Nintendo turns to U.S. government to fight piracy
Having established that the United States is notrife with pirates, Nintendo has made a request to the U.S. government to assist in the fight against piracy of Nintendo products. The company has asked the U.S. Trade Representative to convey messages to other governments with rampant piracy issues, encouraging them to tighten their laws.
Nintendo is asking, specifically, China, Hong Kong, Korea, Mexico, Brazil, and Paraguay's governments to be more aggressive against software pirates. Nintendo is asking China to prosecute the large-scale producers of pirated materials, while Korean "service providers" on whose networks software is traded are the target of the censure in that country. Nintendo's complaints against the Latin American governments are much more interesting, as they call for an end to violence against anti-piracy law enforcement officials in Mexico, a crackdown on corruption in Paraguay, and the reduction of high tariffs on retail games in Brazil.
Jodi Daugherty, Nintendo's senior director of anti-piracy, said "The unprecedented momentum enjoyed by Nintendo DS and Wii makes Nintendo an attractive target for counterfeiters." Nintendo estimates the lost sales caused by piracy to be around $975 million worldwide.
