An unnamed British woman looks set to be out £16,086.56 ($US 29,950) after being ordered by London’s Patents County Court to pay American developer Topware Interactive. Apparently, the woman shared Topware’s Dream Pinball 3D on a person-to-person file-sharing site. Says prosecutor David Gore, a partner at law firm Davenport Lyons: llegal filesharing is a very serious issue resulting in millions of pounds of losses to copyright owners… As downloading speeds and internet penetration increase, this continues to be a worldwide problem across the media industry which increasingly relies on digital revenues…The damages and costs ordered by the court are significant and should act as a deterrent. This shows that taking direct steps against infringers is an important and effective weapon in the battle against online piracy.

The woman must pay damages of £6,086.56 and costs and disbursements of £10,000. Davenport Lyons isn’t finished — the law firm is going after 100 people believed to have also illegally uploading Topware’s IP. Dream Pinball 3D? More like Nightmare Pinball 3D.

Illegal file-sharers face fines after copyright case [Telegraph via MCVUK]