It's not just movie and music companies that lose money from piracy, the video-game biz misses out on more than $3 billion annually, according to the Entertainment Software Association. That figure
that doesn't even take into account piracy over the Internet. Scott Miller of 3D Realms estimates that as much as 50 percent of PC games sales are lost to piracy. It also affects team morale.
What's being done to help? Current methods of combating piracy include physical protection, DVD authentication systems, online "guerilla" warfare against groups running piracy Web rings,
infringement lawsuits, the FBI and customs. Not only is it important to stop piracy to save the game industry, but to keep the money gleaned from it from funding criminal and terrorist groups, says
another analyst.
Part of the problem, like with Web virus software, is that it's an arms race against hackers, who often break through stronger firewalls and patches in a matter of weeks.
Read the whole story at Game Daily Biz »