To anyone who has received a letter from ACS Law don't waste a single second worrying about it. All you have to do is:

 

1 - read the letter.

2- go to Beingthreatened.com and copy and paste their LOD (letter of denial) to what ever word processor program you use.

3- edit it with all the correct dates and names and addresses etc (as written on the letter ACS sent).

3 - sign it (very important).

4 - Wait a 2-3 weeks before sending it signed for delivery.

5 - wait for a reply - you will get a letter to say they don't accept templates - there is no law againt this and its just their company policy which is irrelevant.

6 - write the second denial letter and edit it ect, but don't forget to sign it.

7 - wait again - if in point 5 you receive a second copy of the letter you first received, wait a month. If you haven't received it then wait until you do then wait a further month before sending your second letter.

8 - enjoy the reset of your life - don't respond to anymore letter unless its from the court or the tooth fairy or father christmas. The latter two are more likley.

 

The longer you delay writing back to them the slower they will become. Hopefully their clients will get fed up and leave them:D

 

xxxxxVERY IMPORTANTxxxxxx The only info ACS Law have on you is your IP address, the name of your internet provider, your name and postal address. Thats it! TELL THEM NOTHING MORE:!:

 

If you have the time write a letter to SRA (Solicitors Regulation Authority). They are investigating these people and the more complaints they have the quicker they will "pull their finger out". Google - acs law investigation to read all about it.

 

Don't forget to tell the world about your experience. The more people that know about it, the fewer people that will be scared into paying. Fear is what keeps these people in business.

F.E.A.R

False

Evidence

Appearing Real

not that im suggesting anything ACS do is false. its just a great Acronym

Won't it cost the earth to see a solicitor regarding this matter?

its my intention to produce my own letter and take this with me to the solicitor. that way they can ok it for me. should save a bit.

i will find one that provides a free consultation.

i have no problem in paying for an hour or so with any reputable solicitor.

i will be denying it though. just want to make sure i cover all bases.

i have to be honest. i think i am wasting my money paying though. i would just rather waste some now and not later if you take my meaning.

hmmmmmmmmmm when this was posted it ended

 

Best Wishes

AC

 

............... I thought could this be a certain person whose initials are AC so off i trotted to an earlier post to check that for the same initials (not there), then when coming back i find the AC edited out .......... am i paranoid or is something smelling fishy

narkedoff has raised a good point.

the threads are intersting arent they???;-)

Received a letter this morning fining me £295 for apparently downloading a 'Top 40' album back in autumn.

 

I am a newbie to this forum so I would really appreciate it if someone could spell out in simple terms how this could happen and what steps that I should take.

 

The letter that I received provided my IP address and a date and time when the file was downloaded.

 

Do i write them a letter denying it?

 

Can someone please help me.

hi moore1984

im a newbie too.

just read the threads above. i have also registered a complaint with the SRA as advised in some threads. your fine is the same as mine. it states i downloaded this on 28 Aug. (no i didnt!!) dont share either.

SRA stated i would still have to answer the letter. they however have receive high volume of calls today regarding this. im goingto look at watchdog soon. there are some superb tips on this site.

i am going to get a consultation with a solicitor before sending a reply to this letter.

hope this helps you in starting to unravel the mess.

LOL bet they dont get a strongly worded letter regarding that.

interesting though seeing as i didnt actualy download any music or videos.

sound advice. its great that people like yourself provide information for people like me.

thoroughly appreciated.

Thanks mackaz

 

very clever how they make it look so official, which i guess is why people pay out to end the process

 

or does it?

im no expert. i dread to think what could happen if an innocnet person admitted liability. if this is for one song. what about the same company or sister companies persuing you for other songs. could get expensive.

hi

the general advice on a couple of sites is to give as basic a response as possible. keep it generic.

although i am in no was legaly trained, i wouldnt personaly tell them i was away or even that the router was unsecure at this stage. its all ammo for later.

yes i have that statement page.

