If they tried suing me I'd vigorously defend it all the way to the European Court of Justice! They don't stand a chance!

Jonathan Sklan-Willis, Salford, England

I have downloaded several games that I have paid for previously. This is because the discs have broken and rather than having to fork out for another 'official' copy of the disc, I have got the disc image, which is what I paid for in the first place. Why should I be punished for that?

Mark, York,

Just because somebody may have downloaded it does not mean they installed it or played it, and you cannot prove who was at the computer at any given time. Downloaded does not equate to usage and therefore, illegal activity. Guilt cannot be proven beyond reasonable doubt.

Richard, London, England

Ah, "the process is the punishment" blackmail. People are terrified of being dragged into court because they can lose everything.

It would be very wrong if those 25,000 people rioted and destroyed the offices and homes of those greedy swine. But one wouldn't half laugh if they did!

Roger Pearse, Ipswich,

So let me get this straight, when a company allows a copy of their software or game to be leaked on the net so that people can get a sneak preview its called good business but when said copy gets downloaded by millions it becomes piracy...make up your mind!

Marina Kyriacou, Larnaca, Cyprus

Games companies need customers; most are young with limited spending money so want to see if the games are worth the extortionate prices before buying. Games companies could put out a trial version which would have to be registered to be unlocked for full functionality, but instead prefer extortion.

Derek, London, UK

Is this not part of the new industry started by parking tickets and speeding fines through the post, guilty until you prove yourself innocent.

Paul Gibbons, Milton Keynes, UK

Likely the reason people do this is simply because, they can. Having said that, many companies now producing games where the dvd game, code, and logging online to authenticate single use of code to one user. This is the approach 'Steam' has taken. It's a step in the right dir. to cut back piratin

John Barkins, Victoria , Canada

Freya,

they are potential customers. The goal is to reach them, not to scare them away.

Andrew, Berlin,

I think the main reason people seek to illegally download games are because the games are not within the PRICE range which most families or individuals can afford.

Remember the blame isn't all on the illegal downloader !
What about the Illegal Uploader?

That's A Little Food 4 Thought !

Jendee, Mansfield, USA

The game companies are hardly offending their "core market" if they sue illegal downloaders, are they? Those people have bought nothing from them, so by definition aren't their customers. When DID paying for stuff go out of fashion in such a big way?

Freya, London,

i heard game companys are making more money then film these days must be hard to survive.

Jason, Perth,

Suing thousands of people spending enormous amount of money on that,enrage own client base or substantially reduce prices so as to allow all these people actually buy
their products?Yeah tough choice.Lets face it- if game is
affordable it is better to buy it rather than spend hours on download

Alex, London,

Why don't the developers actually spend some money on decent protection.Yes downloading is wrong but if the security isn't good enough then it will continue to happen.I have seen numerous games over the past years that had such strong encryption it wasn't worth the hassle downloading.

Daz, Weston Super Mare, UK

I'd like to know how they get their figures.... A game downloaded 12k times? How can you possibly be sure? With gazillions of websites, the untraceable torrents and so on, the idea of being able to calculate the downloads of a file is simply ridiculous.

Peter, Wilchestershire, Scotland

Im sure a solution is to do a "pay as you go" option for games. Making you pay 10p each time you want to play it, or charging for the amount of time you play it. At the end of the day if you play it a lot you should pay more. Maybe this is a possible solution to illegal downloads?

steve, camberley, UK

Why do people mention stealing and theft when talking about illegal file downloading? This is copyright infringement, not theft. HSY really is the living room of the opinionated ignorants of society.

Jon, London,

The real breach of copyright is in "making available" (i.e. uploading and/or sharing with others) rather than the downloading per se. So the key to not getting "done" is to avoid sharing it. Failing that, there are ways to disguise your ID.

Jon, Durham,

I develop software for corporate use and had one of my products ripped off by an unscrupulous company, so I can sympathise, but it taught me to do more to protect my products. The onus is on these companies to protect their software so it can't be pirated - only themselves to blame if they don't.

Ross, Ripon, UK

Seems to me that if you've a product that sells 800 copies but is downloaded 12,000 times for free that you have a fundamental flaw in your business model. Taking legal action against those potential clients is idiotic. More effort is needed in monetising that potential audience, not in punishing it

Matt, London,

Everyone should be concerned at the level of data collection going on. In turn these companies should be in court for illegal interference with individuals private communication. There are other ways these firms can protect their products but they choose not to use them

mike gee, bournemouth, uk

And the legions come out in force to defend their theft (receiving a monetised product without paying for it) with excuses ranging from 'I always buy it afterwards' to 'All the games I download are rubbish anyway'. i.e. 'I think it's trivial therefore everyone else should!'. Rent it or buy it.

