UK Anti-Piracy Campaign - Blue's News Comments

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.

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67.

Re: No subject
Aug 20, 2008, 19:21

Talisorn

67.

Re: No subject Aug 20, 2008, 19:21

Aug 20, 2008, 19:21

Talisorn

How can you claim to support this move when it clearly doesn't match your "as long as" criteria? Sending out 25,000 "pay us or we'll sue you" notices isn't putting the burden of proof on anyone.

Which is why I put the cavet on what I said. I'm all for prosecuting pirates as long as software companies can prove that they are legitimate pirates, and they the companies can't squirm out of paying court costs if they are proven wrong.

Bear in mind that the legal system in the US is very different to that in the UK. In the US, companies can get away with blue-murder at the expense of the "little guy". If the legal system in the UK is more that that in Australia (which I think it is), there is little latitude for companies to get away with running over people making spurious claims and then not paying court costs. Don't believe everything you read in the media ... who just want to sell papers and online advertising.