Video game technology specialist Raw Thrills has launched an international anti-piracy campaign to combat “global violation” of its intellectual property rights, sales manager Mark Struhs revealed.
“Raw Thrills has been alerted to the presence of inferior, defective, illegal copies of our games,” he said. “We received a large increase in service calls due to premature failure of games in Asia and verified these defective units were copy games. We have conducted investigations and actions against several targets in China and Australia and our investigations are continuing.
"We have acquired customer lists and will seek damages against anyone manufacturing, operating or selling these illegal games."
The new programme is designed to eliminate piracy of the company’s products, protecting customers from inferior and defective games.
“Our message is clear,” said Struhs. “If you manufacture, distribute or operate copies of Raw Thrills products we are going after you. We will use all criminal and civil remedies available to us.”
The US-based company has retained the services of the law firms SIPS and Baker and McKenzie, as well as Bob Fay, a former FBI agent and anti-piracy IP protection expert. A team of investigators in China have already identified and are continuing to investigate suspected game copiers. Local authorities in China are conducting raids and seizures, including SuperBikes 2 and Dirty Drivin’ copies.
According to the company, to date three Chinese companies - Yida Electronics Factory, Luxury Animation Technology and a third that cannot be named at this time - have signed undertakings acknowledging their illegal dealings in Raw Thrill copies, offering apologies and compensatory actions, and will cease and desist these activities. Copied games found on location have been destroyed and financial settlements have been negotiated, Struhs said.
"We are conducting appropriate follow-up investigations in other Asian countries: Turkey, South Africa, India, Russia, the Middle East and other areas,” he continued. “The Raw Thrills legal team has also identified an importer and distributor of Raw Thrills copies in Australia. This company has also agreed to cooperate and has identified its Chinese supplier and Australian customers. Our Australia legal team is taking actions based upon the information obtained.
"We will also be doing take downs of advertisements for Raw Thrills copies appearing on Alibaba and other online platforms." Raw Thrills has been coordinating its efforts with Chinese copyright enforcement authorities as well as other victim game makers. Additional investigations and actions will be taking place in coordination with these other companies.
Said Struhs: “We will continue to pursue violations of copyrights and trademarks of our rights. Anyone manufacturing, distributing or operating counterfeit Raw Thrills products - any place in the world - should be on notice that they could face criminal charges as well as civil claims, including damages."
