Topic: Nintendo Pushes for Trade Sanctions

[PGC-Agent Cooper]

Nintendo strikes another blow against piracy in Mexico, Paraguay, and China.

Nintendo Pushes for Trade Sanctions to Combat Global Video Game Piracy

Company Designates China, Paraguay and Mexico As Most Prominent Offenders

REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 14, 2003--Nintendo of America Inc. is seeking assistance from the United States Trade Representative in Washington D.C. to increase efforts to combat "serious weaknesses in the intellectual property regimes" in China, Paraguay and Mexico, all of which are greatly impacting Nintendo business worldwide.

Nintendo, its publishers and developers are being injured by the continued manufacture and sale of counterfeit Nintendo products resulting in nearly $650 million in lost sales in 2002.

"China remains the world's principal site for manufacturing of pirated cartridge-based video games, and Paraguay is a major transshipment point for regional distribution of pirated goods in the Western Hemisphere," explains Jodi Daugherty, director, anti-piracy, Nintendo of America. "In Mexico, Nintendo has been battling with a pirate over its famous Game Boy(R) trademark for 10 years."

Nintendo is asking the Chinese government to pursue criminal prosecutions and impose sanctions against the counterfeiters. Last year, Nintendo confiscated nearly one million pieces of pirated products and video game components in China from 135 retail and manufacturing facilities, almost all in the Guangdong Province. Also, many of the items were destined for export across the globe to Europe, Latin America and North America.

Nintendo's commitment to eradicating piracy in Paraguay is viewed as being more important now than ever, as reports from The Washington Post (October 2001) and CNN (November 2002) link pirating crimes to financing of the international terrorist organization Hezbollah. Nintendo is urging the Paraguay government to renew the bilateral Memorandum of Understanding agreed upon in 1998. More than 4.4 million illegal Nintendo products have been confiscated in Paraguay since the bilateral trade agreement was signed -- the greatest number of infringing Nintendo products seized in the Western Hemisphere.

Counterfeit Nintendo games also are readily available in most Mexican metropolitan areas. Two months ago, during the area's largest recent seizure, the Mexican Attorney General captured 20,000 pirated Game Boy Advance cartridges in Manzanillo. Relying heavily on border enforcement and assistance from both Mexican and U.S. Customs authorities, Nintendo is calling for important changes within Customs to control corruption and toughen penalties for offenders. Nintendo also seeks to resolve a trademark dispute that has been languishing in the Mexican court system for over a decade.

Additionally, Nintendo cites concerns of protecting its intellectual property rights in Chile, the European Union, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, and Venezuela.

As the worldwide leader and innovator in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co. Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its popular home video game systems. The systems include Game Boy(R), Nintendo(R) 64, Game Boy Advance and Nintendo GameCube(TM). Since the release of its first home video game system in 1983, Nintendo has sold more than 1.6 billion video games worldwide, creating enduring industry icons such as Mario(TM) and Donkey Kong(R) and launching such franchises as Zelda(TM) and Pokemon(R). As a wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo's operations in the Western Hemisphere.

For more information about Nintendo or any Nintendo product visit the company's Web sites, www.nintendo.com, www.nintendogamecube.com or www.gameboy.com.

[Grey Ninja]

I remember a while ago Nintendo was saying something about delaying their products in China until some sort of measure could be taken against the piracy.  I didn't know that they were going to be doing all this!

I really have to applaud Nintendo.  It's about time that they put their foot down and put an end to all of this.  I am more proud of Nintendo now than I have been in years.

[Djunknown]

Looks like the Big N is stickin' it to all the free loaders out there. I'm from Venezeula so I know a thing a two about the seedy distribution of  games. You could get 22 games in one cartdrige for your GBC or GBA for 20-30 U.S dollars at the market(Yes an old school market.)You could also get Japanese versions of games if you wish(The average Venezeulan knows little or no english so it wouldn't matter what language the games in.).  As far as copying the Mini-DVD format on the GC, it has yet to be cracked. Even then, how could you copy it? hmm....

But  the question is: Does nintendo have bases in these countries? (Nintendo of Mexico, Nintendo of China, etc.) Or do they just ship their games to retailers and hope for the best?