Tag Archives: Entertainment Merchants Association

The Supreme Court of the United States has sided with the videogames industry, declaring it the winner in the EMA (Entertainment Merchants Association) vs Brown case that has gone on for six years.

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Entertainment retailers are expected to start using a new radio-activated lock on games, DVDs and other disc-based merchandise by Q4 2010 to help curb the three-figured discount some patrons give themselves.

The device is expected to save the retail industry $6 billion annually, according to a report from the Entertainment Merchants Association titled “Project Lazarus: Study of Benefit Denial.”

Sean Bersell, EMA’s VP of public affairs, told Gamespot that this has nothing to do with DRM or anything like it. Instead, the new device makes the disc unusable until it is unlocked by the cashier at the register.

“This is not about DRM or other coding of the discs,” he said. “The technology to which we are referring would be a physical lock that is opened via radio frequency at the point of sale. (Think of a key card that unlocks a door.) And this is not about fighting piracy (illegal reproductions), but rather fighting shrink (theft of legitimate goods).

“The purpose is to make it easier for the consumer to purchase the product and enabling additional retail channels that have significant shrink issues to carry the product.”

Publishers are a bit wary of the technology at the moment, but the EMA says that training store clerks to use it and manage stock better is where it’s at.

More through the link.

According to this TG Daily piece, Blu-ray’s fortunes are being propped up heavily by PS3, as if that were in any doubt. From the piece:

The Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) released its 2008 annual report with a wealth of data revealing the most trends in TV, home video and video gaming segments. The flood of data reveals that video game publishers are closing in on the revenue of stagnating home video sales, Blu-ray looked like the losing HD format in 2006, but was able to reverse the trend thanks to the PS3 in 2007, Microsoft has sold 316,000 now useless HD DVD add-ons for its Xbox 360 console and the average person now spends $310 on movie and game entertainment per year.

A lot more through there, if you can be bothered.