184w ago - Earlier this year we reported that the Entertainment Software Association of Canada was seeking to jail pirates and target mod-chips.

Today, the ESA has praised the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and York Police Service for a recent raid on retailers selling pirated software at Pacific Mall in Markham, Ontario.

To quote: After a two month investigation, authorities seized counterfeit manufacturing equipment and games, computer hard drives and DVD burners as well as nine fire arms.

Three people were arrested for the scam that took place in one of the largest indoor shopping malls in North America.

"We are pleased with the outcome of this legal action and thank the RCMP and York Police Service for their efforts in protecting the video game business in Canada," said Danielle Parr, executive director of the ESAC.

"Game piracy is a serious problem that costs the entertainment software industry millions of dollars each year. Law enforcement raids against notorious pirate retailers like those in Pacific Mall send a clear message that trafficking in pirated game products is illegal and will not be tolerated."

215w ago - Microsoft Corp., tacitly acknowledging the continued popularity of Windows XP, said recently that it was updating the operating system's antipiracy technology to detect illegal copies installed with newlystolen or faked product keys, or with new activation cracks.

In an entry to a company blog, Alex Kochis, director of Microsoft's Genuine Windows group, spelled out the update to WGA Notifications.

That's the antipiracy component that provides the messages and other on-screen prompts when the other half of WGA, dubbed Validations, detects an illegal copy of the operating system.

"This update includes the latest validation information, including recently stolen or misused product keys and other information," said Kochis, who elsewhere in the blog noted that the "other" category included "attempts to circumvent product activation." Such circumvention methods, called "cracks," are popular downloads on file-sharing sites that also feature pirated software.

The update applies only to Windows XP Professional, added Kochis.

Although Microsoft tried to put a stop to Windows XP sales last year -- and will be shifting it into a more limited support plan next month...