Nintendo swear that their next console, Project Dolphin, will bust piracy's back once and for all, and the firm are working with partner Matsushita to ensure that the console features 'enhanced counterfeit protection'. Likewise, Sony believe their DVD-based PlayStation 2 will be similarly pirate-cussing. Waving such claims before the noses of code-crackers is like a red rag to a bull: you just know that somewhere, some unscrupulous rogue is itching to get started on the next generation of systems.

As for the PC market, Microsoft are working with several partners to fund other efforts to prevent piracy, chiefly by bringing legal action against those responsible. Yet in many cases, despite a maximum penalty of up to 10 years' imprisonment, piracy convictions result in little more than a token fine, confiscation of materials and a slap across the back of the head. ELSPA are among those campaigning for tougher sentences. "What needs strengthening is the length of sentences imposed by courts," says the firm's tough-talking Terry Anslow.

Maybe so, but at the end of the day, if you want to stop piracy you'll have to change people. Piracy is wrong, but then most people are wrong in the head. They don't care that playing pirated games is encouraging an illegal industry which is sucking £3 billion from game development budgets and probably stopping games coming down in price. Who cares about morality when you can get a dozen brand new titles for a tenner, right? Wrong.

As tough as Terry and his friends are, they can't stop piracy single-handed. At the risk of us sounding like 'Mr Grown-up', it's the likes of you who can contribute to the fight by not financing those who seek to damage the legitimate games industry. It's no good sitting around waiting for someone else to do something.

As Terry Anslow says, "It's akin to the drugs problem which was allowed to blossom without check about 15 years ago. Many people used to say 'we haven't got a drugs problem' and buried their heads in the sand. This allowed the culture to grow and expand into all areas of the criminal fraternity."

To find out more about what you can do in the fight against piracy, take a look at ELSPA's website.