Computer games industry threat to downloaders: 'pay up or we'll sue'

[nickb]

http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/gadgets_and_gaming/article4569180.ece

[LogicHoleFlaw]

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.

That's disgusting. I won't condone software piracy but the punishment must fit the crime.

[ars]

Usually downloading isn't a big deal: the more popular the product, the more it's downloaded, but:

"..it sold 800 legitimate copies but was illegally downloaded 12,000 times.."

That's not sustainable.