Originali o copie? Article from Video Games & Computer World, Year II No 4 (May 1989) pp. 60-61
THE CRUSADE CONTINUES ...
originals or copies? examined point by point, the situation with the interviews given to our staff directly affected by The bomb exploded in the Italian software market a few weeks ago has given rise to a dispute between two great concern and established importers and distributors. Nase on an extensive correspondence between the parties, the outcome of the duel is about to be gutted by their legal representatives in court.
One of our exclusive report "on the fly" allows us finally to offer the public a lot of precise data on which the battle. We absolutely want to elect judges or make judgments on the basis of our point of view of journalists as informants and we simply present the data collected not only through the usual sources but processed directly after an interview to individuals and related each other.
After the appearance of the first complaints about some quotidinai carnet and the various legal representatives, showed the names and specific facts. The distribution of Casciago Leader (VA) has accused the company Ital Videos Castenaso (BO) that it has forged, copied and marketed a number of Anglo-Saxon game production, already regolarmente importati dalla prima. Non si tratta di semplici copie artigianali, come afferma John Holder, Amministratore Delegato Leader, ma di veri e propri "capolavori" del pirataggio, con tanto di istruzioni, confezioni e accessori abilmente contraffatti. Il 16 marzo scorso è scattato il sequestyro della presunta merce contraffatta, concesso alla Leader dalla magistratura. Il sequestro però, documenti alla mano, si rileva "mancato" in quanto dei prodotti copiati ed abusivi in casa Ital Video non v'è nemmeno l'ombra. Dal canto suo il Sig. Arioti, amministratore unico della ditta incriminata, nega fermamente di aver intrapreso le suddette illecite azioni e attribuisce la responsabilità del gesto a qualche concorrente senza scrupoli, desideroso to discredit and tarnish the good name of Italy saw.
Before proceeding, hearing from the voice of those concerned, in brief statements and details of the story, here is a bit 'of history of both companies. The Leader
Casciago Distribution has always been distinguished by having undertaken an extensive and well organized importation and distribution of original software, rising to first against the pervasive and pernicious phenomenon of piracy, however, forgotten and mistreated by the relevant Italian laws. Software House and clear cry of international renown were able to expand their business horizons, gratifying, in conjunction with the outputs on the foreign market, all gli utenti e gli amatori del nostro paese. John Holder ha fatto anche di più, pensando bene di inserire nei prodotti succitati chiare documentazioni tradotte nella nostra lingua, sfruttando la relativa autorizzazione.
La Ital Video non può vantare un'altrettanto lunga presenza sul mercato, ma sin dagli albori è sempre riuscita a proporre una valida e regolare concorrenza commerciale alla dilagante egemonia Leader.
Punta di diamante del catalogo Ital Video non sono solo i programmi regolarmente acquistati ed importati, ma anche numerosi validi esempi di software "nostrano" che, grazie a questa ditta, hanno potuto contrapporsi all'avanzata di quello straniero. Ricordiamo "Il gioco dell Bocce", ad esempio, e molti altri again, written by game designer Italian, discovered and brought to the fore by their firm Castenaso.
ACCUSATION (talk Mr. John Holder, Managing Director Leader)
What happened exactly? Thanks to the communications we have received by some as the Telecom Soft Software House, the Gremlin and the Ocean we were able to give a foundation to our assumptions based on a previous survey staff.
It seems that in Italy they are numerous examples of video games, whose sales of counterfeit perfectly and the manufacturers do not know.
I mean, a product such as Return Of The Jedi (Domark) Rambo III or you can find it in the same shop in two nearly identical copies. What
of dubious and mysterious origin shows a clear sticker with the name and address of the Video Ital distributions. In
What are the differences between the two products? First, the box containing the tape does not have the typical British design (this has it confirmed the Soft Telecom once in possession of a copy), then the colored bands are slightly different in color and print quality.
The shades are darker or lighter, the characters are barely legible and the same paper used for printing has a different weight than the original manufacturers. Even il supporto magnetico e i libretti di istruzioni riportano queste lievi ma riscontrabili differenze, mentre il programma vero e proprio risulta ovviamente inalterato.
Le stesse case produttrici, interpellate, affermano di non aver prodotto gli esemplari incriminati.