Karl, Canterbury, UK

Perhaps if the cost of the product was more reflective of the cost of production the file sharing culture would not have grown so wide - The greedy corporations have nobody but themselves to blame! Same issue with film (Will Smith demanded $90m for "I am Legend") Charge fair - avoid theft!

Dave, South Wales, Wales

if these games weren't so outrageously expensive. perhaps people would be less inclined to share them and more inclined to buy them

alan, london, england

All these justifications are twaddle - just because you've found a way of downloading something for free doesn't make it legal, and if you download it illegally then decide not to play it, you've still stolen it. If you want the game, pay the money, if you don't want to pay, don't download it.

Doug bates, St. albans,

Presumable, the 'unemplyed mother of two' would not have had recourse to any significant legal representation. What's needed is someone wealthy enough to stand up to the bullying tactics of Davenport Lyons. I'd like to see them 'prove' that a complete download has taken place.

Sam Medeski, Hay on Wye,

I used to play games a quite lot, but these days it's mostly the old classics. The games have become as dull as they are expensive. Will people be prosecuted for downloading 'Grand Theft Auto', a 'game' that seems to be entirely about promoting criminality as a way of life?

John B, Middlesbrough, UK

Why mention Op Flashpoint now? I bought that years ago, along with te 2 expansion packs (I'm sad)

Neil, Newcastle Upon Tyne,

Bullies taking children to court, great marketing. I don't know that the struggling families of Britain will entertain such outlandish tactics. dont bite the hand that feeds.

John, Melbourne, Australia

Games shld be playable for few hours/levels then give u option to pay if u want the full game. I don't have problems with the industry going against freeloaders who have pirated copies. Stealing stuff hurts everyone. If the game is good people will buy but if its junk I don't want to waste my $

AK, Pittsburgh, USA

This is excellent news and a very sensible way to go about re-cooping something from these Pirates, I worked for some years in this industry and people really do not know the effort of blood sweat and tears that go into the developing these games, then someone comes along and steals it.

Peter, Vancouver. BC., Canada

All the gamers should get together and next time a software company releases a game that doesn't work properly (which most don't!) ALL the consumers sue them for their money back plus costs and damages.

Lets fight these companies at their own petty game....and beat them!

Francis, Birmingham, England

Fairs fair. Companies are in business to make money....you want it, you pay for it! I pay for all entertainment I buy and if I feel it wasnt worth it I put it down to my poor chioce. If people thought they could just "take" from my company I dont think I would see the point in being in business.

Anna, Edinburgh,

Many products are second rate and vastly overpriced. This a problem of their own making. Deny you downloaded it. They have to prove against an individual. Is it possible to haul a 10 year old into court and have a £16,000 fine levied against them???

Pat, Limasssol, Cyprus

Pirating a game is no different from theft. Say you get 30hrs entertainment from a game thats £1 per hour - hardly expensive. S/W houses need to do more to beef up protections. Hardcore gamers like myself are close to addiction and those forced to stop pirating will have to start buying!

Simon Radcliffe, Edinburgh,

The attempts of people to justify piracy are ridiculous. Unsure of whether a game is worth the price? Read reviews online for free or play free demos. Or rent the game for a few pounds. Or wait for the price to drop (as it always will). All viable alternatives to committing an unjustifiable crime.

James, Manchester, UK

If it is FREE FOR ALL DOWNLOADING Kevin, how can it be theft ? I'm confused !!!!!

ian payne, walsall,

This is using 19th-century technology (the Courts) in an attempt to solve a 21st-century problem. Copyright owners should turn to technology to solve a technical problem, not waste money with the lawyers.

Frank Upton, Solihull,

If someone can afford a computer and an internet link they can afford to buy software. If they can't they should stick to free demos.

Eric, Clevedon, UK

£16K in damages - does the punishment really fit the crime?

Dan Pitt, Marlow,

I'm a game designer.

The games publishers involved are old dinosaurs whio have failed to move with the times. Their actions in bringing this case threaten to place us in the same bad situation as the RIAA has backed the music industry.

It'll splash badly onto the new revenue models as well.

