ACS:LAW are Big Bullies

Piracy has been in the news alot recently, what with the Pirate Bay being sued then sold, and Jammie Thomas being robbed by the RIAA. I have been looking at it all as a dispassionate viewer, not being a pirate myself. but then yesterday i was going through my mail and I get a non-to-nice surprise, a leter from solicitors ACS:LAW telling me they have proof that I illegally downloaded "Scooter - Jumping All Over The World" and that i must pay them £500 (which In These Troubled Times "drink" I am not sure I can afford) for the privilege of not being sued! at first I thought this was a scam, but after doing a bit of research I found that they are genuine solicitors, and that this letter has been sent to hundreds of people, from what I can tell quite a few are innocent. there is a sight set up to help people wrongly accused by these people (www.beingthreatened.com), I would be grateful if you could mention it on the podcast, and I encourage anyone else who has received this threat wrongfully to go there.

Hi there,
Sorry to hear you've had such a letter. It very much sounds like ignorant legal carpet bombing. So I hope you can separate yourself from what's going on as soon as possible. While you're at it, just in case review your home router security settings, changing the encryption protocol and password perhaps too. (Just in case someone snook onto your router and go you in to trouble.)

Let us know how you get on.

I'm not sure what's worse, being accused of illegal downloading - or being accused of ilegally download Scooter - Jumping All Over the World.

I'm pretty sure it's that latter.

On a more serious note - can you keep us updated on this and when I've had time to look into it, we'd be more than happy to mention it on the podcast.

ya, checking/updating the security on my router was the first thing i did.
I am going to write to them protesting my innocence, but i think my best hope is to get behind somone big like Which?
some good info:
http://www.which.co.uk/news/2009/07/more-innocent-consumers-accused-of-file-sharing--179504.jsp
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8129261.stm
http://boo2scooter.yolasite.com/

will update you as and when my situation changes

Hi Ask,

I'm really genuinely sorry to hear about your predicament. What you have to remember is that ACS:Law are sort of like The Terminator. They have no remorse. No compassion. Their goal is to make your life hell by extorting money out of you for crimes you did not commit. You seem like a smart bloke. There's no way you would have bought an audio shitfest as the Scooter album.

By paying them 'protection money' - I mean 'settling out of court' -, you are giving them the message that it's OK to wantonly send threats to people accusing them of things they simply did not do. I would encourage you to fight these bastards to the very end. Honestly, these are quite shockingly appalling people, and frankly, I think it's a shame there isn't a hell for these scumbags to go to.

Now, a few points to mention. The first is to not to do anything drastic to your HDD. That means no installing of operating systems. No wiping. No formatting. No replacing. If your drive crashes, then keep it.

An IP address does not equal an individual, and it's not enough to secure a prosecution. If you're innocent, allow them to forensically search your hard drive. If you're not innocent, but think you can try and call their bluff, then you're delusional. If you're guilty and you delete the files and then invite them to search your HDD, then you will get caught.

They likely got your IP address from a Swiss company called Logistep. Logistep is based outside the EU, and they refuse to reveal exactly HOW they get their IP addresses. Furthermore, Logistep are notorious for getting plenty of false positives, and as a result, innocent people get accused of downloading tripe like Scooter, or elderly people get accused of downloading granny tranny porn. This is likely because Logistep is a company run and staffed by soulless, incompetent, bumbling morons.

Don't back down. Don't give up. As Captain Picard said in First Contact; 'The line must be drawn here. No further.'

These are nasty, morally bankrupt people you're dealing with here. They're no different from tommy-gun wielding mafia gangsters in the 1920's. They're demanding 'protection' money. 'Pay us this, and we promise you won't get taken to court.'

Don't give them your cash! You earned it! Don't be intimidated by a bunch of fundamentally evil people!

Also, one more thing. Always send your correspondence by Royal Mail Recorded Delivery. Make sure they can't claim that you ignored them. And don't even think of doing a Pirate Bay response to them. It's a shitty idea. Trust me.

I've included some links for you to check out. I hope they help.

Best of luck man. I'm rooting for you!

Matt

The links, because of the stupid 3000 char limit.

http://torrentfreak.com/isps-doubt-accuracy-of-anti-piracy-evidence-090629/
http://torrentfreak.com/court-rules-that-ip-address-alone-insufficient-to-identify-infringer-090615/
http://torrentfreak.com/new-anti-piracy-lawyers-chase-uk-file-sharers-090508/
http://torrentfreak.com/magazine-forces-lawyers-to-drop-p2p-wireless-defense-case-081029/
http://torrentfreak.com/uk-game-piracy-the-propaganda-the-evidence-and-the-damages-080821/

Thanks for all the advice Matthew
I don't really want this going to court, so if letting someone take a look at my computers would stop them, i wouldn't have a problem with that, I have never even installed a bittorent client!
i wonder how many innocent people do just pay up through fear

Lots, which is why they have done so well financially.

If people fight them, they'll give up. It won't be cost effective.

Most likely, it won't go to court. ACS:Law have given up on people who have engaged them repeatedly insisting of their innocence.

If you insist on arguing with them, they'll probably give up.

Hi Guys, just a quick note, I received my letter on the 7th May, (Dated 5th) and was also accused but of sharing a game. ACS LAW have received a letter of denial from me and they then responded with a bunch of nonsense, I again sent a letter fo denial and await their response.

