ACS:Law – symbolic ‘head on a pike’
p2pnet news view Freedom | P2P:- The big ‘D’ on the right stands for Davenport Lyons, “Britain` s equivalent of RIAA lawyers Holme Roberts & Owen,” as p2pnet described it May, also noting ACS:Law is, “prominent as a feral law firm that`s making money out of entertainment and gaming cartel victims”.
It’s the old RIAA shakedown game. Threaten victims and when they’re suitably softened up, make them an offer they can’t refuse.
Settle. Or else.
Now, ACS:Law may be, “about to flex their legal muscles and actually litigate against certain individuals,” says enigmax in TorrentFreak.
And it looks as though they may be attempting the approach initiated, but ultimately discarded, by the RIAA.
The two UK law firms need a symbolic head on a pike to, “ensure the overall pay up rates make the scheme worthwhile,” says the story, going:
‘The first batch [of] claims have been prepared and were filed at court on Friday, 4 September 2009. Service of the proceedings will be made by first class post and will be with defendants by Tuesday, 8 September 2009 at the very latest,’ the company said in a statement, adding, ‘The second batch of defendants will be selected on Monday, 14 September 2009′.
While some people may have ignored earlier ACS:Law or DL missives, “individuals receiving documents in the post today or tomorrow (presuming the threats actually come to something) are strongly advised not to ignore them, especially if they are court documents,” warns engimax, continuing »»»
Failure to respond to court documents could result in a default judgment being issued in the future and this could prove very costly indeed — possibly mounting to several thousand pounds.
So what should recipients of court documents do? Firstly it would be prudent to seek legal advice Lawdit Solicitors can offer advice and guidance since they have been assisting people against these claims for some time now, but any lawyer with a sound knowledge of copyright issues will prove invaluable.
For those individuals who maintain they are innocent, a vigorous defense can be mounted against any allegations. In the majority of cases, all ACS:Law will have as evidence is an IP address harvested by an untested system in a foreign country, and that may not be enough to prove their case.
Indeed, the Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA) recently told Which?, We`re not convinced of the efficacy of the software and not confident in its ability to identify users.
However, ACS:Law will select potential defendants very carefully and will likely focus on individuals with the weakest cases, have compromised or damaged their defense in some way, or have chosen not to respond to previous letters.
But, “If you receive court documents in connection with an ACS:Law case during the next few days, do not panic,” he says, adding:
“Please feel free to get in touch with us here at TorrentFreak in complete confidence. Your privacy will not be breached and we will point you in the right direction.”
Hmmm.
Meanwhile, it took the Big 4’s RIAA six years and around 40,000 subpoenas before they managed to get anyone into a civil court, and even then, both cases turned into terrible, and continuing, public relations disasters for Vivendi Universal, EMI, Warner Music and Sony Music.
Will the people behind ACS:Law or DL be willing to risk having their (supposedly) good names similarly besmirched? It seems as though they might, but …
Stay tuned.
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi
p2pnet – ACS:Law â copyright breakers, May 20 9, 2000
TorrentFreak – UK Lawyers Promise First Court Action Against File-Sharers, September 7, 2009
Use free p2pnet newsfeeds for your site. It`s really easy!
Subscribe to p2pnet.net | | rss feed: http://p2pnet.net/p2p.rss | | Mobile – http://p2pnet.net/index-wml.php
Net access blocked by government restrictions? Use Psiphon from the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto. Go here for details.
September 7th, 2009 at 10:57 am
I don’t live in the UK permanently anymore, but I am legally a resident (abroad) and I remain a citizen. I also have a “seedbox” in the UK that I use to download and upload, amongst other things, corporate “product”. The server that I lease allows me to transfer 4Tb bandwidth a month, and I try to make sure I’m close to hitting it every month. Additionally, I spend thousands of dollars (and pounds) every year on software/games/movies etc; I also pay a fortune for my cable TV.
The only reason I spend my money is because I’m able to download a “pirate” copy first and try it out. If I find something I feel is worth supporting, I pay for it. Simple. I’ve been a long-time reader of Jon’s blog here, and for the same reason, I am one of the first people to publish his works under Crosbie’s 1p2u scheme. I think I owe about 10p now
All these parasites at ACS:Law (and DL before them) are doing is trying to cash in on the fear people feel when they receive a legal threat. I wouldn’t feel that fear.
I’d like to invite them to find me, and sue me. Please…