Games publisher threatens 'file sharers'

Hundreds of British internet users have been accused of illegally sharing a computer game and threatened with legal action.

Law firm Davenport Lyons has issued letters to the users, stating that it has tracked them at a particular time and date, offering the game Dream Pinball 3D for sharing over the internet.

The company has obtained court orders for each user, obliging the users' internet service providers (ISPs) to hand over name and address details.

The letters said that users should make a payment of at least £350, which would cover legal and technical fees as well as a penalty to the publisher. Users were given just seven days to pay. The law firm said it would sue anyone who did not pay.

According to the letter, the users' computers were listed as having the offending file available for sharing over one or more peer-to-peer networks. However, many users - including one Computeractive reader - who received the letter say they have neither downloaded nor shared the file.

Davenport Lyons is acting on behalf of German games publisher Zuxxez, which released Dream Pinball 3D in September 2006. Zuxxez has already issued similar letters to Germans who shared its Earth 2160 game. Eight thousand such users agreed to pay a fine and sign agreements to stop sharing files.

At the time of writing, nobody from Davenport Lyons was available for comment.