ACS:Law copyright file sharing claims, Gallant Macmillan - and probably some others along the way...

[car2403]

There's no need for personal insults - the site team are well aware of this thread, as you'll see from the beginning from their involvement, so any 'trolls' would (and have!) been dealt with effectively.

 

We're all here to learn from each other, but please do so within the forum rules - link below if you haven't read them (recently updated) yet;

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/forum-rules-please-read/

[harbs]

Hi, I've just received my second letter from ACS Law stating my first response (letter of denial) was a standard response which can be downloaded from the internet and therefore reject my letter. They are still demanding the same £295 for downloading the song "Evacuate the dancefloor". Has anyone else recieved a second letter alsoany advice would be appreciated.

[dx100uk]

ignore

 

dx

[harbs]

ignore

 

dx

 

Thanks.

[Curious_]

as every other post here

 

ignore them

 

they have no legal powers

 

dx

 

Thank You DX for your advice and help but im still worried. You say ignore them completely and Wittzend says:

 

It is not a [problem], do not ignore it. Read the speculative invoicing handbook, and try to read through all the posts

 

Some sites say completely ignore and others say you should still respond to them (but if u respond they will hound you). Im still confused....

[dx100uk]

well at the end of the day its your choice.

 

as with the private parking tickets, the retail lose prevention & this subject

 

there are very few people that are taken to court

 

many people, but not on this thread, appear to post with unhand reasons as my sig, to make money out of people.

 

nobody has gone to court on this acs:law issue....no-one will.

 

your choice.

 

dx

[wittzend]

Thank You DX for your advice and help but im still worried. You say ignore them completely and Wittzend says:

 

 

 

Some sites say completely ignore and others say you should still respond to them (but if u respond they will hound you). Im still confused....

Choice is yours. If you dont reply you run the risk of them applying for a default judgement against you,reply with a basic LOD as required by the pre-action protocol,then ignore any further correspondance. I know which route I'd take

[wozgeog]

If you are not guilty, you reply to the first letter with LOD. It is best to use your own words or one of the templates you can find on this and other forums. But keep it simple and do NOT give out any other information. Any subsequent letter you can ignore.

witzend is correct

[wittzend]

ignore

 

dx

 

Not the best advice to give out

[unclebulgaria67]

Not the best advice to give out

 

To ignore allegations is good advice. You don't have to respond, it is not a court order. Personally I think sending a LOD is a waste of time.

 

The allegations cannot be proved against an individual, as it currently stands. There would have to be change in the law to make the owner of the IP address responsible for copyright infringements. You might have read the the government are looking at legislation allowing a log to be created of all internet connection activities. At some point, I can see the law being changed, to protect copyright owners. But until then, it is just a dodgy speculative invoicing process, which many say uses incorrect data.

[wittzend]

To ignore allegations is good advice. You don't have to respond, it is not a court order. Personally I think sending a LOD is a waste of time.

 

The allegations cannot be proved against an individual, as it currently stands. There would have to be change in the law to make the owner of the IP address responsible for copyright infringements. You might have read the the government are looking at legislation allowing a log to be created of all internet connection activities. At some point, I can see the law being changed, to protect copyright owners. But until then, it is just a dodgy speculative invoicing process, which many say uses incorrect data.

 

I suppose its all down to personal choice. Pre action protocol requires entering into dialogue.To not do so leaves you open to problems further down the line. I do not have any legal knowledge but I have read the directves on pre-action protocol and I would suggest anyone read it themselves before taking the advice of well meaning posters.

[zoomboy]

I suppose its all down to personal choice. Pre action protocol requires entering into dialogue.To not do so leaves you open to problems further down the line. I do not have any legal knowledge but I have read the directves on pre-action protocol and I would suggest anyone read it themselves before taking the advice of well meaning posters.

 

That too, is my understanding. To not respond could be damaging in the long run. A simple reply and deny sent recorded, followed by a second reply and deny with a statement about harrasment sees it closed. After two responses you don't need to play letter ping pong anymore. Simply file and ignore anything else. I say file because you can then build a case for harrasment if they are not providing any further evidence to support their claim.

[zoomboy]

Hi, I've just received my second letter from ACS Law stating my first response (letter of denial) was a standard response which can be downloaded from the internet and therefore reject my letter. They are still demanding the same £295 for downloading the song "Evacuate the dancefloor". Has anyone else recieved a second letter alsoany advice would be appreciated.

 

Just respond to their second letter with no more information than the template. Simply restate your denial and respond such that you will treat any such further correspondance without evidence to support their claim as harrasment. Don't write too much. Just stick to your denial. Then as I 've said before simply file and ignore further letters.

[unclebulgaria67]

Wittzend

 

The way I see it, is that when these companies receive a template LOD letter without any reasons for denial being given, it is pretty worthless, same as ignoring. Yes sending a template LOD is denying their allegation and this could be brought up in court, but then in court, you would be asked to justify your denial. If you had ignored the letters, in court you could just say that you were totally bemused by the allegation. You have no knowledge of what allegation they are on about. These allegation letters are not sent by recorded delivery, so you could state that you don't recall receiving any letters and the first you had heard about it, was when the court claim was received.

[Shaggy123]

Thank You DX for your advice and help but im still worried. You say ignore them completely and Wittzend says:

 

 

 

Some sites say completely ignore and others say you should still respond to them (but if u respond they will hound you). Im still confused....

 

My advice would be to read the thread and make your own mind up from the advice within it. That would be my advice to any new poster who comes and says what should I do without first reading the thread.

