Nintendo asks President Lee to make efforts against software piracy

SEOUL, Feb. 13 (Yonhap) -- The chief executive of the South Korean unit of Japan's Nintendo Co. asked Friday President Lee Myung-bak to make efforts against software bootleggers, saying the company is grappling with what he calls "rampant software piracy" here.

DS and Wii game machines sold by Nintendo, the world's largest maker of hand-held
game players, have been a huge hit in South Korea.
Like other game-console makers such as Sony Corp. and Microsoft Corp., Nintendo
is banking on sales of game titles to make profits at the cost of selling such
consoles for lower prices. Cheaper pirated games make it impossible for the
console makers to generate profits.
"It would be very appreciated if President Lee Myung-bak could map out a measure
to eradicate illegal software piracy," said Mineo Koda, the chief executive of
Nintendo Korea, at a forum in Seoul.
"There are more than 100 Nintendo-related software products in South Korea, but
we have faced difficulty in selling them," Koda said.
"I think rampant software piracy is making it impossible to have a healthy
business here," he added.
According to a report by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the software piracy
rate in South Korea fell to 23.4 percent last year, down 1.6 percent from a year
earlier.
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