File sharing - think twice

[Ethel]

"The firm won a case at the Patents County Court in London against a woman who shared a pinball game online. She was ordered to pay damages of �6,000 and �10,000 in legal costs to the game's maker, Topware Interactive."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-104660 7/Up-25-000-British-illegal-downloaders-sued-3 00-games-developers-turn-courts.html

[Booldawg]

6,000 seems a bit steep tbh. You'd get less if you lost an eye at work.

[091264]

What about people who download music and films from torrent sites?

[Ethel]

That's exactly the same.

[091264]

I know a few people that do this, on occasion, and they are yet to receive any letters or summons and they have been doing it for years. Is it scare mongering?

[anotheoldgit]

ISPs have formed a partnership with entertainment companies to identify the owners of computers being used for file-sharing.

This is all rather frightening, what other partnerships will ISPs form so as to gain even more profit?

Could they use the information they have on say, clients purchasing habits and then sell them on to advertisers?

Do they know one's banking details?

[Ethel]

anotholdgit - google 'phorm' and you will see it is already in the pipeline (advertising, not bank details).

The ISPs have little choice really as file sharing is illegal if the material is subject to copyright - they have agreed to this to prevent a court order forcing them to go even further.