UK Anti-Piracy Campaign [Aug 20, 2008, 07:43 am ET] – Share – Viewing Comments
Times Online has news that five developers, Atari, Topware Interactive,
Reality Pump, Techland, and Codemasters, are serving notice to 25,000 UK
families demanding they pay a settlement, or risk being taken to court over
software piracy (thanks
Edge Online). Here's a portion:
The computer games industry has launched an unprecedented assault on illegal downloads, demanding payment from thousands of families who obtained the latest releases over the internet without paying.
Five of the world’s top games developers will serve notice on 25,000 people across the UK, requiring each one to pay £300 immediately to settle out of court. Those who refuse risk being taken to court. The companies will target their initial legal actions on 500 people who ignore the letters.
The companies involved – Atari, Topware Interactive, Reality Pump, Techland and Codemasters – make some of the popular games, including The Lord of the Rings, the Colin McRae Rally series and Operation Flashpoint. It is estimated that as many as six million people in Britain share games illegally over the internet. The aggressive action marks a dramatic change in the approach to copyright on the internet. The British music industry, hit hard by illegal file-sharing, has taken action against just 150 people in ten years.
The game makers have appointed the law firm Davenport Lyons. This week Isabela Barwinska, an unemployed mother of two, became the first person in the UK to be ordered to pay damages to a manufacturer. She must pay more than £16,000 to Topware after downloading Dream Pinball through a file-sharing site.
But... but... YOU CAN'T BUY A GAME AFTER YOU'VE PIRATED IT!! IT'S NOT POSSIBLE!!!
It seems more likely that a Pirate, someone who takes the time to play a lot of software, (assuming that pirates just try and get their hands on everything) would be more likley to grab something at target they want and buy it. (than someone who's never played your game)
I rarely play anything on my PC anymore and it's even more rare for me to wander down the PC game isle at target. So sales to me from PC game developers are almost non existent. But if I was playing a lot of PC games, even if I didn't buy them, I'd probably be browsing that isle a lot of and buying games from time to time, wouldn't I?
So many games have online features that will not be available to a pirate so if they like the game enough they might pick up the full copy to play it online no?
They are certainly more likely to than me, who has never touched most PC games lately.
This comment was edited on Aug 20, 15:26.
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