Bailiffs swoop on Danish LAN party
Organisers and gamers could be prosecuted over software piracy
It's a sad fact of life that some people use LAN parties as a way of swapping pirated software, pornography, MP3s and DivX movies rather than just playing games over the network, and a recent event in Denmark has apparently paid the price. Gamers at the Connect #12 event were surprised when an anti-piracy group accompanied by bailiffs descended on the party, gathered evidence and then shut the whole thing down. The exact details are a little confused at this point, but it seems that some or all of the participants could be prosecuted for software piracy, and the event organisers could be taken to court for allowing it to take place over their network. Needless to say this has Danish gamers worried, because few people are likely to be willing to take the risk of arranging a large LAN party if they can be prosecuted for failing to stop software piracy taking place during it.