Play Meter

nEWS
tate wher video lottery games will
b in tall d by the state government
to omp t
dir tly with coin
machine operators. That's unfair
competition by the stat of Illino is
aim d dir tly at all operators,
lo ations, manufacturers, distribu-
tors, and a long list of oth rs whose
jobs dep nd upon a healthy coin-op
indu try in Illinoi s. It must b
stopped! We are asking veryone
inter sted to contact th ir state
I gisla tors without delay, discuss th
problem , and ask for their immedi-
at action ," said Kern Thorn, pr si-
dent of Western Automatic Musi ,
In c . in Chicago, following his
appointment as chairman of the
Stop Video Lottery Gambling in
Illinoi s Committe .
Arthur W. Seeds, executive vi e
president of the ICMOA , will
coo rdin ate the campaign . Seeds ha s
experience dealing with the Illinoi s
state gov rnm nt , the General
Asse mbly, and the U.S. Congress.
"Our objectiv is to fight this
battle and win . Already, the Nebras-
ka tate enate has voted unani-
mously to abo li sh vid o gamb lin g.
The attorney general in ew York
ruled video lotteries illegal. In ew
Jersey, the gam s wer soundly
defeated by the Legis!ature . But we
must recognize that the opposition
is awesome . State of Ill inois officials
are salivating at the prospect of a
$500,000,000 video gambling tax
windfall," Seed said.
•
MERIT STOPS
NEW WAY COPIES
In a U.S. Di stri ct Court, Merit
Industries, Inc . of Cheltenham ,
Pennsylvania , forced
ew W ay
Video Systems Co. , In c. , a Massa-
chusetts based firm , to cease
production and distribution of
illegal copies of severa l Merit video
card games.
ew Way, recently stopped by
Taito in a similar case (Pla y Meter,
July 1, p. 14), was found to be
manufacturing and se llin g direct
copies of Merit ' s Chicken Draw
Poker, Match Game , and 4-ln-One
games . In some instances, the
infringers substitu ted the New Way
name in place of Merit' s name on
the copyright notice .
ew Way Video Sy terns person-
nel
ould not be reached for
comm nt.
S arch and seizure raids , con-
ducted by Middles x County sh r-
iff's offi er , result d in the confis-
cation of
w Way ales r cords ,
contraband circuit board , illegal
EPROMS, counterfeit gam graph-
ics , and other related evid nee .
Merit Preside nt Peter Feu r said
that this is only the b ginning of th
corporation ' s efforts to wip out
illegal comp tition . " Aft r investing
th tim and mon y nece sary to
cr at , manufactur , and legiti-
mately market our products, we will
not tolerate this kind of blatant
pira y," he said . "We ' ll continue to
prot t and defend our copyrights
to the fulle t xt nt of th law."
10
Feuer also said that there are
" severa l other firms " currently
being investigated for infringement
of Merit games. "Ga m es similar to
ours , even with slight cosmetic
graphics or program c hanges, still
violate our co pyrights. Our engi-
neers are ana lyzing severa l games for
possible legal action ." ew Way's
latest offering, Monkey Game, is
under investigation for infrin ging
Merit's copyrights.
In additio n to moving against
pirate manufacturing companies,
Merit has instituted a nationwide
investigation at the operator level as
well. Under the curre nt federal
authorization order, agents have
already searched numerous suspect
locations, co nfi scating every illegal
game discovered .
" Operators who have purchased
a bogus Merit game are urged to
contact us, in order to avoid any
possible legal problems ," Feuer
aid . " W e h ave developed an
amnesty program and are prepared
to cooperate with anyone willing to
help cure thi s cancer in the indus-
try ."
To learn how to r ecognize a coun-
terfeit Merit video game or for
details about Merit's amnesty pro-
gram, contact Merit Industries, In c.,
Bo x 213 , 630 Woodland Ave ., Chel-
tenham , PA 1901 2. Telephone : 215/
379-1000 or 1-800/ 523-2760 toll-free
outside PA .
•
JAPAN-BASED
SEGA ENTERPRISES SOLD
Gulf & W st rn lndu tri s In .
r c ntly told Th Wall Str et journal
that it sold
ga Enterprises Ltd .,
based in Japan , to a group led by
executives of Computer Services
Corp ., Japan ' s largest information
pro es ing company. D tail on the
price weren't di losed.
Gulf & W stern old ega Enter-
pri
. . coin-op rat d game
manufa turing fa ilities to Bally last
August , but kept the research and
li nsing operations .
Sega Enterprises' operations in the
Unit d States , Gulf & Western said ,
will ontinu to develop and license
oin-op rat d and h ome video
games under agr ments with Sega
Enterpri s Ltd . and Bally.
•
PLAY METER. July 1 5. 1984