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

[mr.ton]

Simple fact is..these fools, like the DCA's, have no legal powers whatsoever - its up to them to prove the matter in a court if they are brave enough to take anyone there & for the court to decide guilt/or not.

Demanding hundreds of pounds payment upfront is scandalous & the OFT/trading standards should come down hard on them.

[cashins]

True.Ive no proof on my part other than them taking my computer away and testing it to see if there is a trace of this so called "Two Worlds" there but can most likely guarantee it wont be.

 

 

Ah, but they have to prove it not the other way round.

 

Which is why they b*gger orf if you ignore them.

 

David

[I've got no money]

I'd be inclined to file the letter in the bin - under crap...

 

And

 

Hello to the 34 guests

[mr.ton]

37 guests...goodness me

[I've got no money]

I have just received an interesting PM

 

I should for the avoidance of doubt confirm that in my view the fact that a letter comes from either a DCA or a Solicitor does not give it any validity over and above general correspondence. On the information posted by the OP there does not appear to be any evidence to support either the claim or the quantum of the claim.

 

The OP is entitled in my view to disregard the letter.

 

 

"Dear I've Got No Money,

 

I would not advise filing the letter in the bin. Our instructions are to pursue infringers.

 

Faithfully,

 

ACS Law"

[mccabedave]

Hi guys,

 

I must confess to being one of the guests, there is a link here from digital spy which piqued my interest.

 

EDIT:-LINK REMOVED

 

Had a quick look at the website for these purported solicitors, I couldn't find any record with either the law Society or the SRA - both of which they claim to be members of.

 

There are links to court orders which are clear forgeries for fairly clear reasons that I'm not going to give away, but if you can see for yourself.

 

The Whois gives an address in Loughborough, which thanks to google appears to be a residential address

Edit:- Link removed

 

Finally the Registrant appears to be Terence Tsang who is linked with another website Edit:- link removed

Edited May 8, 2009 by freakyleaky
Removing commercial links

[cashins]

"Dear I've Got No Money,

 

I would not advise filing the letter in the bin. Our instructions are to pursue infringers.

 

Faithfully,

 

ACS Law"

 

Debt collection library Follow this link to our debt collection library.

This library contains templates and advice for dealing with debt collectors who act oppressively or unfairly.

This library is work in progress and will be built up over the next few weeks.

17.03.09

 

I think that confirms that you can safely file it in the bin:lol::lol:

 

David

[mr.ton]

Right im sorry..but this thread is just utterley rediculous now!

46 guests

Cerber is prob right when he said it could just be people who have been caught out by this looking in..i dont know?

But either way - ive never seen a thread before with upto 46 guests looking in at any 1 time.

I recall the Watchdog threads when they had a DCA on..they used to get about 20 odd guests looking in - but 46....for goodness sake, what is going on here??????????

[mr.ton]

51 guests now (is this a record on here?)

[I've got no money]

I've just checked with the Law Society website

 

ACS Law are Solicitors - they are a two partner, two Solicitor Practice with their office at 18 Hanover Square, London. Their firm ID is 437813

 

The two partners are Nicola Beale and Andrew Jonathan Crossley and it also appears that they are only two Solicitors in the practice.

 

Nicola Beale is a family specialist Andrew Crossley lists his areas of work as

Civil litigation

Commercial litigation

Debt and money advice

Employment law

 

http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/choosingandusing/findasolicitor/view=solicitorsatbranch.law?orgid=437813&searchType=L

Edited May 8, 2009 by I've got no money
Insert link to Law Society website

[mr.ton]

54 now

[robjam1969]

These 'laughable' letters are starting to arrive and perhaps folk are starting to worry. They do look menacing until you start to 'dig' and realise it's all tosh. For starters the letters assume you are guilty and basically try to obtain money out of scare tactics. I do like the bit on the form that states that if offence committed by minor get them to sign their declaration of guilt (and enclose cheque no doubt). They also request that you don't ring them!

 

I bet some folk send them money! At least all the guests will see what a cracking site CAG is!

[Delta82]

I agree with Robjam on his last comment ..

 

In a way its putting you guys out there and showing you genuinely care and do your utmost best to help folk as I know a lot of people who came to me and asked for help and Ive sent them here and realize that there is light and the end of the tunnel so to speak.

 

Ive a feeling ACS:Law are watching this thread but on a more frustrating note there's no clear indication of how many people have received the letter for now anyway.

[mr.ton]

I dont doubt for 1 minute how serious they look/sound etc...

