Game Developers Go Nuts, Suing Up to 25,000 File-Sharers

"Research figures from NPD indicate that the PC version of Assassin's Creed sold only some 40000 copies through June; negligible compared with the sales on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360." The downloading of the PC build hardly effected the sales. I remember coming across metal Gear Solid online years ago months before it was to be released here in the west and it still sold millions of copies. Why would anyone chose the PC version of a game that MIGHT work on their system when they can just buy the same game for their XBox or PS Triple and it will work guaranteed. PC games are famous for being shipped halfway complete or loaded with bugs. Not to mention the specs required to run the PC build are insane. Why spend 300 bucks on a video card when you can just buy an XBox console for the same price?

wapazoid again I apologize for my harsh remarks and I am open to all suggestions thank you Mr. Goldberg

I spend at least a million for each music release and 20 million for each software release so tell me should I shut down ? or is there a price that I can sell my products that that will make it worth my while ?

I am sure you do listen I read the article of this poor programmer on another post and I did like his approach so......... I do have a final question here where would I need to set my prices for artists cd's action games role playing games office software graphic web software for direct download ? retail store (I have to give them 50% of the retail price) direct mail order ? I apologize for my harsh and arrogant remarks and I would rather try to salvage this and win than sink in millions into lawsuits and maybe lose Thank you for your insight Mr Goldberg

I have more money than you.

If you were a prince you would not A. be on here I know many of them and they could care less about the internet to busy in the real world B. you would not be a file sharer and risk a chance of getting you family embarrassed by your stupidity conclusion you are not a prince maybe a pauper but not a prince

now we all know you are a whack job lol

YOU!!! YOU!!! I AM A PRINCE!!!

at my club

You crack me up Matthew is at home with his baby and wife Rihanna is doing a show tonight at club

I'm sorry but I don't have time to read your bullshit. Matthew Mcconaughey and Rihanna are meeting me for drinks. I told her about the $20000 bank account comment you made. Maybe we'll call you later.

I would also say that at this rate until file sharing and free comes under control I would delay releasing your product or give it away for free and hope you get known

further more if you did have friends in the entertainment business and they knew you file share they would turn you in. All I hear about everyday is how file sharers are decimating the business day by day hour by hour they are worried that there will not be a hollywood at the rate this is going. They hate file sharers seriously they do hate file sharers and want to see them all suffer but lucky for all of you we cannot do anything outside of the law so we have to spend millions and hire high profile law firms to go after you no joke actually try and tell one of them you stole his movie and gave it so your friends and see if he or she does not punch you in the face. try it I dare you I mean imagine pressing up 700000 copies and only selling 40000 that would piss anyone off

also anyone with friends in the business would not use the word high caliber that statement alone tells me you are full of it I have and do business with many associates in the quote n quote business we all do and everyone does well and if you knew p diddy you would know what bitch slap is it is not an acryonym it is a verb meaning that you would get slapped across the face without warning and called you a bitch other times it would mean a beatdown without warning

One of my friends Games giant Ubisoft has filed a lawsuit against Optical Experts Manufacturing (OEM) a US replicator based in Charlotte North Carolina. Ubisoft alleges that an OEM employee took home a copy of Assassin's Creed PC and leaked it onto the internet six weeks prior to the game's launch in April leading to over 700000 illegal downloads of the game and millions of dollars in lost sales. The official court document states: "Ubisoft is one of the largest independent publishers and developers of video games in the world. One of its most successful games is Assassin's Creed. As a result of an extraordinary breach of trust and gross negligence by Defendant Optical Experts Manufacturing ("OEM") one of OEM's employees leaked onto the worldwide web the PC version of Assassin's Creed (the "Game") six weeks prior to its release. This leak resulted in over 700000 illegal internet downloads of the Game which caused Ubisoft to lose millions of dollars in sales. OEM should be held accountable for that loss." Research figures from NPD indicate that the PC version of Assassin's Creed sold only some 40000 copies through June; negligible compared with the sales on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. According to Ubisoft what makes matters worse is that the earlier version of the game contained a bug for security reasons that would make the game crash halfway through. While the bug was not supposed to be on the final release the company claims that the mix of reviews based on the 'buggy' release and those based on the retail version "created customer confusion and caused irreparable harm" to its reputation. The bottom line is that Ubisoft is suing OEM for copyright infringement breach of contract and negligence. For the breach of contract and negligence the publisher is looking for at least $10 million in damages. wapazoid you are a jerkoff I doubt you know anyone in movies or music otherwise you would be totally against file sharing file sharers are killing the business I just talked to one of my manufacturers to see how business is doing and he said it is so bad they are doing any deals for runs over a million unfortunately I had to tell him that we are no longer in the record or software business