Leon Wolfeson, Oxford, UK

Computer user downloads £20 game off a web site so in legal/copyright laws it is theft, if that game costs £20 in store then the you have not stole £20, deduct, distribution, package, DVD, printing, manuals, no support or warranty. If I steal full package from shop I get a fixed penalty ticket £80.

Contax, Brigg, England

Dream Pinball costs £8.50 to buy - so how does the company justify the remaining £15,991.50 in damages it is claiming from an unemployed mother? Corporate Greed.

Peter, London,

Its a disgrace that these game makers can bully the public in such a manner. People who download cannot afford to buy these games in the shop so they are not really loosing revenue, If anything they benefit through free advertising and exposure which will make their products more succesful.

gavin, London, UK

Allowing copies contrary to the license agreement is theft. The developers have a right to payment for working goods, whether or not users later think they are worth the price. But if you left your house door open and thieves come in, you have yourself to blame, so the writers must take some blame!

Stuart, Chester, England

The Mafia like trying the same tactic. If I received such a letter it would be headed straight for my recycling bin. What's criminal is how threatening these letters can sound despite having so little legal foundation.

Mark Johnson, Birmingham, UK

If they don't want everyone pirating their games then perhaps they shouldn't charge ridiculous prices for them. I was gob-smacked when I saw the prices of games on the highstreet. Of course people are going pirate games priced at insance amounts. I doubt as many people pirate the budget £5 games!

Mark Johnson, Birmingham, UK

And how are they going to obtain £16000 from an unemployed mother of two, her total income for the year is approx £10,000 for the year,here we go again the mega rich wanting to get richer! ps the game is only £9 to buy

John Browne, Bangor, UK

I hope this ends the free-for-all downloading of games that is nothing but theft. What is forgotten is how much hard work goes into these products at all stages. Do these thieving downloaders think people should work for free? time for some payback thieving scumbags? £300 easter egg coming soon!

kevin, Lincoln, UK

Davenport lyons are using a company called logistep to gather their so called evidence a company that has beem made illegal in various other european countries for doing the same thing ,they are using "codes" that they will not allow to be auidited , they are sending threatening letters to "printers

RUSS RAMUS, GILLINGHAM,

The price is right !
99% of "free loaders" would not buy these games and currently just download them to give them a try before booting them into touch.
If anything, the good games get a free advert and are more likely to be legally bought.
p.s., I don't play games myself, far better things to do

P Barrett, Valletta, Malta

Ok let's start collecting money for the legal bills to protect the kids from these people, it's MacLibel again.........

Pat, Sydney, Australia

This is a turning point where we will see if the law is there to protect the people or to serve the needs of business. Downloading a game is not proof of running the game. Another thorny issue is who downloaded the file, my son?

The premise is that we are innocent until proven guilty, correct!

Neil, Nerima-ku, Japan

Companies know that the majority of people who have downloaded as students, teenagers, young adults when they reach full time employment become legal. the problem with all purchases is damage to the discs. Games, DVD's and music should be more accessable to the PC generation.

Jimbo, Nantucket, MA, USA

Chill Out Companies. You are continuing to make record profits....calm down. Until you loose money or break even dont wine.

Elliott Houston, New Orleans, USA

The only obvious solution will be lowering the prices.
Cheaper goods make a better sale, everyone knows that. The higher the price, the stronger the temptation for people to download illegally is.

Maybe none of the manufacturers has realized this. They won't lose if they lower the price.

Chen, Changsha, China

What utter nonsense. Everyone I know - and I know a lot of people - downloads their games from eMule or LimeWire or a torrent client, and most often says after playing them a few times, here, take it, it's not worth the time. The game industry needs to get its act together with stuff worth the money

chas, edinburgh, lothian

if these people are such good coders, why can't they design games that need a connection to a validated website to run? Strikes me this this is a problem caused by bad design.

c young, Santa Cruz, USA

Obviously a fishing expedition from firms who should be sued
for providing second rate products, not fit for purpose or as advertised. Many of these game are overpriced and bug ridden - requiring umpteen 'patches' to be half playable. Try getting your £50 back when you realise this - yeah, right.

David Cooper, Stockton-on-Tees, United Kingdom

I find a number of the facts and figures quite hard to swallow, ELSPA reported last month that 3.9m units had been sold in the first half of 2008, for the PC.

So you expect me to believe that Battlefield 1942, which is both old and terrible, was downloaded 1.5 million times in one week? Sure...

Richard 'evan' Armstrong, Newcastle,