Ebay idiots.

You also arent allowed to sell demos, but people do that, too.

 

I know what the back of JP games say.

Here's what eBay states:

" The owners of the copyrights in literature, music, movies, software, video games, and photos have certain rights under U.S. copyright law to prevent the importation of goods which were intended for distribution in another country. Importation of such products into the United States without permission may be an infringement. This may be true even if the good is a genuine copy and legal to distribute in the other country."

So, it really depends on the company's policy, as well as the country's own importation policy. So, for example, Ninty wants to be an ass about it, so it's illegal to distribute their JP/PAL games here. But Sega w/ the Dreamcast didn't care and didn't mention it on the backs of US games, thus allowing these items to "legally" be distributed elsewhere.

But, in terms of eBay policy, they will not pull your auction for being an import. They will pull it for suggesting the use of a mod-chip etc.

I found another interesting thing, stating that you could not sell 500 or some odd freeware/shareware programs on a CD-R...then wtf are those genesis emulator discs etc. for DC doing on there? They aren't freeware or shareware, and its pretty obvious what they are...

 

region coding thing is just pure money grabbing scam... :angry

thankfully at least with DVD that is almost thing of past since all new DVD player sold last 12 months or so are region free... and our court ruled that region locking DVD player is anti-competitive...
still DVD drives are sold wit limited region changing - though not a big deal as you can flash its firmware... :-D

cheers

 

The fact that Sega, Sony or whoever havent decided to take action doesnt mean it isnt illegal. Its still illegal. Ninti just took action on it. It wasnt just illegal because they said so. Also i havent got a USA game right now but im sure somewhere in the manual or something it will say so. Also im sure the small print on box or games will say something.

Again we arent talking about pirate copies of games or anything... Thats well clear. Once again its more of the fact sega dont have the resources or bother to track down each and everytime this happens. However stopping shops importing games is easier.

Paulo

 

They cna crack down on stores all they like - eventually they will find shopkeepers who ain't pussies and will remove the goods aswell as the company's products. With no shops to sell the stuff they will only be killing themselves ;-)

 

No, it depends on what their own policy is. They can choose to market/distribute/license however they want. Company X could make their "distrubition" policy (or whatever they call it) so as to promote importing, or they could choose to attack it, like Nintendo.

Of course, country's own importation policies play a role in this as well...it could be illegal to import games regardless of Company X's policy, if your country doesn't allow it.

Corporate policy.

I can assure you it doesn't, at least on the one I checked.

I only mentioned that as a sidenote, since this topic is about eBay and all.

;-)

This is pointless. I'm out. :smt042

 

:smt023


:smt043


:smt083 :smt096

 

usa and latin america are the same region no spanish dub or anything my friend, what you buy @ the store is what we get so most people dont really know wtf they are saying in the game "zelda" but we play anyway. and finish the games without strategy guides because we really dont have the money for those kinds of things. look on the back of a nintendo product or anything else "for sale only in the united states, canada, mexico and latin america" something like that. and yes imports are illegal, so is burning music cds, but everyone does it, so?

 

Mr Casual asked why importing is such a big deal, what they lose.

Well, let's see.

1. Games are supposed to be rated (just like films) in each territory. Importing from another territory means you are getting a product rated for THAT territory, not yours. Result: unhappy games industry, particularly the classification boards.

2. Similarly, games may have content tailored for a particular region. Obviously, that gets left out when imported. The main reason for Japan / US getting games first is localisation issues (translation, video format, regional elements, classification). In fact, classification is probably the biggest cause in delay in releasing films, at least.

3. Price. I notice on Electronics Boutique US site, games are around $50 for PS2. In the UK, the 'RRP' (technically there isn't one any more but let's ignore that) is around £39.99 for a new PS2 release. Example: GTA: San Andreas. EB US price: $49.99. Game UK price: £32.99 (RRP £39.99). $49.99 = £25.99 - so your game is anything from £7 to £14 cheaper. AND you usually get the game first. Result? UK gamer imports game several weeks early. They don't buy it in the UK. Game companies lose £7-14 per person per game who does this. That's a LOT of money. Sure, on an obsolete console its a different story, but still.

Someone pointed out my point exactly. eBay does what it can to avoid conflict. Nintendo say no imports, so eBay say no imports. We have to stick to eBay's rules.

Another rule is.... no CD-Rs with software to be sold, unless you own copyright to the software. This means NO shareware, and definately no ROMs. So why doesn't eBay do something? Well, they don't monitor EVERY auction listed. They do look at reports, but:

1. Make sure you report it in the correct section!
2. Make sure you report it in time, give them at least 24-48 hours to take action!
3. Why not report it to FAST or ELSPA or whoever deals with piracy in your area? Nintendo have their own piracy hotline, as do other companies.

I think that's all I have to say on the matter. Oh, one other thing I have to say actually... I have had to live with a disability for nearly half my life. It isn't a visible disability, I don't know whether that makes it better or worse... I guess you could see things for and against it. Still, I don't appreciate people having a laugh at the expense of ANY kind of disability. So, to those who have recently shown they think this funny, run along I hear the school bell, you wouldn't want to be late.

 

I remembered when one of the mods or someone posted that a while back, regarding one of Id-republix's 3 foot long posts.

