The five countries are the ones singled out by the Anti-Piracy Caucus as priorities for 2009, with Congress urging said countries to improve enforcement legislation and practices. How are they urging? Through a series of announcements that I am sure weigh heavily on the hearts and minds of those countries’ governments, should they be paying any attention at all.

Still, the Entertainment Software Association seems pleased.

“The copyright-based industries will be leaders in our economic recovery – and the entertainment software industry, which had record sales in 2008, will continue to be a strong contributor to our nation’s GDP,” said Michael D. Gallagher, CEO of the ESA, which represents U.S. computer and video game publishers. “Exports can comprise as much as 30% of our members’ sales, and are a direct contributor to domestic job growth. The work of the Caucus helps us to grow our export markets, create jobs and strengthen our balance of trade. Additionally, stemming the flood of pirated creative works benefits and protects legitimate consumers everywhere.

The ESA specifically thanked the Congressional International Anti-Piracy Caucus for singling out Mexico and Canada, from which many mod-chips flow into the U.S., and Spain, where peer-to-peer piracy is running rampant.

Canada was also added to the U.S. Trade Representative’s priority watch list this year. If they keep it up, we’ll have no choice but to invade.

Every year, Nintendo documents the worst countries in the world in terms of rampant Nintendo game piracy, issuing a report to the U.S. Trade Representative requesting help. What countries made the list this year?

There’s a new “project” running in Texas that sounds a lot more like a “game” to us. It involves cameras, the internet, people sitting at home and catching Mexicans. Fun fun fun!

At a cost of $2 million, the system – called a “Virtual Stakeout” – involves a series of webcams placed along the Texas-Mexico border. These webcams can be viewed online, by you, by me, by anyone, with the aim of making public viewers “Virtual Deputies”.

You sit there, you can the horizon, and if you spot someone trying to make a run across the border, you notify the authorities. So it’s like Pokemon Snap, then, only without the Pokemon. Mexican Snap, if you will.

They’ve been in operation for six weeks now, and the “Virtual Deputies” have already clocked up one arrest, helping Police nab three suspects alleged to have been lugging 540 pounds of marijuana across the border.

It’s a joint operation between the Texas Border Sheriff’s Coalition and BlueServo, BlueServo being a budding …social networking site, who are helping foot the bill in exchange for the publicity.

Presumably so the virtual deputies can meet other agoraphobic, internet-obsessed vigilante, potentially Mexican-hatin’ types from the safety and comfort of their own home. Everybody wins!

$2 Million Texas Surveillance System Nets 500 Lbs of Pot [Wired, via Neatorama]

[via Go Nintendo]

Mexican Law Enforcement Raids Pirate Game Facilities in Mexico City ESA Applauds Protecting Legitimate Computer and Video Games Washington, DC – March 17, 2008 – The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) commended the Procuraduría General de la República (PGR) and the Agencia Federal de Investigacion (AFI) for their recent raids of four facilities involved in burning pirate copies of video games in the notorious Tepito area in Mexico City. Working with local representatives of the ESA, over 500 law enforcement officers raided the four pirate game duplication facilities and three other storage locations, seizing roughly 290 DVD/CD burners, 28,800 illegal copies of video games and more than 900,000 video game cover inserts. “Mexico is an important market for ESA members due to the enormous popularity of entertainment software,” said Ric Hirsch, senior vice president for Intellectual Property Enforcement at the ESA, the trade association representing U.S. computer and video game publishers. “Unfortunately, Mexico also has an alarmingly high rate of game software piracy that by our estimates reaches 88%. We are very grateful for the efforts of PGR, its Specialised Unit on Investigation of Crimes Committed against Industrial Property and Copyrights (UEIDDAPI), the prosecutors that were assigned to this case, and AFI in attacking the sources of pirate video games circulating in Mexico City markets, as such enforcement actions are the best way to reduce high levels of game piracy.” The Tepito market is one of the most popular shopping areas in Mexico City and is a local centre of black market activity, including the manufacture and sale of pirated computer and video games. ESA and its local counsel have been investigating pirate game traffickers in Tepito for several months. The raids and seizures highlight the ready availability of pirated entertainment software product, making it extremely difficult for legitimate game retailers to earn a profit. The ESA is the U.S. association dedicated to serving the business and public affairs needs of the companies publishing interactive games for video game consoles, handheld devices, personal computers, and the Internet. ESA members collectively account for more than 90 percent of the $9.5 billion in entertainment software sales in the U.S. in 2007, and billions more in export sales of entertainment software. For more information about the ESA, please visit www.theESA.com.

And here I was thinking Tetris blocks were the bestest of friends. WRONG. They hate each other, so bad that when you let them out of the game they attend Mexican anime expos and beat the shit out of each other. Hit the jump for another!

Tetris cosplayers in parking-lot brawl [Boing-Boing]

The company made headlines recently for its recent civil suit win against a Uruguayan counterfeiter and for its support of the U.S. government’s stance on Chinese piracy.

We have absolutely no confirmation that the video game pirates looked anything like the Mexican bandits from The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, but it’s the most insensitive image we could generate on short notice. Full PR after the jump.Mexican Raids Net 15,000 Counterfeit Nintendo Products

Mexican authorities conducted raids today against 12 alleged distributors of counterfeit Nintendo® products in a major “fayuca” (contraband) market in Guadalajara. Authorities seized 15,000 counterfeit Nintendo products, including 4,500 counterfeit Wiiâ„¢ game discs.

The Guadalajara raids follow other Nintendo actions in Mexico during the past few months. Last month, Nintendo worked with customs agents to stop a shipment of more than 5,500 counterfeit Nintendo products entering Manzanillo, exported from China. Prior to that, Nintendo assisted local authorities in a raid of the San Juan de Dios market in Guadalajara, where 23 stores were shut down and more than 56,000 counterfeit Nintendo products were confiscated, including 11,000 counterfeit Wii discs.

“Mexico is Nintendo’s largest market in Latin America, where the problem of video game piracy is widespread,” said Jodi Daugherty, Nintendo of America’s senior director of anti-piracy. “Since January, Nintendo has worked with law enforcement agencies worldwide to seize 100,000 counterfeit Wii games.”

Earlier this month, U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents executed 32 federal search warrants in 16 states as part of an investigation into the alleged sale and distribution of illegal Wii modification chips designed to circumvent the security embedded in the hardware and allow users to play counterfeit Wii software.

Nintendo and its developers and publishers lost an estimated $US762 million in sales in 2006 due to piracy of its products.