Singapore's Game Pirates Are Wary of Investigators

Attention from investigators has driven video game pirates away from Singapore's town center, according to the Electric New Paper:

[Some] shops appeared more suspicious of potential buyers. To convince them, you'll have to strike up a conversation - or even buy a few original games - before they'll show you the pirated ones. Only one of the four shops... that we visited was willing to let us examine the cart before we bought them. Others insisted that we buy them.

The ESA, which represents the interests of video game publishers in the United States, maintains a presence in Singapore. From the report:

Mr Cyril Chua, counsel for the [ESA], said that checking on shops in heartland estates is more difficult than investigating stores in central locations.

 

'They often sell pirated wares only to regular customers,' he said.

 

Another problem is that pirated games can now be downloaded from the Internet, then installed on ame consoles by the users themselves.

 

'Piracy over the Internet is more difficult to track than retail piracy,' Mr Chua noted.