30. Octubre 2008
Forceful against Product Piracy
What started at the World of Games gaming show of 2006 in Moscow with a vivid display of counterfeit Novomatic gaming machines being crushed by a Caterpillar, and found its continuation last year in Bucharest, has become an international crusade against copying piracy led by the Austrian Novomatic gaming group: with concrete results in Russia.
Product piracy and copyright infringement are prevalent at the international trade shows of the gaming industry, especially so in Eastern Europe. All major OEMs are increasingly and adversely afflicted by the problem. Product piracy and the infringement of intellectual property rights have never before been practiced so impertinently and publicly as in recent times. Counterfeit machines are often publicly presented on neighbouring exhibition stands right beside the original product, component parts and cabinets offered on diverse websites and the game software and concepts either stolen or badly copied.
Successful measures
Two years ago the Novomatic Group of Companies started an unique campaign against this international intellectual property piracy and has since persisted in its efforts to prosecute the svengali of these criminal activities. Basic condition for a successful battle was the registry of industrial property rights in the form of trademarks, patents or designs, in order to be able to effectively enforce such claims. This is the strategy that Novomatic has been consequently implementing in recent years.
No ‚Safe Haven‘ for pirates
In the meantime this policy has indeed brought clear results. The latest success in the prosecution of copyright infringement was achieved in close cooperation between Novomatic, international law firms and local police authorities.
In spring 2008 the operator of a factory in the Russian capital Moscow who had specialized in the manufacture of counterfeit Gaminator® gaming machines was convicted. Forged components were acquired from various sources, assembled, the machines tagged with fake documents and serial plates and sold to Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, the Baltic countries and former Yugoslavia. With 30 employees and a monthly production volume of up to 200 machines the convicted company, Safe Games LLC, had generated considerable turnover and inflicted an equally high economic loss on the original equipment manufacturer Novomatic, which was claimed in the course of the action.
Considering the bad health of the accused entrepreneur, the court sentenced her leniantly to a monetary penalty as well as a probation period of two years of imprisonment. All seized machines and components were destroyed.
Further copiers exposed and convicted
Another blow against organised product piracy was accomplished by Russian authorities only a few weeks later. The accused was found guilty by the Moscow court of having used copyrighted items, as well as having acquired, stored and transported counterfeit copies of others’ work with the intention to sell the same on a large scale. The accused also pleaded guilty to having assembled and produced counterfeit Gaminator® gaming machines on non-residential premises which were rented by him. The counterfeit machines were then equipped with fake Novomatic software.
The accused explained to the court that he had maintained no accounting records whatsoever as to numbers of items sold, shipping or customer contacts or other business documents. The court sentenced the accused amongst others to the compensation of damages as well as a probation period of two years of imprisonment. In this case, too, all seized gaming equipment was destroyed.
A new crime dimension
The biggest coup against product piracy was accomplished by the Russian authorities at the end of September in Kazan, capital city of the Constituent Republic of Tatarstan. Investigators were quite astonished when they discovered a complete factory in the biggest raid yet against product piracy. In the course of the top-secret operation special forces stormed the production halls and immediately confiscated the seized gaming equipment. At the offices a frightened employee was forced to open the safe in front of the officers – which produced large quantities of cash and business documents. With monthly production capacities of up to 2,500 machines the factory presents a completely new dimension of product piracy in the international gaming industry.
Consistency required
The Novomatic Group of Companies, its subsidiaries and associates will continue to aggressively prosecute with international lawsuits and actions against any persons or companies involved in the piracy and infringement of their products and intellectual property.
As is the case for many legitimate gaming equipment manufacturers, the employment of technical means to prevent one-to-one copying of Novomatic software has resulted in most pirate offerings attempting to "look" like the originals, however with different software and mathematics so that the pirate copies do not "feel" like the originals - detracting from the player's overall experience. To add insult to injury, it is not uncommon to find pirate copy products that do not offer players a fair chance of winning. Nothing could be more harmful to an industry that remains highly dependant on its public image and reputation. Intellectual property piracy amounts to nothing other than the theft of ideas. There can simply be no justification or rationalization for the illegitimate actions of those individuals and companies that undertake product piracy.
The investigation results in Russia prove the paramount importance of the continuing fight against product piracy in the gaming industry. These results also demonstrate, to what extent the consistent protection of intellectual property and the effective cooperation with the local investigating authorities put the screws on product piracy.