Hi loki23,

Somebody has just shown me there letter and I too noticed the scribble over the stamp which also appear to be the number 3 and quality of the print it poor and pixilated, like a 2nd or 3rd generation scan or photocopy. If it was printed from the original document I very much doubt you'd get that kind of pixaliation round the lettering.

 

 

This letter is between:

(1) ALLAN KOPIE

(2) MANUEL REUTER

(3) YANN PEIFER

-and-

(1) BE UN LIMITED

(2) BRITISH SKY BROADCASTING LIMITED

(3) BRITISH TELECOMMUNICATIONS PLC

(4) EASYNET LIMITED

(5) PLUSNET PLC

(6) TELEFONICA O2 UK LIMITED

 

Its dated 17 Feb 2010

I/A No. 2 of 2010 - Front Page

I/A No.[] of 2010 - Back page

 

Does anyone have a differnt list of ISP's or do we all have the same? Judging by the fact the letter looks like a photocopy I suppect we all have the same list.

But I'll find it strange if nobody has VIRGIN Media or Cable and Wireless listed.

 

Back Page - on this letter its off center and the I.A No. (as above) is different to the front page, does anyone know what this I/A No. means? Could just be and ACS internal thing but I'd think it should be conistant though the document unless they piece together different documents for this letter which would explain the photocopy appearance.

i have the same letter with the same bit scribbled out.

i have contacted sky and they have snet out a generic reply stating they had to comply with the court order. its also worth noting that easynet is also sky.

i genuinely believe the isp,s arent to blame here. they have to comply with a court order. it is strange though how only certain ones have been contacted and not all.

For anyone who needs to use a template,

 

Search online for The Speculative Invoicing Handbook. Not only does it provide a comprehensive guide to the whole scheme that ACS Law employ, it also contains a template LOD.

 

It is well known that if you use a template for your 1st LOD, ACS Law will reply saying they dont accept it "as it is based on a template available on the internet"

 

With this in mind I wrote my own LOD based loosely on the template mentioned above, in fact it bore little resemblance to the template and I still got their standard "as it is based on a template available on the internet" reply. (which, irionicaly IS a template letter)

 

I think the main points are that;

 

1. You do respond with a letter, either a template or your own work explaining that you did not do it. (If you didn't)

 

2. In your letter do not give any extra information away. They have to prove it was YOU that infringed copyright - you do not have to prove your innocence.

 

3. Be prepeared to receive several letters, including a "Part 36" offer where the origial amount of the claim goes up. This is them using "scary" legal speak to try to get you to panic into payng.

 

4. Be prepeared to wait a while between letters.

 

5. Report ACS Law to the SRA. They are already investigating ACS Laws conduct.

 

6. Report them to Which, Watchdog, the Legal Complaints Service. These can all easily be found by searching online.

i have also received a letter from ACS Law. very shocked. a little scared and completely bewildered.

there is some great advice here. thanks tp123.

i have looked at this on wikipedia. here is what it says there-

Digital Download Controversy

In May/June 2010 this track became the latest digital content to be used by Uk solicitors ACS Law in a speculative invoicing campaign. ACS Law are already under investigation by the SRA (Solicitors Regulatory Authority) over this practice which was first instigated in the UK by Davenport Lyons (SRA investigation results pending). ACS Law use a Switzerland based company to harvest ip addresses of UK internet users and then target those users with claims for money running into several hundreds of pounds for alleged copyright infringements conducted over peer to peer networks. The ip addresses are presented to a Court in the UK under a Norwich Pharmacological Order and the ISP's holding those ip addresses are forced to reveal who their records state held the ip address at that snapshot in time. It is worth noting that this method of harvesting ip addresses remains wholly untested under UK law but has been outlawed in several EU member countries. Anybody contacted by ACS Law is advised to seek help either through a qualified solicitor or one of the many reputable self help sites available on the internet.

BBC watchdog, Which magazine, several national newspapers, the SRA and other regulatory bodies are all aware of the conduct of this company.

i will not be paying. no way. i will be using a template as a guide to create my own reply and send this vie recorded delivery soon.

the scary thing is, if it wasnt for sites like this i would probably be scared into paying.