LMAO Use Google to find out what that acronym means. I'll leave it alone at this point. But know this. I have many close friends in the entertainment industry including VERY high caliber music and movie producers. I also do business with some of America's most prestigeous investors. My kung-fu is simply stronger than yours.

you told me you wanted to meet up about your web browser at a sports bar near your office I take it you need money to launch it ? "A few colleagues of mine have been working on a software application that will undoubtedly change the way businesses and consumers use the internet. We call it a "web browser". Imagine all the information you could ever possibly want at your finger tips complete with sound and graphics. Unfortunately I'm not at liberty to discuss further details. There's a great sports bar just down the road from our main office. Good pizza and good beer. We look forward to hearing from you." I doubt you know p diddy and if you did he would bitch slap you for supporting file sharing you and others are stealing from him as well

lol I hung out with P Diddy earlier tonight. He wanted me to tell you to take your 8-track casettes and get lost. And as for #182... what in the hell are you going on about? Put that huka away!

Anyone ever hear of chicken little and his famous phrase "The sky is falling the sky is falling"

one more thing on your browser free advice esp with the latest competition from firefox and microsoft give your product away for free and hope that you can get 200 million to download it and use it then you will have a real viable track record and have guys like me offering millions or even more to get on the band wagon without a track record you are one in the ocean of millions that have billions of software ideas or working products out there I know of 100 my spaces that died recently in the last 2 years full blown sites millions in capital and they died within a year it looks easy until you are creating and launching it yourself and then there are a million mistakes that can and will happen releasing it to early or to late is one not having case studies or focus groups is another a good example is steve jobs and wozniak they sold a thousand apples before markula came in and bankrolled them

even if you buy 80% and steal or borrow and copy 20% of the content you have you are still stealing

Wapazoid I do not care about scaring anyone I pity those who will end up in big trouble because they refuse to listen to change face it a massive campaign is slowly getting underway and in a few years cd's blue ray hd dvd dvd's or whatever hard copy format is available at that time will be in your local store to buy at the designated retail price and lets just forget about prison for a second just getting arrested will kill any chance at a normal life or career as that incarceration will follow you where ever you go for the rest of your life and the bail will be at least 5k out of your own pocket not to mention the fines and penalties after that. I predict a 90% drop in file sharing and at the same time a 90% rise in music sales 70% increase in software sales and a 40% increase in movie dvd sales and that is the way it should be and that will bring harmony back into this economy.

If online music services are killing the industry why are they making deals with them to distribute digital content? You're not making much sense. Are you going to come off and say that the RIAA and industry big whigs have nothing to do with the many legitimate services out there right now? Do you really think digital formats will disappear into the ether and millions will be forced back into buying music CD's at full price? You must also believe the internet is a fad. You're old. You're thinking is old. That's why you're dying. I doubt you're capable of scaring anyone. How many file sharers do you think are in prison within the US today? Hundreds? Thousands? Millions? And you speak of file sharers being rounded up and killed... in what rat infested third world toilet does this happen in? Fuck YOU. You're HURTING YOURSELF.

http://www.antiquiet.com/

the witch hunt will continue and there is no stopping that so the question now becomes do you really want to ruin your lives over protesting ? file sharing is now in the same category as killing stealing grand theft drug dealing file sharers go to the same prisons as real criminals I am not trying to scare you I am just telling you that your virtual world is crossing into reality and in the real worl there are consequences for file sharing this copyright law that was passed was in 2005 why do you think they had to pass it ? because supposedly file sharing is not hurting anyone right ? well fuck you it is HURTING EVERYONE

Online music services are killing the music business It is offically off by 80% I predict that within 3 years cd sales will be way back up and you will be forced to pay full retail prices whether you like it or not Further more I predict online music sites will be shut down as the new business model will return back to retail stores selling cd's in the local shopping malls and again we can make 12 bucks a cd wholesale with sales in the hundreds of millions Your protesting and ideals of how it should be will die as more and more file sharers get arrested by the FBI and thrown in prison I suggest you hire a lawyer and ask him or her what your real rights are before you continue on Cogill thought he was in the right and invincible why do you think that is ? How and why do you think he got busted ?

