Human rights violations, genocide in Darfur, poor air quality, these are just a couple reasons why China has come under scrutiny in the lead up to the Summer Olympics. And China is trying very hard to make the Beijing Olympics their coming out party. But with every step forward they make, they take two steps back. So what did they do now? Yep, pirated video games on the Official Beijing Olympics website.
New York-based games developer Cadin Batrack claimed in a blog posting that "the Olympics stole my game". Batrack highlighted what he claims are strong similarities between his Snow Day game, and a game on the Olympics website titled Fuwa Fight the Winter Clouds.A trip over to Mr. Batrack's blog post will give you a good idea as to the very minor differences between the two games. And really, if you're going to steal something you probably don't want to put it on what will probably be one of the more popular websites in the world as the games get closer. While the game was removed from the Olympics website this morning, there are still two other games Batrack claims are stolen from fellow game developer Ferry Halim. Yeah, in case you didn't know it software developers get mad when you steal their work.
And in a humorous twist of irony, the Beijing Olympic Committee is threatening severe penalties on anyone that pirates any of the "intellectual property" located on the site.
The Beijing Olympics Organizing Committee threatens harsh penalties under Chinese law for anybody who pirates its intellectual property, such as the official Olympics cartoon mascots that appear in the Fuwa game. These include confiscation of income generated by the illegal use, as well as a fine of $7,000 or up to five times any illegal income.We'll let you know when the committee's trail date is set for. But please don't hold your breath.
