Davenport Lyons attacks Wikileaks
p2pnet news view Freedom | P2P:- If you’re in Europe, you’ve probably already heard of Digiprotect.
“Thousands of internet users have been told they`ll be taken to court unless they pay hundreds of pounds for illegally downloading and sharing hardcore porn movies,” said the BBC, recently, going on »»»
Newsbeat`s found out that people across the UK have been accused of using file-sharing networks to get hold of dozens of adult titles without paying for them.
A German company called DigiProtect claims the users are breaking copyright law and is demanding £500 to settle out of court.
A 20-page legal letter lists the name of the film involved along with the time and date of the alleged download.
Lawyers say they have been contacted by hundreds of worried individuals over the past few weeks.
Many deny copying the movies and say they have no idea why they were identified in the first place.
Then in December, 2008, “UK piracy extortion demand based on evidence from DigiProtect GmbH, 18 Nov 2008,” said Wikileaks, the site developed as “an uncensorable Wikipedia for untraceable mass document leaking and analysis”.
It was under the letterhead of Davenport Lyons, hired by ‘protection’ companies in Europe, and which also fronts for DigiProtect’s in Britain.
Davenport Lyons was recently fired by Atari after making a gross mistake by targeting a completely innocent UK husband-and-wife.
And British consumer rights lobby Which? filed an official complaint against Davenport Lyons for its, “campaign of letters alleging illegal filesharing,” said The Register.
As an example of the extortion, Wikipleaks ran the letter on the right which, in part, says »»»
Infringement of copyright
We act as solicitors for DigiProtect Gesellschaft zum Digitale Meden GmbH (”Digiprotect”) the holder of the rights in a musical work sold under the name ‘Scooter – Jumping All Over The World (”The Work”), which was released in the United Kingdom on 10 October 2006.
Client
Our client has retained forensic computer analyst to search for and identify Internet addresses from which their copyrighted works ( including The Work) are being made available on so called “peer to peer” (P2P) Internet sites so that they may be downloaded by third parties without our client’s consent or licence
So on, and etc.
’Not for publication’
It’s routine for lawyers to send unpleasant, frequently defamatory, threatening letters designed to intimidate defendants in cases in which they’re acting for the plaintiffs.
The lawyers themselves might well be accused of defamation, if only the letters could be published.
However, they get away with it by including ‘Not for publication’ at the top of each sheet.In other words, they copyright their scurrilous attacks so their unfounded threats can’t be used against them.
Now, in a letter dated yesterday (February 18) “Dear Sir,” says an unnamed lawyer working for Davenport Lyon.
With ‘PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIAL ADDRESSEE ONLY’ printed in bold capitals at the top, it goes on »»»
On Thursday 11 December 2008, a substantial extract of the letter we wrote to you, dated 18 November 2008, was published on a website known as Wikileaks (the Site).
The particulars of the letter were individual to you, and as such, we have been able to identify you unequivocally.May we remind you that, as stated in our original letter of claim, all of our correspondence is protected by copyright. Publishing one of our letters, in part or in its entirety, without our express permission on a website where any member of the public can access it at any time is a primary infringement of section 20 of the Copyright Design and Patents Act 1988.
Please request the website to remove the offending upload as soon as possible, to avoid any further action.
We are further considering whether or not to take action against you, in addition to our client`s claim, for infringement of our copyright.
In the meantime, we expressly reserve all of our rights, and those of our clients.
Yours faithfully
Davenport Lyons
Stay tuned.
(Thanks, Marc)
February , 2009
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February 19th, 2009 at 11:10 am
2 months to “cobble up”, a “response”, is about par for the course, from this outfit.
Wait another 2 months Jon, and P2PNet will get a letter as well.
They might even send you a demand for $500 to cover their “lost” business, based on one letter, equals 500 lost claims.
February 19th, 2009 at 12:26 pm
Time to torrent all of those so-called “copyrighted” letters.
Maybe The Pirate Bay could take on DavenPORN Lyons. (derisive name intended)
IMO, they are little more than ambulance chasers, giving other legal firms a bad name.
February 19th, 2009 at 6:07 pm
Why not reply to them and say that if they don’t want them published they shouldn’t send the abominations in the first place.
February 20th, 2009 at 6:23 am
Would I be mistaken in thinking the content of section 20 of the Copyright Design and Patents Act 1988 is
20. Infringement by broadcasting or inclusion in a cable programme service
The broadcasting of the work or its inclusion in a cable programme service is an act restricted by the copyright inâ
(a) a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work,
(b) a sound recording or film, or
(c) a broadcast or cable programme?
It is hard to see how publishing a legal document on a website could fall in this category…scrape barrels much?