again it is a matter of time The Family Entertainment and Copyright Act is a federal legislative act regarding copyright that became law in the United States in 2005. The Act consists of two subparts: the Artist's Rights and Theft Prevention Act of 2005 which increases penalties for copyright infringement and the Family Home Movie Act of 2005 which permits the development of technology to "sanitize" potentially offensive DVD content. The Family Entertainment and Copyright Act was introduced into the United States Senate (of the 109th United States Congress) on January 25 2005 by Senator Orrin Hatch (R - Utah) and was signed into law by President George W. Bush on April 27 2005. The act provides theater owners and employees with both civil and criminal immunity for questioning suspected violators or detaining them while police are summoned. Contents [hide] * 1 Artist's Rights and Theft Prevention Act of 2005 * 2 Family Home Movie Act of 2005 * 3 See also * 4 External links [edit] Artist's Rights and Theft Prevention Act of 2005 This act also known as the "ART Act" is targeted at preventing piracy of movies and software. It specifically targets two activities: filming movies in a movie theater and early release of movies and software before they become publicly available. Anyone who "knowingly uses or attempts to use an audiovisual recording device to transmit or make a copy of a ... protected work... from a performance of such work in a motion picture exhibition facility..." may be imprisoned up to three years for a first time offender and up to six years for a repeat offender in addition to any fines that may be levied under the U.S. Criminal Code for copyright infringement. With regard to unreleased works intended for public distribution (e.g. beta software or workprints) anyone who makes a work that the copyright owner expects to distribute commercially but is not yet distributed shall be punished if the work is "made available on a computer network accessible to members of the public if such person knew or should have known that the work was intended for commercial distribution." First time offenders can get up to three years in jail or five if they committed the offense for financial gain. Repeat offenders can get up to six years in jail or ten years if the offense was committed for financial gain. These penalties are in addition to any penalties for violating non-disclosure agreements or trade secret law. [edit] Family Home Movie Act of 2005 This section is an exemption of liability allowing the creation of technology that can edit a DVD movie on the fly and create a censored version of that movie. This provision arose out of a lawsuit between ClearPlay a Salt Lake City-based company that markets DVD-sanitizing technology and a number of Hollywood studios and directors. The ClearPlay technology allows a home consumer to screen out up to 14 different categories of objectionable content such as drug use sexual situations or foul language. The act does not permit one to create a new hardcopy of a movie in a completely "sanitized" format nor does it permit the technology to replace or insert new video or audio to replace the offending content. Thus a company cannot create and market a clean DVD copy of Goodfellas but it can develop a DVD player which can be programmed to skip past the offending parts and/or blank out the offending video or audio contained in a scene.

He also avoids my questions about online music services.

He knows the fbi only got into it because its unreleased. He totally ignored my post about how they use to be able to cheat us and we had no recourse to fix it.

I wonder if the FBI are picking people up for sharing Appetite for Destruction. Or do you think they got involved because Chinese Democracy still hasn't been officially released? This reminds me when a screener was released of the first Hulk film and the uploader was caught and faced jail time. People weren't being arrested for sharing episodes of the 1970's television show. Any more news gems?

See no one is invincible or anonymous from perez hilton Don't eff with Axl Rose y'all! A few months ago nine songs from Guns 'n' Roses' 14-years-in-the making Chinese Democracy album were leaked on to the Internets. Well the man accused of posting the GnR songs Kevin Cogill was arrested on Wednesday morning in Culver City CA. Cogill admitted to posting the songs when he was questioned by an FBI agent according to an affidavit. A federal attorney said he's expected to appear in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles later today. You can never hide from the Feds….or people with a lot of money!

He is just mad because they cant cheap us anymore in the beginning if we bought music games software and we opened the package and it sucked we were screwed out of our money nothing we could do but deal with a crap they sold us while they laughed all the way to the bank then came cd burners and people would get together and buy one copy and burn everyone one from the original they were mad about that too but they still made money and still got away with selling junk now comes file sharing where we can all download it and try it and see if its any good and if it sucks delete it and never bother with it again and thats what he is really mad about because way back in the vhs days pirates where around hes pissed because they cant sell us junk and stick us with it anymore we can try before we buy with file sharing and thats his real problem. So i know every one of us here got screwed over with bad software music and games long ago.

