Well, things are about to get a little heated in the Chinese retro handheld scene because it seems like The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has showcased their concern for "super fake" devices coming in from China that are being packed with intellectual property and is putting its foot down in a potentially lawful and impactful way that shouldn't be shrugged off by not only ANBERNIC but any popular manufacturer in China who are shipping retro handhelds.
Entertainment Software Association (ESA) is a not-for-profit U.S. trade association serving companies that manufacture video game equipment and create software for game consoles, handheld devices, personal computers, and the Internet. One of ESA’s missions is to advocate for the U.S. video game industry on issues including global content protection, intellectual property, technology, e-commerce, and consumer-facing digital regulations in support of interactive software publishers. ESA members include many of America’s preeminent video game companies, innovators, creators, publishers, and business leaders that are reimagining entertainment and transforming how we interact, learn, connect, and play.
The ESA's suggestion was put forth to the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), though, more specifically, to review the Notorious Markets list, which, in ESA's words: "is a crucial tool for identifying markets that engage in or facilitate substantial copyright piracy or trademark counterfeiting, illuminating the services and revenue streams that sustain those markets, and encouraging effective action by market operators, intermediaries, and governments".
So, to cut to the chase, they're encouraging the USTR to recognise that these specific devices could cause harm to certain companies in the gaming industry due to commercial-scale piracy and more and want them to take action against them, even going as far as blacklisting companies/sellers from importing these products into the USA, this was all first spotted by RetroHandhelds.gg. ESA has even listed a number of companies for the USTR to look at first, and yep, you guessed it, ANBERNIC is one of them, under the category "piracy devices".
This is all just a recommendation, if you really wanted t unravel all of the informalities. Nothing has come from it as of yet, but it's the first sign that there could be some change in the retro handheld space regarding pre-loading SD cards with games. And to be honest with you, most of the big players in the industry stopped doing that a year or two ago; it's very rare I find a pre-loaded SD card on the devices we review here at Retro Dodo. It's typically the AliExpress ones that do, and they even promote it to- heck, my GAMEMT MTX arrived yesterday, pre-loaded with thousands of games, with me asking for it.
This is still happening in the industry, and so openly, so I don't blame them for showing their concerns to the USTR, but I believe they're looking in the wrong place and have listed ANBERNIC due to them being the larger number of imported units. I guess all they are looking for is one SD card loaded with IP, not necessarily all of them, to then classify them as a "super fake" to then take legal action. And this is a completely different enforcement than infringing on product patents, which is something they may also look into in the future because ANBERNIC literally just announced the RG DDS that looks near-identical to the Nintendo 3DS, but I guess Nintendo have to file that one if they want to.
I can imagine this will take a long time to be put in action, and that's if it gets the go-ahead. Other countries such as Italy have put their foot down in the past, seizing 12,000 ANBERNIC products, so who knows, maybe the USA will put up a fight. If they do, ANBERNIC will feel it; they likely ship hundreds of thousands of units into the USA yearly. You can read the formal public document from ESA here.
