Atari, along with Topware Interactive, Reality Pump, Techland and Codemasters, employed the services of lawyers Davenport Lyons earlier this year. The first fruit of that relationship might be tasting sour today. Atari has been named and possibly shamed by consumer watchdog, Which, and the BBC. It stands accused to bullying a middle-aged Scots couple by accusing them of pirating Race 07.

According to Which Computing, "Ken and Gill, aged 54 and 66, have never played a computer game in their lives. But they received a letter from Atari’s solicitors, London law firm Davenport Lyons, which said it had identified the Murdochs as illegally file-sharing from an IP address – the unique number which identifies a particular computer."

The BBC picks up the story, explaining, "The lawyers in the Atari case turned to anti-piracy firm Logistep, which finds those people illegally sharing files via their IP address - the unique numbers which identify a particular computer.

"With this number, rights owners can apply for a court order which obliges internet service providers to hand over the account holder's details."

That is all well can good until the realisation that just because an IP address is part of a trail, does not mean it has actually been used to file-share. As the Beeb points out, sites such as Pirate Bay regularly insert random IPs into its roster of downloaders.

Atari has dropped the case following pressure from Which. However, we would expect to see more action taken in future by Davenport Lyons among others.