Nintendo offers praise for US Government

Nintendo of America has declared strong support for US Government-led initatives to crack down on videogame piracy in China.

Every year, the US Trade Representative solicits views from companies about piracy in foreign countries as part of the Special 301 process. This year Nintendo gave evidence about piracy in China, Hong Kong, Brazil, Mexico and Paraguay.

According to figures quoted by Nintendo, more than 7.7 million counterfeit videogame products have been seized from over 300 Chinese factories and retailers during the last ten years.

In a statement, the company said China is "the leading production site and exporter for counterfeit Nintendo videogame products", and also has the largest domestic consumption - but there has only been one criminal prosecution.

"Numerous factories, where tens of thousands of counterfeit Nintendo products were seized, escaped with only trivial fines or no penalty at all. And often these production sites continue to operate after products are seized," the statement continued.

Jodi Daugherty, NoA's senior director of anti-piracy, commented, "Nintendo will continue to work with the U.S. government while aggressively pursuing counterfeit Nintendo products in China.

"We're pleased the US government is pushing China to comply with its trade commitments in an effort to protect the lifeblood of the copyright and trademark industries."