SOPA Controversy Creates ‘League For Gamers’, Seeks to Become the ‘NRA for Gaming Industry’

They’re dubbing themselves the “League For Gamers” and they have one goal in mind: to combat the Entertainment Sofware Administration’s (ESA) support of the controversial SOPA and PIPA acts of legislation.

For those of you not privy to the ESA, it is comprised of the biggest video game and computer software companies on the face of the planet, and perhaps most notably is responsible for owning and operating the E3 Convention.

But ESA has most recently been fitted with the dubious distinction of being an organization in “support of SOPA and PIPA”. Here is their official statement on the matter:

As an industry of innovators and creators, we understand the importance of both technological innovation and content protection, and do not believe the two are mutually exclusive. Rogue websites – those singularly devoted to profiting from their blatant illegal piracy – restrict demand for legitimate video game products and services, thereby costing jobs. Our industry needs effective remedies to address this specific problem, and we support the House and Senate proposals to achieve this objective.

Such support has resulted in the creation of The League For Gamers, which seeks to act in OPPOSITION to the ESA.

The League For Gamers (LFG) is led by its President, Mark Kern, who is the CEO of Red 5 Studios and is a former WoW team leader. He believes that the ESA is operating out of a place that is rooted more in corporatism than in concern for the well-being of the gaming community:

“(The ESA) is too focused on the large publisher, box retail product motif – part of their support for PIPA and SOPA stems from this. When are we going to learn from what happened to the music industry, and find new ways and new business models that offer consumers better alternatives to piracy? Rather than preserve a dying model in the face of digital distribution, free-to-play and cloud-based gaming, we should embrace the change and shift our focus to these new models.”

Much of the frustration stems from what Kern refers to as the rather brash approach the ESA took towards supporting SOPA, putting forward almost 200 grand to support the bill while half of its members were split on the issue. The LFG is currently taking steps to becoming a non profit and has received $50,000 in funding from Kern himself.

Kern’s Red 5 studios is participating in the blackout, today, and is also in the beginning stages of forming a media boycott from the ESA sponsored E3 convention, asking media members to place this message beneath every article covering the event:

“E3 is one of the largest video game shows in North America, and is organized by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA). The ESA is a staunch supporter of the SOPA and Protect IP legislations, spending over $190,000 dollars to support the controversial legislation. Groups such as the LFG (League For Gamers) have sprung up to offer an alternative to the ESA and it’s subsidiary, the Video Game Voters’ Network (VGVN).”

While the LFG is in its nascent stages, given how topical SOPA and PIPA have become, the time would certainly appear to be now for an organization aiming to “represent gamers in Washington and…to be the NRA for gamers.”

Could it become a serious opponent to the ESA? Start on their website here and you can begin taking a stand for yourself.

RELATED LINKS:

SOPA for Dummies: A Simple Explanation of the Truth

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