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

[nutcake]

@babybear39

thats what i did when i admited to downloading it

 

@mr.ton

ok so if they take me to court i will hear from the court about it then first?

[babybear39]

nutcake you've been punished enough for admitting downloading such stuff

[mr.ton]

That is the normal/correct way justice works in this country yes.

 

Even if anyone did go to court over this, no-one would be on trial - there would be no "guilty" or "not guilty" involved, it would all be very informal & sorted out sitting around a desk with some stuffy officials.

 

Thats all hypothetical anyway - i wouldnt lose sleep in the meantime

[nutcake]

thank you for all your help i will sleep better now

[babybear39]

Anytime

[Huff&Puff]

Nutcake, I'd ignore for the moment, and if they do send court papers you will have the opportunity to dispute the amount they are claiming. It isn't like the USA with punitive damages, they have to prove their actual losses here. However, I'm not as confident as Mr Ton that they won't take you to court, they may see you as worth trying if they have a written admission.

[mr.ton]

I have not said they deffo wont..just implied that its highly unlikely, no matter if Nutcake has admitted it.

It will cost them anyway - so it doesnt make economical sense given that would recieve a tiny sum back per month if anything at all.

They are just relying on threatening people into paying up.

[jpts33]

Received my reply from ACS:LAW after sending them a LOD. Here is their reply:-

 

We refer to previous correspondence regarding infringement of our clients copyright.

 

We note the response you have given matches a template response that is available on the Internet. With this in mind we are disinclined to accept at face value what you have said, as it is simply one of a number of identical replies we have received.

 

Accordingly, unless we receive your written undertaking and payment within the next fourteen days of receipt of this letter or you are able to provide a satisfactory explanation as to why you are not liable for the acts alleged against you, we shall seek our client's instructions to commence proceedings against you.

 

In the meantime, we expressly reserve all our client's rights.

 

Yours Faithfully

 

ACS:LAW

 

END OF THEIR RESPONSE

 

Well to be honest when I first received my original letter demanding over £500 it made me physically ill, coupled with the fact I suffer greatly with medical depression. Now, after a few weeks have passed and they have replied with the above quoted letter I honestly feel that I don't give a monkeys for these people. They will get one last reply from me, this time my own words which are not going to be pleasant or nice. I will tell them to stop threatening me, take the damn thing to Court ASAP. I know I didn't download the crap they say I did, I can't say for definite whether somebody else in my household or friends used my connection, so I will base any defence I may have to give in Court on the basis of who is responsible for the legal use of my connection. I know for a fact than a Roman Court has already thrown similar cases out of Court because they say you can't hold somebody responsible just because they pay the Internet bill. A friend of mine borrowed my car a couple of days ago, am I responsible if he were to drive like a lunatic and kill somebody??? I don't think so. ACS:LAW, go and get stuffed, take your legal crap with you and I for one will see you in Court anytime.... Oh and after living expenses I have about £2.36 a month left over so good luck ACS with suing me for thousands because I will be about 200 years old before the fine is paid.

[babybear39]

Write to them giving a link of this thread

[the_shadow]

We note the response you have given matches a template response that is available on the Internet.

 

 

 

Something along the lines of...

 

I note your reference to template letters, need I remind you that the letter you initially sent me appears to match a template letter you yourselves sent to possibly thousands of people, therefore I consider this some sort of fishing excercise on your clients behalf.

 

Until you provide me with some sort of proof of this alleged offence I cannot comment further than to deny all your allegations at this time.

 

S.

[Yorky2008]

I note your reference to template letters, need I remind you that the letter you initially sent me appears to match a template letter you yourselves sent to possibly thousands of people, therefore I consider this some sort of fishing excercise on your clients behalf.

 

Until you provide me with some sort of proof of this alleged offence I cannot comment further than to deny all your allegations at this time.

 

Love it!

 

And don't forget to tell them that their rejection letter of your LOD is also a proforma so you will be disregarding that as well, so your LOD stands in your view

 

Yorky.

[jpts33]

Something along the lines of...

