GAME PIRATES CASHING IN ON HOLIDAY SEASON? INDUSTRY WATCHDOG WARNS: More raids being planned
Another shop raided; 14 devices that let users play pirated games seized
By Irene Tham
FAKE GAMES: Previously, pirated game cartridges like these were the target. In this week's raids, piracy-enabling devices were seized for the first time. -- ST FILE PHOTO
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.
http://www.straitstimes.com/Free/Sto...ry_177673.html 
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