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EA Sports boss Peter Moore has said he doesn't support the move to sue consumers for illegal downloading - warning, "It didn't work for the music industry."

Moore was speaking to GamesIndustry.biz at the Leipzig Games Convention, following the announcement that five games companies are taking legal action against 25,000 file-sharing internet users.

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

"Yes, we've got to find solutions," Moore continued. "We absolutely should crack down on piracy. People put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into their content and deserve to get paid for it. It's absolutely wrong, it is stealing.

"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."

According to Moore, there are lessons to be learned from the experiences of other industries. "If we learned anything from the music business, they just don't win any friends by suing their consumers," he observed. "Speaking personally, I think our industry does not want to fall foul of what happened with music."

When asked whether EA has any plans to go down the same road as Atari, Codemasters and the other publishers launching the legal action, Moore replied, "Not as far as I'm aware. Regarding what EA needs to do - I can't comment on that. EA takes piracy very seriously, and people deserve to get paid for content they create.

"But as far as I'm aware, we have no plans, that I know of, to partner with Atari and Codemasters and chase down consumers," he added.
To read the full interview with Moore, where he discusses EA, E3 and the console race, visit <a href="http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=220216">Eurogamer.net</a>.

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PC manufacturers view piracy as "hidden benefit" for consumers - Hollenshead

id Software's CEO Todd Hollenshead has stated that he believes PC manufacturers' acceptance of piracy and the sharing of content the user does not pay for is the PC hardware industry's "dirty little secret".

According to Hollenshead, manufacturers are secretly happy with levels of piracy in the industry as it helps to sell hardware.

"I think that there's been this dirty little secret among hardware manufacturers, which is that the perception of free content - even if you're supposed to pay for it on PCs - is some sort hidden benefit that you get when you buy a PC, like a right to download music for free or a right to download pirated movies and games," said Hollenshead in an <a href="http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/hollenshead-carmack-part-one">exclusive interview</a> published today.

"I think that if you went in and could see what's going on in their minds, though they may never say that stuff and I'm not saying there's some conspiracy or something like that - but I think the thing is they realise that trading content, copyrighted or not, is an expected benefit of owning a computer."

Hollenshead - famed for PC titles Doom, Quake and the forthcoming Rage - believes that PC manufacturers will obviously speak out against piracy in public, but the enormity of the problem is evidence that it's being largely ignored by hardware companies.

"I think that just based on their actions...what they say is one thing, but what they do is another.

"When it comes into debates about whether peer-to-peer file-sharing networks that by-and-large have the vast majority, I'm talking 99 per cent of the content is illicitly trading copyrighted property, they'll come out on the side of the 1 per cent of the user doing it for legitimate benefit.

"You can make philosophical arguments that are difficult to debate, but at the same time you're just sort of ignoring the enormity of the problem," he said.

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People put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into their content and deserve to get paid for it.

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Pirate Bay Acquired, Will Compensate Content Providers
by Kris Graft

June 30, 2009

Embattled file-sharing site The Pirate Bay has been acquired by game networking company Global Gaming Factory for $7.8 million, and will turn the website into a legitimate operation that compensates content providers.

"We would like to introduce models which entail that content providers and copyright owners get paid for content that is downloaded via the site, " said GGF CEO Hans Pandeya in a statement. The acquisition is slated to close in August.

Pandeya said that Sweden-based The Pirate Bay is one of the "top 100 most visited internet sites in the world." He added, "However, in order to live on, The Pirate Bay requires a new business model, which satisfies the requirements and needs of all parties, content providers, broadband operators, end users, and the judiciary. Content creators and providers need to control their content and get paid for it. File sharers need faster downloads and better quality."

Today, The Pirate Bay is known best as a destination where users can download illegitimate copies of music, movies and games. In April, a Swedish court sentenced the four creators of The Pirate Bay to one year in prison and fines of $905,000 each for "assisting in making copyright content available" via the website.

As part of the deal, GGF acquires all of The Pirate Bay's domain names and related websites. GGF will take over operation of the site on the deal's closing.

The Pirate Bay's blog said, "We've been working on this project for many years. It's time to invite more people into the project, in a way that is secure and safe for everybody. We need that, or the site will die." :lol:

GGF also said that it acquired German software company Peerialism for $13 million, a company that has developed file-sharing technology.

“Peerialism has developed a new data distribution technology which now can be introduced on the best known file - sharing site, The Pirate Bay. Since the technology is compatible with the existing it will quickly allow for new values to be created for all key stakeholders and facilitate new business opportunities”, said Johan Ljungberg, CEO of Peerialism.

Pandeya added, "As a result of the acquisitions of The Pirate Bay and Peerialism, GGF will have a strategic position in the international digital distribution market. File sharing traffic is estimated to account for more than half of today's global Internet traffic. The Pirate Bay has a global brand and holds a key position with over 20 million visitors and over one billion page views per month."

The acquisitions are subject to GGF obtaining financing and authorization by GGF's board of directors and investors.

GGF also has a large network of internet cafes and game centers.

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