 

 

 

S.

 

 

True. They have used the exact same template letters thousands of times, as did their predecessors, in fact they are the same letters as their predecessors used, remind me how that went again, oh I know, their predecessors packed all this nonsense up and passed it to these bunch of robbing cowboys, cya in Court ACS.

[paulie78]

lol i had exactly the same reply to my first letter of denial to the letter!! weird how theyre allowed to send out templates but we're not what a joke!

[andydd]

Jeez..ACS are muppets, do their staff now spend their days looking at this and other sites making notes about 'template' letters.

 

Wether a letter is a 'template' or not, people are quite entitled to use them , and as others have pointed out, what makes ACS letters NOT templates !

 

Lets hope we see the downfall of this horrible grotty company soon.

 

Incidentaly, whats happened to the SRA investigation of Davenport Lyons, it was started a long time ago.

 

Andy

[Huff&Puff]

Incidentaly, whats happened to the SRA investigation of Davenport Lyons, it was started a long time ago.

 

It takes time for them to come up with an excuse as to why they won't be taking any action

[the_shadow]

It takes time for them to come up with an excuse as to why they won't be taking any action

 

OFT only take a couple of days to state that in reply to email complaints They must be better at it

 

S.

[cerberusalert]

Heaven knows why they are whinging on about template letters, the legal profession use them all the time, it doesn't matter a jot where or who created them.

 

The realisation is probably dawning on them that there is now a collective involved in this & they are no longer dealing with an individual who has no or little knowledge and who's only recourse was to either pay their demands or line the pockets of some other legal wallah in order to exonerate themselves.

 

Firms like this have complained in the past to judges about their 'victims' using the aid & resources of forums & were given short shrift & if these muppets try the same line they'll undoubtedly get the same.

Edited July 24, 2009 by cerberusalert

[car2403]

You'd think that they would cotton on to the fact that they are getting so many template responses that they should stop sending out template demands for money, as they are clearly on a slippy slope here.

 

The fact they are replying to template letters with template letters speaks volumes, IMHO.

 

This just adds to the "reply with a LOD letter and ignore them until they take you to Court" strategy that seems to be showing itself to be effective.

[patrickq1]

the only letter i would send would be SEE YOU IN COURT

[car2403]

You should also add parts of the Harrassment template in to the LOD letter - that way, if they continue corresponding, you can slam them for Harassment and get the Police involved.

[jpts33]

They talk about template letters like that's an excuse that we are guilty as hell already. I also take note that so far none of their letters actually go as far as making it clear that "You have no obligation to pay them". So far the letters I have received have been nothing short of a "DEMAND". You MUST pay and you MUST pay now. Well stuff them. When a Judge tells me to pay, I will then pay (But only about £2.00 per month because of my financial circumstances lol). Of course these nasty bullies don't point out that they use thousands of templates to worry people sick. I say we should make up a twenty page template letter, send them at least twice a week. After a few thousand of these they will have no time to take anybody to court because they will be reading twenty pages of garbage like the massive letters they first threatened us with. I for one have really lost my patience with these ****. My reply to them won't be another template it will be my very own original, pointing out to them in no uncertain terms how I feel about this and that any more letters from them will be used as toilet paper, bit rough but I'll get over it. I'll also be informing them to prove that it was me, sitting at my PC downloading the filthy crap they say I did....Grrr I'm at boiling point......

[cerberusalert]

they will have no time to take anybody to court

To my knowledge they haven't taken anyone to court yet. Their predecessors did & only won one case & that was only because the defendant failed to defend so they won by default.

[mr.ton]

So the general conclusion of this whole sorry saga...is that its been a waste of time on their part?

[car2403]

No, I think the general conclusion is we know more about what they can and can't do than they do. Either that, or we are able to learn faster than they can, so have the upper hand now.

 

[cashins]

So the general conclusion of this whole sorry saga...is that its been a waste of time on their part?

 

I suspect a percentage of people paid them - probably before it was all over the net what their game was.

 

On that basis they would have made money out of it.

 

David