The ESA Still Throwing Its Support Behind SOPA, Bringing Nintendo, Sony, EA Along With It

The Entertainment Software Association announced yesterday that its support of anti-piracy legislation in general and the Stop Online Piracy Act in particular is unwavering, despite the dissenting opinions of many of its members. Many of the companies in the ESA like Nintendo, Sony and Electronic Arts have fought to be removed from lists of SOPA supporters as a reaction to the horrible consequences the bill could have if passed and the significant PR problems they’d face as supporters, but if the ESA still supports SOPA, it’s pretty much all for naught. No matter what they say, they’ll be supporting SOPA, at least tacitly, unless they leave the ESA or get it to change its tune.

Here’s an excerpt from the ESA’s statement reaffirming their position on SOPA:

As an industry of innovators and creators, we understand the importance of both technological innovation and content protection, and do not believe the two are mutually exclusive. Rogue websites – those singularly devoted to profiting from their blatant illegal piracy – restrict demand for legitimate video game products and services, thereby costing jobs. Our industry needs effective remedies to address this specific problem, and we support the House and Senate proposals to achieve this objective. We are mindful of concerns raised about a negative impact on innovation. We look forward to working with the House and Senate, and all interested parties, to find the right balance and define useful remedies to combat willful wrongdoers that do not impede lawful product and business model innovation.

And here’s a list of members of the ESA, heavy hitters bolded for your convenience.

38 Studios 345 Games 505 Games Capcom USA, Inc. Deep Silver Disney Interactive Studios, Inc. Eidos Interactive Electronic Arts Epic Games, Inc. Her Interactive, Inc. Ignition Entertainment Konami Digital Entertainment LEVEL-5 Inc. Microsoft Corporation Namco Bandai Games America Inc. Natsume Inc. Nexon America, Inc.

Nintendo of America Inc. Nival NVIDIA O-Games, Inc. Perfect World Entertainment SEGA of America, Inc. Slang Sony Computer Entertainment America Sony Online Entertainment, Inc. Square Enix, Inc. Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. Tecmo Koei America Corporation THQ, Inc. Trion Worlds, Inc. Ubisoft Entertainment, Inc. Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment Inc. XSEED Games

(via Forbes, Entertainment Software Association)

Relevant to your interests

• Public pressure made GoDaddy withdraw its SOPA support
• And then actively oppose SOPA

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Eric Limer