Game makers target file sharers

25 August 2008

Stephen Mulrenan, London

The Patents County Court in London ruled last week that a woman who had illegally downloaded a computer game from a file sharing website should pay damages and costs to the game maker

In the first ruling of its kind in the UK, Isabela Barwinska was ordered to pay Topware Interactive, owner of the computer game Dream Pinball 3D, damages of £6,086.56 plus costs and disbursements of £10,000.

The Court decision comes as part of a crackdown by the computer games industry in the UK on illegal downloads. Games publishers such as Atari, Reality Pump, Techland and Codemasters plan to take action to recover losses and costs from an estimated 25,000 consumers in possession of illegal downloads in the UK.

All UK claims brought are civil actions under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. The award of damages in the UK follows similar actions in other jurisdictions throughout Europe. It also follows years of struggle by the music industry to prevent illegal file sharing.

Some six million people are thought to engage in illegal file sharing...

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