Thank you so much for keeping us all updated D_arkTrooper, it is very much appreciated, especially as you must be totally traumatised by the big brown envelope. I just hope that this time ACS have bitten off a bit more than they can chew.

Of course AC has been brought before the Solicitors' Disciplinary Tribunal twice in the past, so he is experienced at it. In his defence, he said he had been suffering from depression, had had a stroke and had gone temporarily blind.

Zippy11, it is a comment to an article in the Mail on Mandelson wanting to criminalise one in twelve people in UK for illicit file downloading. Scroll down and it is currently the second comment. Mandelson launches crackdown on file sharing... just days after meeting with record producer | Mail Online

D_arkTrooper did you reply to any of the original letters? I must admit I would have thought that ACS would be careful to go only for people who had thrown the ACS letters in the waste paper basket, as I would have thought the last thing that Andrew Crossley would want is to go to court, unless he is hoping people will be panicked by the large brown envelope and is pushing his luck. All you have received is a claim form, this is not asking you to go to court and you can always counter claim. I totally abhor what Andrew Crossley is doing to innocent people and the fear and worry he has caused. I notice that in a comment to the Daily Mail on-line Andrew Crossley says: As the owner and operator of the only law firm in the UK acting for copyright owners in identifying and pursuing illegal file sharers on Peer to Peer networks................. - Andrew Crossley, London, United Kingdom, 19/8/2009 22:04 Has he ever asked himself WHY is he the only law firm in the UK doing this!!!

My solicitor said very much what Penumbra has said. Reply, send the letter recorded delivery, vehemently deny the download, as I am not guilty and have never even heard of the film in question, until I received the ACS letter. Interestingly enough he told me to leave the bit out about harrasment and upset, I am not sure why, but told me to say that I would have no hesitation in defending myself through my solicitor for every penny of cost that I had incurred, if proceedings were issued. He said that if it ever got to court, which was highly unlikely, the first thing they would have to prove is guilt. This country still works on the premise innocent until proved guilty, although the ACS letter seems to imply the other way round, in that we are being asked to prove our innocence. Even ACS, on their website, admit a court case could be highly complicated. The solicitor also said that an expert witness would probably make mincemeat of the case. He also said that the trial in the States of Jammie Thomas-Rasset was trial by jury, which can sometimes come out with strange results. I got the impression that in this country it would not be trial by jury, I may have misunderstood. Also it appeared she had persistenly downloaded and distributed items over a period of time, in the trial she was said to have shared 1,702 songs online to millions of other users on 21 February 2005. She is appealing against the judgement, including asking to ignore the evidence from the company that picked up her IP address, this is a copy which is very easy to read: Ray Beckerman PC - PDF Viewer

I had my second letter on Friday, the plaintiff being DigiProtect. It said I had not replied to the first letter although I had. I decided to go to see a solcitor, who said he felt embarrassed that a member of his profession was involved in something like this, he also said that any judge would laugh it out of court. In fact on going through the letters the solicitor laughed quite a lot, I assume in disbelief. It seems 18 Hanover Square are serviced offices http://www.avanta.co.uk/UK/offices/serviced-office/serviced-office-london/w1/hanover-square/Facilities-Price-List Also you may find his visit to the Solicitors' Disciplinary Tribunal in 2006 of interest http://www.sra.org.uk/documents/consumers/SDT/Crossley%209346.05_0206.pdf