 

3 foot long posts, hehehe.

the dude would like quote EVERYTHING you said in reponse to him, so there was quote after quote!

 

Yeah, that's one of the real legal reasons. I'm not sure about games exactly with the new PEGI ratings this year in Europe, but with films here, they're supposed to be rated by the Oifig Scrúdóir Na Scannán (Film Censor's Office) if they want to be sold in this country, much like with the BBFC in the UK and whatever in other countries. I don't know if it's illegal to sell unrated films though, as such - i see a lot of documentaries and sports titles aren't rated, but maybe that's because they don't need to be, like non-game computer software.

Even though the game is developed in Scotland!!! Grrrr! :angry

The whole regioning thing of games and DVDs isn't really set by any international trade laws - it's just all policies by companies and industries, and has on many occasions been questioned on their legality for many reasons. It's a big scam in my opinion, and shouldn't be allowed. I should be allowed to buy whatever from wherever. I've bought CDs from abroad on a few occasions, and I buy most of my computer hardware from a shop based in Norway with no hassle at all, so why should games and videos be any different?!?

The mod-chip thing is a bit more of a grey area, though - it's possible you could be infringing copyrights or patents or something by modding a console. But I'm sure if you look in any owner's manual for a car you'll see that modifying those are illegal, too, but seriously - it's not like Honda are gonna sue yo ass if you put a racing clutch in your Integra, now, are they? It's a grey area, indeed, but much like recording TV broadcasts no one really cares about the legality of it.

 

Well, it is Illegal to sell recorded tapes, Zilog. It seems it should be legal to download roms, too, since they are "old", and the "casual gamers" AKA the business's main buyers (Not nuff' hardcore in the world! :angry ) wouldnt want a lot of them anyway. But selling these "OMFG! Every Nintendo game on one machine!" things on ebay is just plain wrong.

I dont know why old games should be different from shows on tv. I think that Nintendo is just hurting themselves if they dont let people buy this stuff. Just go to translation nation and you will see a lot of the goodies that we never got, due to their ways.

Do you guys think that Nintendo is afraid that the American children will find out what really happened to the old sages in "A link to the past"?

I hope Nintendo translates and ports a lot of these games, and that Namco gets off their ass, and actually brings the old "Tales of..." series here.

That...would...ROCK!!!

 

Yup, the whole issue of importing being illegal or not falls entirely on classification rules.

As for this PEGI thing, well their website gives some interesting info. I personally think they start off well with:

Ahh, those well known manufacturers, Playstation and Xbox. :smt045

PEGI is a volutary code of conduct, which I notice won't be operational in Germany as they have a legal age rating system. This means importing games not classified by German boards into Germany would most likely be illegal already.

As for your car comparison. Well no, no car manufacturer would likely sue you, but then I don't think there is anything in the owners' handbook that states that you are not to modify their car (other than, perhaps, the computer). There is no seal on the door to break. The car is not shrink-wrapped with a big sign that states "BY OPENING THIS PACKAGING YOU AGREE TO ALL TERMS AND CONDITIONS" like some software etc. does.

Also, if you put an illegal part in your car, or a part that is designed to make your car do something unsafe or illegal, then you can and will be arrested if caught. You can and will be held responsible for an accident should you have one.

Take those coloured lights under cars. Illegal to fit. Not illegal to own - its just a light, but you can't put it on a car. People still do, though - but that's their own fault if they get caught.

Oh, and here are some interesting links:

UK - MOD CHIP = ILLEGAL
Australia - MOD CHIP = LEGAL
...and then outlawed again!
Canada - MOD CHIP = ILLEGAL
US - MOD CHIP = ILLEGAL (famous case too)

 

This was what I was saying in my posts. :smt045 :smt083

 

so.. when, like in Germany, classification by whatever board in your company becomes compulsory by law, this means imports are illegal as they aren't classified in your country.

 

Hmm, so is it actually legally binding in any way, though? Do games sold in the EU need PEGI ratings by law, and do people buying the games have to be in these age limits to buy them, like with video ratings? I remember the old ELSPA rating system didn't apply to that latter part, which is why more violent games often had video-type BBFC 15 and 18 ratings when sold in the UK.

And all this brings up another question - it seems one of the shops around where I live occasionally sells games with Australian ratings on them, bizarrely, with no sign of ELSPA/PEGI ratings. Are they legal?

I thought I saw something about it in the handbook for a Mazda once, or maybe it was just about invalidating the warranty... or maybe I was just imagining things...

The pigs don't seem to care about them though, but the pigs here are idiots - there's no proper traffic/motorway department in the police here, so they're quite useless in aspects like this. I've heard stories about how most of them don't even know about tachographs in trucks, never mind how to read them!

Well that's just plain piracy - I was talking about just recording them for personal use, which isn't as bad, but still copyright infringement nonetheless. The truth is we're infringing copyrights every day!

 

AAAAAAAAAAAA quit the bitching, ya get the damn game late? ya get it more expensive than the use?so guess what? you at least get it in your damn leanguage, we dont in mexico and latin america, and if you think you get the game cheaper, guess what? new games are around 80 bucks in mexico and they used to be around 110.

 

zilog - it is entirely voluntary. The government laws are enforced, and this goes along with them. As most countries have no laws, that means they will just choose to use this standard.

Evangelion - emigrate! ;-)