EMA Proposes Video Game, DVD Theft Solution

The Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) has published threshold standards for a form of "benefit denial technology" that it's hoping will be used in the home entertainment industry for video games, DVDs and Blu-ray discs. Essentially, the games or movies would be shipped to retail in an inoperable state and only at the point of sale would they be activated.

Should this technology, currently codenamed "Project Lazarus," become widely used in home entertainment, it should cut down on theft of games and movies. The idea behind benefit denial is simply to prevent the thief from using the stolen goods. The apparel industry, for example, utilizes security tags in many cases containing sealed vials of permanent dye that break if forcibly removed from an item of clothing, thereby staining and ruining the garment and also making it unsuitable for return or resale.

"The deployment of benefit denial technology would reduce shrink in video game and DVD stocks, increase open marketing of video games, reduce packaging, decrease labor costs, improve consumer access to video games and Blu-ray discs, and make the categories more attractive for additional retail channels," stated Bo Andersen, President and CEO of EMA. "Given the myriad of potential benefits, EMA recognized the imperative to bring together major stakeholders to provide an impetus for further development and timely deployment of effective benefit denial technologies for DVDs and video games that are useful and effective for a broad range of entertainment retailers."

"If all goes well, companies will be able to make decisions on whether to implement benefit denial technology for DVDs and video games by mid-2010 and undertake a widespread launch in the fourth quarter of that year," noted Mark Fisher, Vice President – Membership and Strategic Issues for EMA.