Woman fined £16,000 for game file sharing

A British woman has been ordered to pay US games developer Topware Interactive 16,000 for illegally downloading one of its games from a file-sharing site.

According to The Telegraph, the prosecution could open the floodgates for other games, music and film companies to claim back millions of pounds in damages from filesharers.

The Patents County Court in London ordered the woman to pay damages of more than 6,000 and costs and disbursements of 10,000 to Topware Interactive, for downloading Dream Pinball 3D.

As reported by MCV, the company had similar legal success against four file sharers last month, and its lawyer Davenport Lyons vowed to prosecute more file-sharers.

David Gore, a partner at law firm Davenport Lyons, who prosecuted the latest case, said: "Illegal filesharing is a very serious issue resulting in millions of pounds of losses to copyright owners.

"As downloading speeds and internet penetration increase, this continues to be a worldwide problem across the media industry which increasingly relies on digital revenues.

"The damages and costs ordered by the court are significant and should act as a deterrent. This shows that taking direct steps against infringers is an important and effective weapon in the battle against online piracy."

The firm has launched civil proceedings against 100 people suspected of illegally uploading copyrighted works on behalf of Topware Interactive, according to The Telegraph – and the High Court has ordered internet service providers to release several thousand names and addresses of suspected filesharers.