Innocents being sued for game piracy

P2P prosecution abuses don't just happen to music fans. The game industry is cracking down on P2P sharing of games, too, and innocent people are being accused, Which? Computing reports.

Atari sued Gill and Ken Murdoch, ages 54 and 66 respectively, for sharing the Race 07 game over P2P networks. But the two told Which they had never played the game – or any game for that matter -- in their lives.

The couple were given the chance to pay £500 compensation and £25 costs for infringing the copyright of Atari, with the threat that costs would be much higher if legal proceedings were started.

The magazine guesses hundreds of people could be caught up in false accusations. Says editor Sarah Kidner:

It’s outrageous that lawyers are falsely accusing people of illegally file-sharing and we think they should cut out the heavy-handed tactics. But consumers need to be aware of the dangers of having their computer address piggy-backed and take some basic common sense steps to protect themselves.