If they are arriving through everyones postbox at the same time, then its bound to worry people.

These solicitors are obviously being very naughty indeed & need reporting to every authority in the land ASAP.

I havent received such a letter yet, but if i do - they will sure get a blast off me on the phone

Ive simply never seen a thread with 60 guests in it on here before

[I've got no money]

ACS Law are now members of CAG - as they've subscribed to the thread they'll get emails with all the postings on.

 

Perhaps they'd care to share with us all how they calculate the quantum of these claims...

 

We're now up to 63 guests

[mr.ton]

Well ive just tried their phone number & it said it wasnt recognized.

The web site just shows a blank page as well.

I think its safe to suggest that there is someone/or something else behind this [problem] that the likes of BBC Watchdog, The OFT & trading standards needs to get to the bottom of.

They are accusing everyone of being criminals etc...when infact i think its more a case of these letters being sent out by criminals

Edited May 8, 2009 by mr.ton

[mr.ton]

ACS Law are now members of CAG - as they've subscribed to the thread they'll get emails with all the postings on.

 

Ooooohhh scary (not)

CAGGERS are now keeping a close eye on you ACS:Law

[mr.ton]

69 guests now

Edited May 8, 2009 by mr.ton
more guests

[mr.ton]

I would advise anyone who receives this letter to contact the police also (not 999)

This is effectivley obtaining monies by threats, deception/extortion - no matter how they dress it up....

Last time i looked - such a thing was a criminal offence in this country?

Speak to your local police force (not 999) & also speak to the police force of the county in which ACS:Law are based (not 999)

If theyve got the police, Watchdog,OFT,trading standards & CAGGERS on their back....they'll soon be sorry

[jed2004]

A few of the guests would have been from another site i go onto as someone on there received a similar letter so i gave this link to try help her out!!

[mr.ton]

I have noticed that this topic has appeared on a few other sites as i have googled this issue.

[robjam1969]

Just looked on digital spy website and it would appear Virgin Media believe it bo be a [problem]. Of course no proof of court order issued with paperwork! I am inclined to believe they may be telling porkies.

[Sadey]

re- the guests. I was one as a link has been posted on a popular parenting website Bounty, where we all try to help each other out. One of the Mums had been sent this letter and maybe a few others too, so someone kindly sent us in this direction for more info!

Great site and thanks for all the reassurances! x

[porkiepiepig]

I like to say great forum all.

 

The so called ACS site is ACS-Law Solicitors

 

I think this forum is getting many guests because many people are getting these letters and for the moment at least there is not many forums out there who are aware of these letters that they are sending out.

Here is an example of One of their letters.

 

The letter they send out to some people is sent in an advanced mail Second class envelope that seems quite funny has they give the person who is in question 21 days to pay up/reply back to them or court action.

With something that is important has this it should of came in recorded delivery or at least First class post.

 

The letter comes in 4 parts with the 1st stating the persons name and address with the letter starting with Sir or Madam.

They mention that they act has solicitors for Reality Pump who are the owner of a game called Two Worlds.

 

Then they represent the evidence with the IP Address in question, Date/time and then the P2P Client/Protocol used.

They mention they have used some IT experts called Logitech to gather this information then from pages 2 to 5 states policy what is mentioned in their faq on the ACS site.

The letter is then signed by ACS Law.

 

The 2nd part is a statement of the persons name, name of ISP, name of the file with the name Dopeman included, file size, file ID, P2P/Client used, Host IP address, and the Hit date.

 

Turn over the page is an extract of a spread sheet sent to the ISP stating the above information on top of the spreadsheet with below a copy of an extract spreadsheet received back from the ISP to ACS with IP, date and time of the so called offence and with the person in question name and address.

 

The 3rd part is the most amusing has its called an undertakings that states in 3 parts the person who is in question to get rid of the Two Worlds work from the hard drive or any other media and promise not to do it again by agreement to pay the amount of 665 pounds to ACS law by way of damages and to its clent costs incurred to date.

 

They also want an signature of the person in question to agree upon this.

 

The final part is a payment form if they call it that with 4 payment options.

 

1st is by Cheque made payable to them with the ref number included on it for 665 pounds.

 

2nd method is Bank Transfer

 

3rd method is Credit Card with request of the 3 digit security number that is on the back of your card and the 4th method with a debit card with the request of the security number again.

At the bottom of the page they request an signature.

 

Sorry for the long post .

Edited May 8, 2009 by porkiepiepig

[harrassed senior]

Thank you for that and welcome to our new members - keep watching as this thread is being updated minute by minute.