"It's theft by another name and yet another excuse put up to make another illegal dent against the Industry," says Terry Anslow of the European Leisure Software Association's crime unit. "ELSPA, on behalf of its membership, are one of a few organisations who are making huge in-roads into 'policing' of the Net where distribution is widespread and big business."

Authorities in both Europe and the US are working hard to close down sites offering ROMs for download, whereas Sony have even taken the step of legal action against two firms who have offered PlayStation emulators commercially (even though they require original PlayStation CDs to play games). As with the efforts being made to stop counterfeit software flooding here from Hong Kong or Taiwan, or measures being taken against 'bedroom' pirates filling CDs with multiple PlayStation titles, it seems that little that can be done to put a stop to the emulator scene.

The measures being taken to stop piracy seem no more effective than shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted, then shouting at the horse in a weak voice as it disappears over the horizon. Will this illegal practice ever be completely eradicated?

Terry Anslow doesn't think so, saying, "The reality is probably not, but the quantity of it can be seriously hampered and the ever-expanding criminal elements deterred from involvement in this activity by stronger enforcement and increasing the likelihood of detection and punishment."

Threat of arrest is only one option. If piracy is going to be stopped, to use the previous analogy, wouldn't it be better to lock the stable door before the horse escapes? In other words, shouldn't games firms develop software storage formats which are piracy-proof? At present, a game will be cracked within days of going on sale in Japan and will subsequently be splashed across the Internet or offered for sale in Hong Kong markets.

To date, efforts to produce effective piracy-proof software have failed. Nintendo's main justification for the N64 using cartridges instead of far cheaper CDs was to vex the pirates. It didn't work. The Dreamcast's GD-ROM format was supposed to make it difficult to copy games. A year later, pirated Dreamcast games are appearing for sale on Internet sites.