I would urge ANYONE who has received a letter from ACS:LAW to go to the Slck Forum post where you will find over 200 pages of info relating to this issue, not only to ACS LAW but also to the originators of this action Davenport Lyons

The slyck forum post is hereSlyck forum post ACS:LAW

Also I would urge you to go to the being threatened page where their is a cornocopia of information collated by many of us accused. Beingthreatened by ACS Law?

If you want the dirt and lowdown on this Company please see hereSpeculative Invoicing Blog

Please forgive me for posting these links if it is innapropriate to do so on a first post, but I am mindful that time is of the essence with this matter. The realy Important thing to remember is "YOU ARE NOT ALONE, STAND STRONG!"

Hear hear!

These guys are animals. We really ought to fight them.

Thanks Mathew, Did you receive a letter? Just wondered, we need to get this UK WIDE and in the media. If you check out the links you will see that we have got the BBC and Which? Computing so far but we need more!

Nope! If I do, I intend to fight them to the bitter end!

yes matthewhughes, you right they should not be allowed to receive protection money from anyone(.they want 500.25 protection money from me, no way i am not paying a penny). yes they are no more than a bunch of bullies and blackmailers.its upto court to decide if anyone culprit or not

But i wont let the b.....d touch my hard drive. If it need to have HD examine by forensic that will be an independent person appointed by court. . I know they taking the people to court is a possibilty,
but i agree (with someone written in these forum) that will not be very cost effective for them specially if they loose and i am sure if they foolish enough to take someone to court and they loose then it will be end of it

yes if someone can organise that is a good idea. i think if 50 to 100 innocent people can get together and so them for harrasement. I know there is an act of parliment where people unecessarily harrasing could be sued also

I'm uh... Not sure how you'd have a case with that.

I do think that people need to fight them on their charges, and innocent people should take them to court.

sorry , i think you right i have made some mix up.
yes defense against their possible court action will be more appropriate.
I wonder if some one can give us some feed back on 2 or three solicitors been mentioned on these forums, what are they like?

What solicitors?

lawdit and dai davis . have been in touch with lawdit by e mail seem to be ok. but if some one know more about them and can give some feed back will be better
I have spoken to 2 local solicitors but not very impressed.

Are they doing it pro-bono?

Hi, Just Joined Up.

I fot the ACS Law@ Letter at the end of June demanding £500. It has freaked me out. The same accusation as well - that scooter thingy I have never even heard of it. The only music I am interested in is my beloved Radiohead! Thom - help me!!!!

Anyhow I have used the helpline to fight back. it is not a scam and what they are doing is legal. It is called opportunity invoiving. I have just had my second letter after sending a letter of denial. Now they want £635. But I am innocent so am trying to stay strong and not pay. They accused me os sending a generic letter - yes I used the suggested wording but I did sign it so it is legally binding. Their letters are more generic, just a photcopy of an electronic letter.

This has caused me a lot of stress. How can they be allowed to demand money with menaces and get away with it? The advice I have is to leave it to the last minute for my next letter as they may be shut down by then. But you cannot ignore the letters so you have to kepe sending them your own without getting emotional or threatending.

You are all rught, they are low life thieves preying on the innocent. I have never committed a crime in my life and they now try and do this to me. I aint gonna let it happen. They are sick and greedy leeches. I intend to write to my MP to raise awareness. Maybe ask RH to write a song about them LOL!

That said I am scared about the threat to take me to court. I hope it is empty. I am getting a touch of the paranoid androids!

Thanks for listening, I feel better now.

SUE

I can see why this works so well. It’s even better than protection money because shops can be repaired, lives and reputations are a lot harder if ruined.

I have not had the misfortune to get a letter, but even if you did and it was a false positive and you had never downloaded the particular track/film/game in question…..how many people here would be 100% confident handing over their hard drive knowing that there was NOTHING questionable on it?

It would need to be spotless!! No funny copies of XP or office, no mix CDs your mate gave you, or that season of Lost that you missed.

That....is a BIG ask. How many people here can 100% be sure?

Apart from anything, wtf are you supposed to do, for what will probabaly be weeks while they poke around your hard drive?

get a real life girlfriend...lol

lol thanks babes, I'll make sure I do that sometime. I was just really speaking from a work point-of-view, they take your hard drive away and your pretty screwed over if it's your laptop and need to do work on the move.

I know im kidding, but i think its worse than just that. If i were looking for proof of copyrighted material I'd would need to take ALL of your hard drives form laptops, pcs, media servers/players, PS3 & PSP both play all sorts of media. Any flash drives/cards, backups?...CDS!!!???....where would it end?

Which brings me to another point/question/thought......if you did get a letter, then instantly got a new hard drive and moved your system onto that, sans any copyrighted material...and destoryed the old drive...what then?

If it went to court, whouldnt they need proof?

I think it would be counted as destroying evidence, although its pretty likely that some people would have formatted their drive in between downloading the material and getting the letter.

Now I'm no lawyer, but I do know the burden of proof is on the prosecutor... right? We don't have to disprove the allegation (which is what sending in your hard drive amounts to), they have to prove it (showing the server logs, or whatever the supposed basis of the allegation is... if any exists)

....right?

destroying evidence...thats a perfect argument. If they dont find any evidence, they do you for "destroying it".

No, there cant be a way they can do you for it unless they can prove it...surley. Thats why they need your HDD.