Pirate Arrested by Mounted Police

Wahoo! The mounties recently arrested and charged a man for selling illegal, burnt video games in a shopping mall in Richmond, BC. This article has more details. The police warns consumers to beware that their purchased game may not be legitimate, because of course most people assume a video game selling for just $10 is the real deal right.

I don't really see this as news since just about every mall in Metro Vancouver, especially the ones in Richmond, since the 1990s will likely have shady stores that will sell pirated media. I've passed by at least 5 or 6 electronic stores that sell pirated games in multiple shopping centers around the Vancouver area; and I wasn't even looking for one, so they are not hard to find at all. But Vancouver is not alone, most outlets in Pacific Mall near Toronto, ON is said to also sell counterfeit items.



The director of investigations "estimates the Lower Mainland market for pirated video games could run into the millions of dollars." What are they waiting for then? Get more police out there and reclaim the lost sales before it gets worse! And here's an idea, instead of arresting the pirates, and spending lots of money to hire lawyers and book court appearances, etc. I suggest pirates should have their wares confiscated and be fined a penalty, similar to how the liquor board or tobacco control act fines small businesses for selling alcohol or cigarettes to minors. Pirates sell legitimate games as well. They have a license to run their shop, and operate just like any other business, the only difference being they have illegal games in the back of the store.

But then again, IANAL and know nothing about international copyright infringement laws so I'm not sure if other regulations could be implemented in Canada. But I would still like to see the RCMP crack down on more cases like this for sure.