US Calls Out Piracy-Enabling Countries

[Brandon237]

I wish my country would stfu already.

Shame, I feel sorry for you American citizens, getting the rep that actually belongs to your government. Hey, at least your president doesn't have 20 children!

 

[Brandon237]

Well, I'm from argentina. Part of the reason piracy is so rampant here is because prices are ridiculous as opposed to any other countries. To make a clear picture out of this. 1 videogame is around 120-150 U$S while the average salary is 400 U$S.
sure you can preach about the importance of "keeping it legal" but it only goes so far with most people. especially if pirate copies are sold almost EVERYWHERE and priced at less than 5 U$S.

And many are free if you don't have an internet cap! I have a cap and do not pirate so this isn't an option, besides, older games are all suddenly on special from $5-$10.

Seriously, I could go buy Bio-shock for $10! South Africa just got a DVD factory, which means NO MORE Ridiculous IMPORT DUTIES. That is the problem with a weak currency, imports = selling of soul.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Ummm, isn't Ubisoft Montreal the guys responsible for the nightmare inducing DRM scheme?

Screw off America, let us do things our own way.

 

[Atmos Duality]

I delight in the hypocrisy at work here; calling out on piracy because we want "ethical businesses"? Respecting others' property (intellectual or otherwise)? We can't even do that here, let alone ask other countries to bother.

I do love having a government that ceases to be anything other than a mouthpiece for private/special interest groups. Shit, we can't even deal with practical scientifically solvable problems now because the rich businessmen don't want to. Once upon a time, we might have been able to get this stuff done. No longer.

Remember: Being a big player in the business world today simply means being a bigger asshole no matter who you are or where you live in the world. Big business has no real ethics; it cannot afford them anymore in a global economy.

 

[Steelfists]

And I call out the USA,Britain and Australia to be fascist states trying to steal the rights and freedoms of the worlds populaces by ensuring no one questions the absolute rights of copyright owners......

Actually, I believe that the UK (I can't speak for Australia) is just an American puppet/lap dog, rather than a co-conspirator.

Our government is just too feeble to stand up for itself and tell America where to go. If a political party (and not those damn BNP jerks) proclaimed they'd stop the country being so in awe of the US and stop following them around like a fool, then I'd vote for them.

Yes, because the UK government wants to protect billions of pounds in tax revenue and countless jobs in various entertainment industries they are America's lap dog. Think things through before you go on spouting a load of bullshit.

Whoa! Chill! I'm English, and I'm just tired of the Brits diving headlong into every war the US starts. It's not bullshit, it's opinion.

Fair enough. But it was two. C'mon.

 

[Steelfists]

I love it. The US government as a mouthpiece for corpulent corporations built around obsolete business models.

If they are obsolete how can they still function?

Quite easily, just look at the Recording Industry. All they had to do was desperately cling to an obsolete business model, sue anyone they thought may have been infringing on their rights (kids, old people, dead people, people without computers), and lobby the fuck out of Congress to have them change the laws so they don't have to innovate while giving them more and more unneeded power over their rights.

They have adapted. A rising share of their business is done online, and they have realised they can't continue to inflate prices to ridiculous levels.

And surely the fact that they were able to get Congress to change the law (are you sure thats true?) shows that their business model isn't obselete?

 

[razer17]

America, FUCK YEAH. Coming here to save the motherfucking day yeah! America, FUCK YEAH, freedom is the only way yeah....

*Ahem* Sorry about that, where was I? Oh yeah, America, world police, trying to force every nation to be like them

 

[razer17]

The Trade Representative estimates 18 million American workers are affected by the piracy issues

I call immediate bullcrap.

They have no way of proving that. As so many people before me have stated, one pirated game does not equal a lost sale, and so they can't have created a statistic for how many workers are affected.

That's not even mentioning the fact that, despite increasing piracy, the entertainment industries are making record profits every year. Which means if anything is affecting these workers, it's the companies own greed.

Yes, probably hurts their profits somewhat, but clearly not to the exten that they like to claim. Pulling out the "Buy that CD so their families can eat" card is a load of bullshit.

 

[7ru7h]

I love it. The US government as a mouthpiece for corpulent corporations built around obsolete business models.

If they are obsolete how can they still function?

Quite easily, just look at the Recording Industry. All they had to do was desperately cling to an obsolete business model, sue anyone they thought may have been infringing on their rights (kids, old people, dead people, people without computers), and lobby the fuck out of Congress to have them change the laws so they don't have to innovate while giving them more and more unneeded power over their rights.

They have adapted. A rising share of their business is done online, and they have realised they can't continue to inflate prices to ridiculous levels.

Sure, they adapted, but that was after they were forced to by all the bad PR they got from their anti-filesharing crusades (suing all those poeple, the Sony rootkit, ect) and the fact that no one would buy their over priced crap

And surely the fact that they were able to get Congress to change the law (are you sure thats true?) shows that their business model isn't obselete?

Well, you obviously haven't heard of the DMCA (which horribly limited consumer rights on digital media) which was passed after much lobbying to congress. Or the ACTA treaty which is being hammered out behind closed doors with little to no public input on what they want (that's being handled by industry insiders). Fun fact, the ACTA treaty, if accepted by the nations of the world, would bring ridiculous copyright restrictions to the world.

And how is it that a business model is not obsolete when it has to be held up by congress?

 

[Steelfists]

I love it. The US government as a mouthpiece for corpulent corporations built around obsolete business models.

If they are obsolete how can they still function?

Quite easily, just look at the Recording Industry. All they had to do was desperately cling to an obsolete business model, sue anyone they thought may have been infringing on their rights (kids, old people, dead people, people without computers), and lobby the fuck out of Congress to have them change the laws so they don't have to innovate while giving them more and more unneeded power over their rights.

They have adapted. A rising share of their business is done online, and they have realised they can't continue to inflate prices to ridiculous levels.

Sure, they adapted, but that was after they were forced to by all the bad PR they got from their anti-filesharing crusades (suing all those poeple, the Sony rootkit, ect) and the fact that no one would buy their over priced crap

And surely the fact that they were able to get Congress to change the law (are you sure thats true?) shows that their business model isn't obselete?

Well, you obviously haven't heard of the DMCA (which horribly limited consumer rights on digital media) which was passed after much lobbying to congress. Or the ACTA treaty which is being hammered out behind closed doors with little to no public input on what they want (that's being handled by industry insiders). Fun fact, the ACTA treaty, if accepted by the nations of the world, would bring ridiculous copyright restrictions to the world.

And how is it that a business model is not obsolete when it has to be held up by congress?

To be honest what we are arguing over right now is the definition of obsolete. Its a bit pointless really.

 

[Gindil]

This is probably a dumb question, but what does this even mean? Is the US pretty much telling other countries to make pirating illegal and crack down on it or what?

Dunno if anyone answered your question, but the Trade reps are passing grades on nations to deal with in regards to piracy. Doesn't mean too much but it affects where companies are going to do business in the future.

 

[Nerdygamer89]

Police able to go into your house without whatever you call them

No, they sure as hell are not allowed to do that. Any evidence of a crime gathered without a warrant signed by a judge is thrown out. If they don't have a warrant, you're more than within your rights to tell them to stay out.

 

[Bretty]

Police able to go into your house without whatever you call them

No, they sure as hell are not allowed to do that. Any evidence of a crime gathered without a warrant signed by a judge is thrown out. If they don't have a warrant, you're more than within your rights to tell them to stay out.

You should read the Patriot act closely my friend.