Hot on the heels of Viacom suing Google for $1 billion, based on some very backward ideas about how video-sharing relates to their bottom line, video game company id Software is talking a load of bollocks (as they say in the UK) about how piracy supposedly hurts the gaming industry. As Techdirt CEO Mike points out, this is...well, like I said, bollocks:

The early success of games like Castle Wolfenstein and Doom were, in large part, thanks to pirated copies being widely available and getting people hooked (often resulting in them buying legit copies, or later software products from id). It also ignores the success of other game publishers, such as Stardock, who decided that treating all its customers as if they're criminals is a bad idea -- and releasing their game with no copy protection at all... and having it turn into a best seller.