If the fine print were a solid platform for criminal prosecution in the United States hundreds of thousands would have been jailed and fined since the introduction of cassette and VHS tapes. And you probably wouldn't be complaining today. When I was a kid I used to record my favorite songs off the radio onto casette tapes. I'd also make my own mix tapes recorded from store bought vinyl records and give them to friends and girlfriends as gifts. It was simply a part of being social. Should I have been hung for it? What are your views on fair use or is your world truly black and white? I do agree with a few comments already made at those hoarding copyright material simply because they can... it's an asshole move. At least give in and BUY something now and then. These are the same people that don't mind spending $80 for a pair of poorly crafted shoes and clothing with a stranger's name on it. Talk about commercial branding. Those that counterfeit and pirate for profit are the ones that truly harm the industry. These are the people copyright holders target the most. As for the rest scare tactics are about as good as it's going to get. I'm not an investor inventor or entrepreneur. I'm just an average tax paying American consumer that knows a lousy business model when he sees one.

all I can say is read the fine print on every software product dvd cd cover if you duplicate and distribute it is a criminal offense 5 years in prison 250k fine. it is enforceable when needed and for those of you that buy programs music and movies legally good for you but why do you bother putting yourself in harms way getting involved in file sharing it is like buying liquor for minors why deal with the risk ? all it takes is one time to get busted also wapazoid I am sure you have heard this before I recommend hiring a high profile law firm to represent your product in SF or NY that is what we did when we started out it was very expensive but that move guaranteed our success for our product to get to first to market if you get my meaning.

It's funny. You seem to continuously dodge my question regarding Microsoft's Zune Pass. I don't share or download music movies or software. I have a tendency to support and praise legal distributors that are on the forefront of providing affordable content. For the third time I pay only $15 USD per month and download as many full length mainstream albums as I see fit. Withinin a week's time I have amassed nearly 800 albums (nearly 11000 songs). It's true... for the cost of ONE CD per month I can listen to thousands on either my PC or portable player. To me this is a very intelligent step in the right direction. Now that you mention skills you'd be surprised as to what many members of this community do for a living. My career involves programming and graphic design. All tools of the trade are purchased legally by me including operating systems. I don't seem to have a problem finding work. I certainly don't make enough to afford extravagent expenses but you won't find me in line at a local BestBuy holding $50 worth of music CD's.. a whole whopping three of them. You're a dying breed and possibly the most ignorant online persona to ever grace this website. Move along now and invest in tangible products. Something tells me your comment about education is aimed to those here that are still in high school. Your specious rants have me questioning yours.

I think some one watch the movie minority report too many times. I dont know what country you come from but sounds more like a dictatorship and not a free country. If you really think they are going to shoot people for file sharing you need to get off the drugs your selling.

Actually I am still seeking better education Sarge I'm shooting for my Oracle training soon and with it more job opportunities as for Jail time file sharing is a civil offense not a jail-able offense but you know what's stupid if you do that you're going to create a dirty thirties scenario where jail time becomes an acceptable means because you'll be locking up someone from every third door down the street. It's laughable but have you ever seen a Canadian prison? They get better bloody treatment than anyone else in the under 30K a year bracket for crying out loud I'm honestly ashamed sometimes when I hear about plans to put in an Olympic size swimming pool into these places or a super-gym or more amenities in the cells. Nobody's going to wind up going to prison because of this rubbish because it will only make it worse rather than better because I know for a fact that a bunch of your own buddies will wind up in the lockup as well one of my former bosses of a multi-million dollar company here in the 'peg was an obsessive file-sharer not to mention one or two of his managers as well do you know what kind of an IT nightmare that is?!? You're talking to the down and outs when instead you should be talking to your peers about their own habits because they can bloody well afford this crap because although you may or may not be striking a chord there's not much the down & outs can do about their lot and as I said there are more people than you think whom actually pay for their games when they can so turning on people like this will only galvanize them to what they are doing. Besides for one who's now washed their hands of this topic 3 times by my count you're still awfully chatty about it.

just like you are sharing hundreds of files you cannot afford to buy I can if you had like 5 or 6 files but hundreds or thousands ? you would have to make at least a 500k a year to afford that many I imagine most of you make about 60k-100k a year and the majority of you make under 30k a year not only has file sharing cost us in revenue but it also robbed most of you out of seeking a better education

and no starwhite file sharing is and has always been a criminal offense call your local attorney and they will tell you. there have been laws for years that have not been enforced until now read the terms of agreement in every product you download I believe prison is in there somewhere it is also at the beginning of every dvd movie you have downloaded you are starting fires you cannot afford to put out

I do have a question here do any of you have more skills than that of a burger flipper wal mart greeter 7 11 cashier ? if not you cannot afford what you are sharing anyway are any of you expert hackers ? at least they still have a choice between recruitment or jail

@ Sarge2004 I think you're very hard headed...haven't you been listening to the REAL people here? If file sharing is equaling into hundreds of millions people then for a FACT people want digital media such as movies music & games delivered at an affordable cost. YOU will never have it the wait was when you could charge $18.00 to 24.00 for a single music CD EVER! The times they are a changin dickhead! ALL you do is use lies fear and intimidation to manipulate people because thats all your kind knows. I am SO angry at you! People sharing files is a CIVIL offense NOT a criminal offense got it? STOP trying to scare people! you should be ashamed of yourself! GO and make positive changes & try using love & trust & human compassion instead of so much GREED & lust for money & power. Basically you suck and are a TOTAL ASS. Always remember that........no one like you or trusts you you're a dummy that cannot figure out how to run a company except into the ground! i would FIRE you in a heartbeat!!!! you are WORTHLESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

so who is the dickhead now eh ?