Sempre la Telecom afferma con sicurezza che è stato eseguito un lavoro di scanner per riprodurre, il più fedelmente possibile, questi dettagli.
La Gremlin, dal canto suo, dopo aver esaminato una copia presumibilmente contraffatta di Super Star Soccer per MSX afferma che il prodotto non è stato assolutamente confezionato dalla Gremlin Graphics e nemmeno sotto sua licenza.
Per citare ancora un esempio è la volta della Ocean he ha negato fermamente la paternità dei Guerrilla Wars, Rambo III e Operation Wolf rinvenuti sul mercato italiano e recanti le suddette piccole differenze.
Cosa ci può dire per rassicurare gli acquirenti di originali? Credo che sia un problema che riguardi soprattutto i rivenditori.
L'unica cosa che l'utente finale può fare è di cercare di rivolgersi a negozi Soft Center o comunque di fiducia, rifiutandosi di accettare prodotti non originali. Per quanto riguarda i rivenditori la situazione è completamente diversa.
Una volta avvisati di questo commercio abusivo il rivenditore dovrebbe rifiutare merce di questo genere altrimenti corre il rischio di incorrere in sanzioni per acquisto careless or even stolen.
I make the following observations about the false assumption that the games have been marketed with a label Italvideo also false.
I think the memory to a label requirement and was not a coincidence because the quality of the reproduction of the barcode on the back of the games was bad, a weak point of an almost perfect copy, so it was better to cover it. However
just ask the dealers who bought games labeled "Italvideo" and see if they are supplied by distributors and agents Italvideo or from other sources.
About the legal proceedings that have been talked about?
Be ', at point is that my part of the houses listed above have taken just a legal process that has led to an inspection and possible seizure of counterfeit material in the Ital Videos Castenaso.
As I mentioned earlier it was not a seizure that the Ital Video not found any suspect product.
Mr. Mario Arioti, chief executive of the company, also owns the nearby Armed with company name the recording and duplication for third parties to audio and video cassettes.
DEFENCE (speaking of Mr. Mario Arioti Ital Videos Castenaso)
After this sudden series of complaints and accusations what is your position? First I would like to clarify that the Ital Videos I represent has never had to deal with this type of market. We are, on our behalf, making inquiries to see if there are really these copies, or as the fruit of someone's imagination, it is likely that at the end of the story jump out of the big surprises.
So firmly deny that it has produced, or if he wants to, copied or counterfeit, any programs.
We work with different software house and where we can not have the product (after the now proven libel made by the rival leaders to managers of British manufacturers) with parallel imports by wholesalers of the place. In this regard
I requested and received written guarantees from them, for the originality and quality of the products I've bought and sold, because for a moment I feared that somehow I might have unknowingly purchased counterfeit products.
These documents have already been put on record.
All this time is clearly defamation in order to throw us out of the market and have the monopoly by the Leader. Why
back programs "copied" is his label? answer with another question: "Why should I believe that everything is fake and my label is not it?" However, in this regard is very childish to think that we have built a label to cover as has been said, a bad bar code.
We use this space because it is only the most obvious being white, as we have always done, and if it is true that the copies sent to the homes from the competition were so full of defects we should have a label so great as to completely cover the card , "all this is pure fantasy."
What would you say to all customers of the products Italvideo? Who Buy Video Ital must continue to do so because we sell products only in original invoice regularly and we're responsible for what we sell.
I would also tell my clients that if stupidity has a name that is not Arioti Mario.
* * * Article taken from The Games Machine, No 13 (October 1989) P.. 8
AND ALL 'THAT GOOD' THAT ENDS WELL
Some of you will follow up the magazine or newspaper over an accusation of piracy once Italvideo of Bologna. The matter has been going on for some time and it was finally over.
For the record, and to keep you informed of developments that the topic "piracy" is having in Italy, states that the Italvideo of Bologna has been fully paid, cleared of any wrongdoing by the formula wider. The investigation final order was issued in June of this year and in a complete way Italvideo free of all charges.
All's well that ends well, then, and ni of TGM that we can not be happy with the way things have gone abroad because it is not right that people persevere in finding pirates Italians without recognizing that we are good software houses can produce original programs of the highest caliber. And facts like these would lead to worse.
