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Wednesday 20th August 2008
Entertainment companies take aim at file sharers 12:35PM, Wednesday 20th August 2008
Thousands of file sharers could be forced to pay out damages as lawyers for entertainment companies hunt down consumers who have been illegally uploading content.

Davenport Lyons, a London based law firm, is spearheading the pursuit and claims it will apply to the High Court to force ISPs to give out the names and addresses of 7,000 suspected file-sharers.

The law firm has already begun proceedings with consumers, with one woman already being ordered to pay out
 
 
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£16,000 for allowing the file sharing community to download a £16 game earlier this week.

"Illegal file-sharing is a very serious issue resulting in millions of pounds of losses to copyright owners," said David Gore, a partner at the firm.

While six of Britain's leading ISPs have recently joined a scheme to send warning letters to the homes of file sharers, record companies, film studios and games makers have decided that it's not enough.

The number of people targeted by Davenport Lyons for sharing games could reach 25,000, according to The Times newspaper. However, consumers will be offered the chance to pay £300 each to settle out of court, according to the paper.

The Times also claimed that the first 500 users to ignore their ISP warning letters will face immediate legal action brought on behalf of five games developers, including Atari, Techland and Codemasters.

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