[car2403]

I suppose its all down to personal choice. Pre action protocol requires entering into dialogue.To not do so leaves you open to problems further down the line. I do not have any legal knowledge but I have read the directves on pre-action protocol and I would suggest anyone read it themselves before taking the advice of well meaning posters.

 

That too, is my understanding. To not respond could be damaging in the long run. A simple reply and deny sent recorded, followed by a second reply and deny with a statement about harrasment sees it closed. After two responses you don't need to play letter ping pong anymore. Simply file and ignore anything else. I say file because you can then build a case for harrasment if they are not providing any further evidence to support their claim.

 

My advice earlier on was to respond with 1 x LOD then forget about it.

 

Now, I'd say there's enough evidence in this thread alone to suggest that ACS (and their counterparts) are abusing the Legal System, so I'd be saying to a Court that I ignored the letters for that very reasoning - any Judge that hears a claim for this is likely to consider their behaviour inappropriate.

 

Remember that the Civil Procedure Rules are flexible enough for a Court to apply them in the real World - discussing whether you should or shouldn't reply, according to the Rules, is irrelevant, as it's for a Court to decide if what was done in the circumstances was reasonable. I can't see a reason for considering a lack of response unreasonable given the feeling of emotion in this thread and the numbers involved.

 

Now, if they were taking everyone that had threats to Court, that would be a different matter.

 

Ultimately, CAG is a forum for airing views and advice is given based on experience - hence the different approaches suggested. It's for the readers of this thread to have sufficient awareness of their own situation to make a decision on how to proceed with it, although hearing differing viewpoints definitely assists with this process.

[Papermaker]

Hi, I've just received my second letter from ACS Law stating my first response (letter of denial) was a standard response which can be downloaded from the internet and therefore reject my letter. They are still demanding the same £295 for downloading the song "Evacuate the dancefloor". Has anyone else recieved a second letter alsoany advice would be appreciated.

 

Yep, I have received exactly the same as yourself, looks like another batch has gone out. I sent an LOD after the first letter, there are varying opinions on what to do after your second letter, ranging from ignore it, to send a 2nd LOD. I'm just going to ignore this one, although, I would really like to write a long letter, telling them what I really think about them, especially the leak of my details on the Internet !!!

That seems to have gone quiet at the moment, one minute half million pound fines being bandied around, companies being made bankrupt, SRA investiagtions being made, e-mails published on how companies operate and on how much money they owe, newspaper headlines, BBC news.

Next, it's business as usual, let's send some more letters out, let's rake some more money from unsuspecting, unknowledgable punters. I don't understand how this can happen, once a company is, alledgedly, under investiagtion from two governing bodies ?

[blashey]

Originally Posted by blashey

i got a letter back from gm declining my offer of £100 and still want £370 i dont know what to do as i stupidly admitted it before i found this site they even have the cheek to give me the option of paying in instalements

should i pay i am at my wits end

 

 

 

 

i got reply back as i had now offered £200 to GM they accepted so hopefully thats that

 

thank you for all your help in here

[dx100uk]

sorry but i think you are being fleeced blind

 

dx

[zoomboy]

sorry but i think you are being fleeced blind

 

dx

 

I agree. But given that he/she admitted guilt there wasn't much hope for a better outcome - in my opinion. It was all a question of how much.

 

Glad you got it sorted blashey. Now at least you can sleep without that on your mind. Just a shame you never managed to get to the good advice before making an admission.

[Mattyhatty]

Blashey... its unfortunate, but if its the case. Pay and forget about it all. At least a settlement is final and you are now never to be involved in the literature, effects or other further issues to come.

 

 

I had a payment plan with a company before which was to proceed with civil issues. Be realistic if you are going to pay. Dont pay back too quickly. If you accepted £200 agreement, pay them back £2 a month. or max £5.

 

thats what i did.

 

... yes you got caught... but remember the monetary payment isn't there to punish you, its to reimburse the 'SO CALLED' losses of these 'mugs' that you might or 'might not' have caused.

 

dont be out of pocket because theyre forcing you to pay X amount.

[zoomboy]

... yes you got caught... but remember the monetary payment isn't there to punish you, its to reimburse the 'SO CALLED' losses of these 'mugs' that you might or 'might not' have caused.

 

dont be out of pocket because theyre forcing you to pay X amount.

 

That is a very good point and one worth pursuing.

[jimdev1976]

Sorry Blashey but you have just been conned, and you know you've been conned and accepted it. Yes you may have admitted it, however the amount you've paid is something they have determined. There is enough literature out there that the compensation should equal the loss, which is peanuts. you've paid 100 times more than you should have and are happy with that. Even if you've admitted it, i still don't think they would take someone to court as a good lawyer could probably argue that the penalty needs to be equal to the crime, potentially bringing down their house of cards as well. They would have to be crazy to take someone to court, he may be a **** but i don't think he's crazy.

Edited October 26, 2010 by jimdev1976
spelling

[zoomboy]

But as blashey has already admitted guilt the argument over the cost of damages would likely have needed to involve a legal professional, which would far outweigh the cost of making their agreement at £200. I agree the actual damages would likely have been in single figures, but to argue it in court whilst paying by the hour would have been more costly.

 

Until someone gets the whole matter into court to force an argument of the reliability of the methods employed and the calculation of quantum damages there will be no easy way just to argue the quantum damages from a position you are already at a loss at.

[dx100uk]

doesn't matter you've admitted it.

 

there is nothing to pay and you should not pay them.

 

so, the 'copyright owner' has written saying this how much its cost me?

 

no they haven't

 

there is only one place this money is going

 

to line their pockets

 

keep it in yours.

 

dx