For you yokles this is from another post time is running out Posted by: dan tanner | Aug 25 2008 8:59:10 AM Actually that is what goes on in a court room file sharers are getting treated as bad as drug dealers they are getting placed in the area of enemy combatants they showed me in court that trillions of dollars not billions but trillions have been lost due to file sharing and that makes sense a billion file sharers would equal trillions of files sent around the world over the last 10 years I did have to show up to court to pay the fines they would not take a check by mail it was a nightmare I hope to never go through again. remember the guy who just got 25 years ? he is a kid who lost his life thanks to file sharing thank god I escaped that fate The judge explained to me that file sharers have no skills that are beneficial to the government or other industries unlike hackers most file sharers have the skills of a burger flipper and they are expendable at least a hacker is recruited by the government to further their causes file sharers have zero benefit to society and yet they are a major cause of why the economies of the world are suffering. Well I kept my mouth shut and let him finish. It is going to stop no doubt about it in some countries leaders are quietly rounding up file sharers and putting them to death. It is not funny anymore and yes most of you will not get caught but the problem is that you do not know who will be spared and who will be made an example of I for one am never doing it again so who is the dickhead now eh ?

quote"we have the gold we make the rules and we let you play in our world." Guess again sarge... the rules have changed its not run by greed anymore its time to crawl back under yor rock

I'm firing up two file sharing clients right now as sort of an electronic "fuck you" to the RIAA MPAA BSA and the like. I hope I can cost them a ton of cash. I hope they go bankrupt and cant afford their expensive trained attack lawyers and politicians. I hope their top execs end up so broke that they can only afford one car and a modest home in an average but nice neighborhood. It's no longer about the music. It's about doing my small part to help bankrupt an entire corrupt industry that poses severe threats to our freedom. When I read sarges comments all I can say is that I hope there's some grain of truth in that crazy asshole's rants. I hope he and his cronies really are hurting financially from all of our activities. If they can be tossed aside like they deserve everyone wins. Musicians will still make music their world will not end they'll just be forced to live or die based on their own skills and merit rather than based on how many times in one day the execs can pay to have their latest tune played on some Clearchanel clone.

I think some one is dillusional and living in his own fantasy world or more likely someone who has nothing else to do but try and push peoples buttons to get a rise out of them for his own pleasure. If you had all this money and all this power you wouldnt be sitting at the computer blogging about file sharing. Remember what happens to all tyrants who try control free people the un doesnt control america as much as you wish it did.

As I already stated your vengeful "1984" scenario won't happen. One would think that a supreme corporate entity such as yourself would have the ability to articulate yourself in English far better than you've been demonstrating let alone maintain composure befitting a professional of your stature. You're not a programmer you're not a 30 year recording artist or part of an elite government backed entertainment illuminati. At best your a young teenage son of a oil baron who makes occasional investments in US ventures. You're nothing but pointless text on a screen.

wapozoid I am speechless hey believe what you want

You came to that conclusion a few days ago during several "emergency" meetings. It's official... you're a fraud.

We and others came to that conclusion over the last few days at our various emergency meetings they have the money you do not better that we win from them if you want affordable digital media why don't you and your friends go out on the web learn how to make movies music and software make it put it out and then you can sell it among yourselves for whatever price you choose I know that in the next year or so file sharing will come to a halt your opinions on how the world works do not matter you have no rights you only think you do. we have the gold we make the rules and we let you play in our world. you can say whatever you want but the gloves have come off. Yes we are getting into other areas of business but we are still going to collect on the hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue from the last 5 years. and you can mark my words the ISP's will no longer hold back your private information when they find themselves in the middle of lawsuits from folks that are giants and captains of industry Music was not enough to cause a problem but along with software and movies pandoras box has been opened and it is going to be a blood bath speaking in the legal sense. I will not shed one tear as many of you will have the choice between paying hefty fines and penalties that could be in the thousands or prison where the file sharers will be among the real criminals of our world. When thousands of you are made examples of others will stop and it is not me but another 2000 like me that are fed up. so again file share away you are like fish in the ocean we cannot catch all of you but we can catch a shipload of you and that will be enough to put this to an end. We want the music and software industries to return back to being recession proof and invincible.