A mate of mine who used to work for DMA and other top games companies once opined to me that he thought (professional) piracy was a mugs game as you could easily rip other peoples ideas and IP off by simply programming your own version, thats what most games writers effectively did and there was zero chance of ending up before the judge....

I wonder do the makers, programmers etc. of Dream Pinball have anything to do with the makers of the old Pinball Dreams titles or have they just been "inspired" by them...

I find this hilarious, there are tons of game pirates online and its a woman whose caught sharing some crappy pinball game from a company i've never heard of.

Are EA and the rest of the big companies letting this go by? As its incredible to see some little developer fine someone. Maybe a bit overharsh, you download a song you pay like £5-10 but some little pinball game £16,000? I guess they really need that money.

Good point

Can you imagine the reaction if EA, the company that took Crazy Taxi, copied it and basicaly tied a Simpsons license to it started taking the moral high ground? Or say Activision who cloned Guitar Freaks for Guitar Hero? Or maybe all those DDR clones out there?

I fail to see the difference personaly...

Think you guys are missing the point its not about copying a style of game to make their own this is about Piracy the woman illeagally downloaded the game instead of paying for it at retail

If she copyed and sold software she would payed a lot less.

Persionaly I would declare bankrupicy. The they have all cost and gain nothing,

"Persionaly I would declare bankrupicy. The they have all cost and gain nothing,"

Genius idea! Apparently you can achieve this by saying "i declare bankruptcy" three times to a judge whilst holding a bible.

"The firm has launched civil proceedings against 100 people suspected of illegally uploading copyrighted works on behalf of Topware Interactive"

It seems they are targeting serial uploaders of their game not downloaders. This person probably left the game in their upload list resulting in multiple hundred 'missed sales' - or as the poster above pointed out disappointed people looking for 'Pinball Dreams'.

Haven't people figured out the true use of Bit Torrent software yet - watching Consolevania/VideoGaiden!

Most IP owners want us to think all filesharing is illegal and is only used to steal their products. Most media pretends it can't be illegal to share something you own with your friends even if your "friends" are millions of torrentsite users. Noone cares about other uses.

If you make something you don't have the right to distribute available for public download it is a crime and I hope companies continue to go after those. A lost girl online downloading something in good faith might be an easy target but it's not the way to go.

bitch deserves it...

bitch deserves it.....
LoL. Made me laugh !!