You might be familiar with how the music and movie industries have been plagued by illegal downloading and file-sharing. However, did you know that illegal online piracy also affects the video game industry and that most of the offenders are children?
While video game piracy may not be the topic of choice at the dinner table, a recent Wakefield study shows that many parents need a crash course in what video game piracy is, what the consequences are and why it’s important to have a conversation with their kids about it. Furthermore, there is a need for parents to have these conversations sooner rather than later as younger children may be more impressionable and open to these topics.
Survey results show that as children get older, they’re more likely to have pirated video games. These activities ultimately affect the parents, as they are often the official Internet subscribers, so we encourage you to share these survey results with your readers:
- 10 percent of kids ages 8-12 say that they have participated in video game piracy, so it is important that parents become familiar with the issue and have conversations with their children at an early age. When you look at kids ages 13-17, that number jumps to 16 percent.
- Although 94 percent of moms and 91 percent of dads agree that video game piracy is wrong, most parents – if they found out their child was downloading pirated games – would let their kids get off with a warning or light consequence, such as temporarily taking away the game system. This suggests parents do not believe that piracy is a serious issue.
We’d like to shine a light on the issue and encourage parents to talk to their children about video game piracy and how it equates to stealing. Here is some food for thought:
- It is wrong and illegal to download copyrighted material or share them though uploading without permission from the manufacturer.
- The use of game copying devices (also called game copiers) to copy, download and play unlimited illegal copies of Nintendo DS or Nintendo DSi game software from the Internet or PC is illegal. Game copiers are devices designed specifically to circumvent the Nintendo DS/DSi technical protection measures employed by Nintendo.
- Downloading illegal content may result in children being exposed to inappropriate content.
- Piracy hurts companies who depend on legitimate sales to survive, including small developers. It affects people’s careers and possibly even the types of jobs children may look into in the future.
- If parents want to learn more about piracy or if you come across illegal video game content on the Internet, direct them to: http://ap.nintendo.com/
- Alternatives to downloading illegal content include a range of legal Nintendo game content available online, such as the Nintendo Wii WiiWare, Virtual Console and DSiWare games purchased via the Wii Shop Channel and Nintendo DSi Shop.
- This conversation with your kids likely won’t be the first time they’re hearing about it. Elementary school students are learning about intellectual property rights in school through a program run by The Entertainment Software Association (ESA). The program provides educational materials to students on the right way to copy words, pictures and other digital content. Learn more about this program here: http://www.theesa.com/policy/domesticip.asp#4
Video Game Piracy – Things You Need to Know http://goo.gl/fb/6Y6mt | #parenting RT @dadofdivas