Not All ESA Members Believe In SOPA

Even though most of the ESA’s members seem to be toeing the party line, a few of them aren’t staying quiet and supporting the Stop Online Piracy Act.

The ESA’s support of the Stop Online Piracy Act hasn’t exactly gone over well with people. You know, because it pretty much annihilates the working nature of the internet. However, the ESA is a large group, representing dozens of publishers and developers, and not all of them believe that this horrible bill is for the best.

Joystiq sent out an exhaustive number of emails to all ESA members, asking for their individual positions on the legislation. While many emails weren’t responded to (which Joystiq took to mean as an admission by omission), at least four members have publicly come out against SOPA.

The full list from Joystiq is below. Any updates to it will be noted later on.

38 Studios – AGAINST – “Based on the SOPA bill’s current structure, 38 Studios believes that the bill requires further restructuring and review to ensure it both preserves rights and protects intellectual properties.”
345 Games – FOR (no response)
505 Games- FOR (no response)
Capcom USA, Inc. – FOR (dodging) – “At Capcom, we’re game makers, not legislators. We do not have an internal stance on this particular issue and are not planning to. We’ll get back to making games. Thanks.”
Deep Silver – FOR (no response)
Disney Interactive Studios, Inc. -FOR (no response)
Eidos Interactive – FOR (no response)
Electronic Arts – FOR (dodging) – “EA never expressed a position for or against SOPA.”
Epic Games – AGAINST – “We do not support the current version of SOPA,”
Her Interactive, Inc. – FOR (no response)
Ignition Entertainment – FOR (no response)
Konami Digital Entertainment – FOR (no response)
LEVEL-5 Inc. – FOR (no response)
Microsoft Corporation – FOR – But also against as a member of the Business Software Alliance.
Namco Bandai Games America Inc. – FOR (no response)
Natsume Inc. – FOR (no response)
Nexon America, Inc. – FOR (no response)
Nintendo of America Inc. – FOR (no response)
Nival – AGAINST – “Nival does not support SOPA, despite a deep understanding of the struggle against piracy in the games industry. Unfortunately, SOPA could do more harm to Internet freedom than good to fight piracy. We recognize the issues our partners in the online press have with this legislation. We will continue to be anti-piracy but are also anti-SOPA.” The company also stated it shared its position with the ESA.
NVIDIA – FOR (no response)
O-Games, Inc. – FOR (no response)
Perfect World Entertainment – FOR (no response)
SEGA of America, Inc. – FOR (currently working on response)
Slang – FOR – “As an ESA member we are represented by the ESA in these matters.”
Sony Computer Entertainment America – FOR (no response)
Sony Online Entertainment, Inc. – FOR (no response)
Square Enix, Inc. – FOR (no response)
Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. – FOR (no response)
Tecmo Koei America Corporation – FOR (no response)
THQ, Inc. – FOR – “We don’t have an individual statement on this, but encourage you to seek statement from the ESA on the matter.”
Trion Worlds, Inc. – AGAINST – “We definitely do not support SOPA.”
Ubisoft Entertainment, Inc. – FOR (no response)
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment Inc. – FOR (no response)
XSEED Games – FOR (no response)

Source: Joystiq