Along with responsible newspapers we must have responsible readers - Arthur Hays Sulzberger
|
|
|
Law firm threatens 150 innocent people with court action
SO FAR AT LEAST 150 innocent people have been wrongly targeted in a crackdown on illegal file-sharing that's being conducted by the rogue law firm run amok, ACS:Law.
The outfit has sent out letters to thousands of Brits accusing them of 'piracy' - that's copyright infringement to anyone not trying to whip up public sentiment for their own monetary gain - and offering them a chance to settle by paying about £500.
However Which? says that loads of people are being accused with what must be inaccurate information. One was a 78 year-old accused of downloading pornography and others are unaware of having done any downloading at all.
One told Which?: "My 78 year-old father yesterday received a letter from ACS Law demanding £500 for a porn file he is alleged to have downloaded. Apparently the poor bloke does not know what file sharing is and has never even heard of BitTorrent. Nor has he given anyone else permission to use his computer."
Which? Computing estimates that up to 50,000 letters have been sent out and is outraged that too many innocent people are being wrongly accused. Matt Bath, technology editor of Which? told the BBC that innocent consumers are being threatened with legal action for copyright infringements they not only haven't committed, but wouldn't know how to commit. But many "will be frightened into paying up rather than facing the stress of a court battle."
He advised people who believe they have been wrongly targeted to "rigorously deny it and, if possible, provide physical evidence of where they were when the infringement took place".
He also advised them to contact Which with the details of their case.
Andrew Crossley of ACS:Law admitted that some cases had been dropped although he declined to give numbers. He told the Beeb that the method used to detect the IP address used for illegal downloads was foolproof, although that really does not explain why some cases needed to be dropped.
None of the 10,000 letters that Crossley and his firm have sent out have come to court yet. Meanwhile, ACS:Law is currently under investigation by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. µ
Share this:
Share
I could say loads on about how I hate the way we are being treated but heres a simple fact...
They say using IP address is foolproof? Has this guy ever heard of something called IP Spoofing? E-mail spammers have been doing it for years, basically IP spoofing is 'Faking' your IP address. That why 99.9% of spam mail cant be traced back to where is REALLY came from.
Using the IP address as your 'Proof of copyright infringement' is fundamentally flawed. Not to mention the fact that even if they did trace the correct IP address, that leads to the customers ISP connection, there is nothing to say who at that computer did what they are accusing them off.
What ever happened to innocent until proven guilty. People like this make me mad.
Here's a simple solution... If these music and movies companies stopped ripping poor joe public off at every chance they get then maybe the issue wouldnt be as problematic as they make it out to be. I mean seriously where is the justification in 25 - 30 odd quid for a blueray when the DVD version is a fiver?????!!!!!!!!!!
Now you've done it!!!
Cause, you know that they are a hell of a lot better at getting your cash than a bunch of ambulance chasing bottom feeders.
"Hello, I represent BMI a fine firm with several million dollars (or pounds dammit) we see that you have downloaded the Mickey Mouse (tm) theme and find that you owe us $1000000000 American.
We can work with you, please to send us $409.00 or your bank security information.
You will be thankful that we did not charge you the full amount."
(And guys, if I see that in my email tomorrow, then I want a cut.)
The shoes on the other foot, this is what the Brits were saying about Americans, now I will say it for the Americans. Who the F--K voted these politicians in who passed these laws. How come the Brits put up with this shit. There should be rioting in the streets. Know why there is no rioting, because the politicians know if they pass a law that penalizes everyone at the same time there would be. So they pick off a few file sharers at a time, and the rest go, Oh well it doesn't affect me, I probably won't get caught. In the mean time the sleazebags and scumbags are using extortion and stealing from the people of Britain. Britain has allowed itself to be criminally taken over by American corporate gangsters with impunity. If Britain allows this to continue their won't be any turning back. This is a test to see if you will allow Americans to piss all over you and get away with it. Show the world what you are made of, I never want to remember you as a bunch of pussies taken over by the Americans with out a fight. I want to remember you the way you stood up to Hitler and beat him back. I believe you guys have still have it in you. Its time people also Globalize and fight these Corporate assholes.
