff from being stolen from them. Imagine if Sony created a scheme wherein your television nailed itself into the floor/wall and didn't move. Well, you'd be pretty annoyed. Or maybe your TV could only be plugged in and unplugged three times. And that's why DRM is draconian.

 

[qbert4ever]

Because they are punishing the wrong people. Instead of heavily punishing the little guy (downloader/leecher), they should target the actual thieves (the people who steal the gold copies, the uploaders/seeders).

While this is true, that doesn't change the fact that the people downloading the games are still stealing. Look at it this way, if some guy steals a dvd player, then sells it to a guy that knows for a fact it's stolen, they are both going to be charged with crimes if they are caught. In that same way, if you download a game without paying for it (save free promo games such as Yaris), you're still breaking the law.

Don't get me wrong, I think they do need to focus more on the people distributing the products instead of the buyers, much in the same way the cops look for the dealers instead of the random pot-heads. But if a cop sees a guy in the middle of the street smoking dope, he's not just gonna say "eh, whatever". I see people complaining about Metallica going after people that downloaded their songs off Napster, and I think "well, they never said Napster could have, let alone give away any of their songs." I just think that if you download something illegally, and you get caught and punished, you have no right to ***** about it.

 

[sunami88]

... Why is EA being so nice all of a sudden? ... Something's not right...

Agreed.

I'm getting kinda scared. Especially after that awesome of all awesomeness Tiger Woods Jesus Shot commercial.


...If they keep it up... I might have to start liking them... and that chills me to the bones.

 

[The Thief]

$30,000 for Dream Pinball 3D? That has to be a crime right there...