Nintendo is about to put its money to work in the United States capital.
The publisher has officially hired Washington lobbying firm Choe Groves Consulting, according to Politico. Nintendo wants the federal government to get tougher on intellectual property laws, international trade, and piracy, and Choe Groves will try to convince the people in Washington, D.C. to take up that cause. These are issues that plague all kinds of entertainment companies, and Nintendo has an obvious interest in seeing legislators add more protection for content creators.
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This is a renewed effort from Nintendo, which as only spent $50,000 on lobbying since 2009. Choe Groves also represents the first new lobbying group that Nintendo has worked with since 2003.
Nintendo has had a long battle with piracy, especially with its handheld DS platform. Hackers were able to crack that system’s security and sell a special card that would enable people to download and play illegally pirated games on that portable device. The company has beefed up the protection on its new hardware, but pirates are constantly working to break open the 3DS and Wii U.
Intellectual property is also a growing concern for Nintendo as mobile gaming grows more popular. Developers are constantly looking to ape or spoof recognizable games like Super Mario Bros. to find an audience, and Nintendo may want laws to help it protect itself from games that it considers copyright infringement.
We’ve asked Nintendo what its plans are for its new lobbying group, and we’ll update this post with any new information.