The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) recently sent a letter to the US Director of Intellectual Property and Innovation pertaining to the issue of gaming piracy. The letter mentioned several big websites such as Kickass Torrents and noted the threat of "pirate servers", however, it did not include The Pirate Bay.
As reported by eTeknix, ESA whose members include EA, Nintendo, Playstation, and Ubisoft raised the issue of game piracy to the US government with its letter and noted Kickass Torrents as one of the largest threats.
"It is the most well-trafficked torrent indexing site in the world, and as its Alexa ranking indicates, one of the most popular websites of any kind on the Internet.", ESA wrote. The association also mentioned other websites such as Rapidgator.net, and noted its low Alexa score which points out to its high traffic volume.
"This site is notable for its extremely low global Alexa score, indicating a high volume of traffic. In August 2015, the site was responsible for hosting more than 43,000 infringing game-related files available for download by third parties.", the letter stated.
Moreover, the letter futher noted the trend of "pirate servers" which allows video games to be played for free. "When users are diverted to play on such servers, game publishers are not able to monetize their online games as described above and thus face reduced opportunities to recoup their investment in creating the online game".
However, as reported by Yibada, the list did not include The Pirate Bay which is also one of the most popular and long-running torrent sites online. The website was previously included in the reports of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) that spawned raids subsequently causing temporary shutdown in its operation.
According to Torrent Freak, the US Trade Representative will compile the submissions of MPAA, ESA, and other parties to create a final list of piracy sites. The US government will eventually forward the list to the countries where the sites operate for the local authorities to take action.
ESA noted in their letter the ineffectiveness of taking down the website as the solution to the growing issue of piracy which could mean a suggestion of a more harsh punishment. Several gaming companies have collaborated with the US government to take down piracy sites, however, lots of these sites often get revived after a short period of time and their popularity have even increased.
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