ELSPA considers action against retailers selling 'piracy' cards

It's a push-me pull-you debate as old as gaming itself but gaming trade body ELSPA says it will consider taking action against retailers who sell technology that encourage piracy.

MCV has reported today that sales of DS titles are suffering due to the rise in popularity and the increasing availability of R4 'piracy' cards, which can now be bought from a range of retailers including Amazon.

Speaking to the industry site, John Hillier of ELSPA's crime unit has said: "There are various SD cards for the DS that illegally circumvent the copyright protection in place and allow copied games to be played.

"The supply of these items is an infringement and an offence under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and the Trade Marks Act 1994. ELSPA's IP Crime Unit works closely with the enforcement agencies to stop this supply and prevent instances of intellectual property theft."

It's thought that publishers of titles that appeal to traditional, hardcore gamers are being hit hardest by the pirates. Doug Bone of Square Enix, whose Final Fantasy titles are said to amongst those affected told MCV: "The growing availability of these R4 products is certainly alarming. The undeniable fact is that they are predominantly bought for software piracy and steps should be taken to restrict the distribution channels available."

The issue however, is that despite ELSPA's claims of illegality, the supply of cards such as the R4 presumably isn't so cut and dried otherwise it would be easy for ELSPA to take all suppliers to court. Clearly Amazon's lawyers don't think they're breaking the law.

Equally, such technology does have legitimate uses - for homebrew applications for instance. But does the ease of obtaining illegal game ROMs from the internet mean they shouldn't be made available?

Let us know what you think...