Ric Hirsch

Ric Hirsch joined the Entertainment Software Association in April 2000 as Senior Vice President, Intellectual Property Enforcement to direct ESA's global enforcement efforts against the piracy of member company game software product. The ESA is the U.S. association dedicated to serving the business and public affairs needs of companies publishing interactive games for video game consoles, handheld devices, personal computers, and the Internet. ESA members collectively account for more than 90 percent of the $7 billion in entertainment software sales in the United States in 2003, and billions more in export sales of American-made entertainment software. The ESA's anti-piracy efforts include an extensive investigation and litigation program against online piracy, as well as on-the-ground enforcement programs against game pirates in the United States, Canada, Asia and Latin America.

Mr. Hirsch spent most of his professional career working for the Motion Picture Association (MPA) in a number of different capacities, most recently as Senior Vice President and Director of the MPA's worldwide anti-piracy program overseeing enforcement activities against motion picture and video piracy in over sixty countries. During his tenure, the MPA expanded its enforcement efforts against Internet piracy and optical disc piracy, particularly in the Asia/Pacific region. In addition to his work for MPA, he spent over three and a half years as a transactional attorney for CBS Cable working on their program services in the US and abroad as well as their sports marketing ventures.

Born and raised in New York City, Mr. Hirsch received his B.A. from Brandeis University in 1978 and his J.D. from the New York University School of Law in 1981.