Nice scam they have going there.
* Rip off the artists with unfair contracts.
* Rip off the customers with overpriced product.
* Sue random people for even more money.
Simon Cowell, when is he getting his knighthood?
PS - Habeas Corpus, I think that means "having the body" and is for criminal law when your solicitor is trying to find you or get you out of custody, iirc.
Wiki says http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habeas_corpus
It almost amounts to blackmail, pay up or we publicly name you as a 'pirate'.
When did habeas corpus cease to exist? Even when real criminals are caught red-handed they are still accorded a right to trial and presumed innocent until found guilty...
Modern day thuggery!
There is no honor among thieves seems like the perfect cliche for this news story.
While online piracy is illegal, I have way more sympathy for the file sharers than the lawyers and the people who hire them. Here comes another cliche
Two wrongs don't make a right. While a lot of filesharing is illegal, the amounts being demanded are absolutely insane and not based on rational thought. Thousands of dollars per file makes no sense at all, that qualifies as much worse piracy than the people being sued.
Will we ever get some sane solutions to this? I really hope so.
Can the courts in the UK handle this kind of case load? Who is paying for all the extra paper work this company is creating in an obvious shotgun approach? If I was a tax payer I would be furious.
"How much goes to the artists?"
probably nothing or next to nothing which is what they get in real life.
the fatcat businessmen get the lions share of the pie and so they are the biggest victims of piracy.
i wont lose any sleep knowing they are losing money - they deserve it because they are greedy and exploit innocent people for their own self-serving gains.
the charade that is portrayed in the media makes out the artist is the victim only because the public will not have the same level of sympathy for a greedy corporate fatcat.
more media manipulation of opinion
Does anyone know how much of the money collected by this law firm will go the artists who created the material on which copyright was allegedly infringed?
The 150 mentioned are only those that are innocent, and have spoken out, which in normal human behavior is a small portion of those who are innocent and simply rolled over to the coercion of these blood suckers.
As to the fool that made the "foolproof" claim, it speaks for itself. Simply put these are not reliable people doing business in a sane and ethical way. They are pirates of the worse sort making money of other peoples weaknesses. You cannot rely upon such for "truth" only self-justification.
I agree with everything you said anon.
I'm just pointing out that 150 out of 50000 equates to a 99.7% success rate.
At £500 a pop i can see why they are doing this. I don't like it, but it would appear there's nothing to stop this kind of thing happening.
"While i don't like this kind of mass legal action; 150 out of 50k letters sent isn't a bad hit rate at all."
Yes it is! This is not some charity raffle we are talking about, these are *legal summonses*!
The fact that they are blatting out 50,000 at a time suggests that each one has perhaps not *quite* received the painstaking care that old-fashioned fuddy-duddies like me feel rather entitled to expect.
And it has to be said that the fact that 150 people - so far! - have complained of receiving summonses so bogus as to be utterly risible tends to lend weight to this suggestion.
In fact, one might even be forgiven for being tempted to think of ACS:Law as a complete bunch of cowboys.
Perhaps thats why they are being investigated? I certainly hope so.
Granted, copyright infringement is a problem. But this riding roughshod over peoples rights - and the law - is not the answer.
While i don't like this kind of mass legal action; 150 out of 50k letters sent isn't a bad hit rate at all.
for every 1000 people targeted, 3 people are innocent. They must be raking it in!
I'm gonna conjure some numbers out of the air:
Cost of finding guilty party: £3 (no idea if this is correct)
Cost of letter material: 10p
Cost of Busty Secretary to stuff letter and post it: £2.50 (if it takes her 10 mins and she's on £15/hr)
...so roughly £490,000 of profit for every 1000 you contact (assuming they all pay up).
is it any wonder that they're doing this??
this crossley sounds like a right moron
on the on hand he says its foolproof and yet many cases have been dropped!?
with this kind of logic, he should consider a career in politics. he could go a long way!