Lawsuit is just the first step, say the companies

EA and Sony Computer Entertainment of America have joined together to crack down on Internet piracy, starting with a lawsuit against members of a ring of pirates calling themselves 'Paradigm'. A computer, hard drives and CDs were impounded by authorities as evidence of the ring, which has worldwide ties in the United States, Canada, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Russia and other locations.

The suit claims that the defendants infringed on copyrights and trademarks by illegally copying and distributing EA and Sony products for profit. "Piracy of packaged entertainment software last year amounted to over $3.2 billion worldwide for our industry alone. Electronic Arts lost more than $400 million," said Ruth Kennedy, Senior Vice President and General Counsel for EA.

Pirate companies make a profit by putting a product on the market as the actual game is being released, sometimes even before the official product hits stores. Games are uploaded to Internet pirate rings such as Paradigm, who then duplicate and package illegal copies and rush them to the street for quick sale.

Riley Russell, Vice President of Legal and Business Affairs for SCEA, was confident in this first step against the rings. "We will work diligently to ensure that these counterfeiters are fully prosecuted and that others who think Internet piracy and 'trading' is acceptable will think again." That means you, Razor 1911, Class, Origin, Hybrid, Divine, Fairlight and friends...

Courtesy of IGN.com