Mobile/PDA About Us Advertise here


		User name	Password

		Not registered yet? Register here. Lost your password? Click here.

Browse by topic

News

Zuxxez goes after UK file sharers

1 April 2007 16:37 by James "Dela" Delahunty | 1 comment

Game publisher Zuxxez, known for its title Earth 2160, has decided to pursue British file sharers after discovering that downloads of Earth 2160 outstripped its retail sales 35 times. Between the release on 1 June 2005 and 18 December 2006, Zuxxez found 891,414 people attempting to download Earth 2160. The company has sold has sold 25,000 units of Earth 2160 in the UK, reaching #4 in the charts.

While monitoring sharing activity, the company found 10,000 UK uploaders. Dirk Hassinger, sales director at Zuxxez, said the firm wanted to clamp down on file sharing but was worried about the cost of pursuing 10,000 people. So, the company decided to test it out on a smaller game, Pinball 3D.

Law firm Davenport Lyons is now pursuing 500 sharers of Dream Pinball 3D on the publishers behalf in the UK. In Germany, Schutt-Waetke, another law firm, targeted 18,000 sharers Earth 2160, 8,000 of which have agreed to stop file sharing and have paid a fine. "In the UK, pirates are lucky because we get the address from the ISPs," said Hassinger, "In Germany we have to request with the police - and the state prosecutors go after them immediately."

He said that the company has no intentions of of making a business out of pursuing file sharers (which it was accused of after the German actions) and admitted that he was unsure whether or not file sharing had an effect on sales. "Normally, if you discuss this with file sharers, they say they wouldn't have bought the game anyway," he said, but added it's like saying, "I never would have bought a Ferrari if I hadn't pinched one".

Source:
The Register

Permalink to this article

Watch out UK, 25,000 piracy lawsuits coming (20 August 2008)

« Previous news article
UK 3G users get BBC content

Next news article »
Cingular sets date for iPhone

Post your comment

Discuss this article!
Ethrieltd (Junior Member) 8 April 2007 5:34
Davenport Lyons are well known for thier "fishing expeditions", i know of several people who have received letters stating that they have "compelling evidence" that they had been sharing that pinball game and to pay up or get took to court. these people have told me (and would have no reason to lie to me) that they wouldnt have touched some crappy 3d pinball game with a ten foot pole. One letter even mentioned that they had paid the persons ISP, �25 for their information. I was under the impression that someone could only get your ISP to give up info with a court order, but it looks like some of them give it up like a dead hooker. Davenport Lyons blow and so do thier mothers! [ + quote]