Entertainment Software Association Drops SOPA, PIPA Support

The Entertainment Software Association, the trade association that represents most major producers of videogames in the United States, dropped its support of the controversial proposed bills Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect IP Act on Friday.

Here's the full statement that the ESA mailed out to the press:

From the beginning, ESA has been committed to the passage of balanced legislation to address the illegal theft of intellectual property found on foreign rogue sites. Although the need to address this pervasive threat to our industry's creative investment remains, concerns have been expressed about unintended consequences stemming from the current legislative proposals. Accordingly, we call upon Congress, the Obama Administration, and stakeholders to refocus their energies on producing a solution that effectively balances both creative and technology interests. As an industry of innovators and creators, we understand the importance of both technological innovation and content protection and are committed to working with all parties to encourage a balanced solution.

This comes several hours after Congress said it would indefinitely delay votes on both SOPA and PIPA.

Many pundits and journalists have criticized both proposed bills, which could allow the U.S. government to shut down sites it suspects to contain copyrighted content. On Wednesday, sites across the Internet including Reddit and Wikipedia blacked out to protest the bill. Wired.com censored the headlines on its front page.

Earlier this week, Firefall developer Red 5 Studios called upon the videogame industry to boycott the ESA-run Electronic Entertainment Expo conference this year to protest the ESA's support of SOPA. Other game studios, including Gears of War developer Epic Games and League of Legends developer Riot Games, have also spoken out against SOPA in the past few weeks.