86-Year Old Grandma Faced $5K Fine, Accused Of Stealing Video Games

Illegal downloads of video games have been around for as long as the internet has been, and it has cost quite a few pirates dearly. However, when one thinks of video game pirate, 86-year old grandmothers don’t usually come to mind. Yet, this is exactly what happened to one elderly woman in Ontario, Canada who was warned that she might be paying $5,000 for downloading a video game illegally.

The grandmother in question is Christine McMillan and the video game she was accused of stealing is Metro 2033, a post-apocalyptic shooting game. Not only did McMillan not steal the game, she has never even heard about it, CBC News reports.

The understandably confused elderly woman was shocked upon receiving the notice from Canadian Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement informing her of her supposed illicit activities. The notice also included the part about her having to pay for damages.

As for how she was even roped into this mess, apparently, the company identified McMillan’s IP address as the one used to download the game. This is basically how other video game companies are taking users to task by hiring third-party companies to demand settlement fees from thousands of people with only their IP addresses as proof.

McMillan actually thought that the notice was a scam at first, BBC reports. After confirming through her ISP that the notice was legitimate and legal, however, that’s when she became worried.

Fortunately, legal experts are saying that the elderly woman has absolutely no obligation to pay the fine, which she had no intention of doing in the first place. An IP address is not proof of guilt on the part of the users since it can be hijacked by others if the network is unsecured. As long as McMillan remains steadfast in the belief in her own innocence, there’s nothing for her to fear.