Following in the footsteps of the music industry

Codemasters, the localization team behind Turbine Entertainment's Lord of the Rings Online, in the United Kingdom has begun to serve notice of lawsuits against people it has identified as downloading it's game from file sharing sites.

The companies, which include Infograme-owned industry icon Atari, have appointed U.K. law firm Davenport Lyons to serve notice on 25,000 people in the U.K. suspected of illegally sharing files, ordering them to pay £300 ($559) immediately to settle out of court.

Those who refuse to pay up risk being taken to court, with the companies initially planning to take legal action against 500 people.

This action comes hot on the heels of Britain's first case of awarding damages to a video game company for sharing it's game. That case held a penalty of 16,000 pounds sterling, or $29,802. Personally, if it was me and I was actually guilty of downloading the game illegally - I'd just pay the fine.

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