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

[tp123]

 

Try to calm down and relax, they want you to worry and be scared as they want you to pay. Therefore you need to do exactly the opposite. Send the LOD. Carry on with life like normal. Don't let ACS win!

 

Well said!

[captain-123]

I think the only way that we as a group can bring this to an end is to continually contact the people in power, MPs the lords etc. In other countries it is the authorities who have stopped this. In France a solicitor was struck off, Spain aren’t interested either and other countries have put a block on this in other ways. The current US Hurt Locker cases appear to be running into difficulties at both the ISP and court level.

 

Everyone affected by this needs to contact their MPs and write to the lords.

 

It is easy to do this go to the website http://www.theyworkforyou.com/ for contact information. Remember to mention the stress this has caused, the fact that the lords promised to put a stop to ACS activities. It is as simple as writing an email and clicking send. The more people who continue to do this and repeatedly ask the question over and over aging if necessary the better. Let's be honest maybe we can learn something from Andy's operation, let’s continue to send out correspondence to MPs and the lords and see if we can make a difference.

 

If we do not do this this situation is going to get a whole lot worse very quickly. The company involved in the hurt locker IP harvesting has stated on its website that it has run an operation in the UK!

Also speak to other family members about writting an email it could just as easily been another member of the family who was falsley accussed.

[dtemper]

does anybody know the company registration no and vat no of the ACS:LAW outfit ?

[peter_piper316]

does anybody know the company registration no and vat no of the ACS:LAW outfit ?

Just looked on Companies House to check this, and it says the company is "Dissolved"

[dtemper]

yes me too. I was wondering if they had another company name or trading as etc.

Co Reg no would be a good one

[captain-123]

The company is a really company the dissolved issue has come up before

[cashins]

Just looked on Companies House to check this, and it says the company is "Dissolved"

 

I think the Manchester oufit is unrelated, probably a paralegal.

 

You won't find ACS Law solicitors for the simple reason that a firm of solicitors would be a sole prop or an partnership - solicitors cannot legally be a Ltd Co.

 

David

[Scooby Doo69]

Terrence Tsang left ACS Law about a month ago...

 

Looking at His bio for His current employer, He never worked at ACS Law.

To embarrassed to admit it now and the "Tel leaving" article in the news section on ACS's web site has now disappeared.

 

I reckon we could make a soap opera out of all this! LOL

[PanchoVilla]

Just been musing: I wonder if ACS would actually bring an individual who had prepared a defence to court: it would be a huge gamble for them, as a successful defence would set a precedent and the golden-goose would truly be slaughtered (i.e. they would not be able to harvest cash via threatening individuals).

I wonder if we could counter sue, i.e someone put themselves forward and our community contribute to a warchest to cover legal fees, to get the Crossley into a court room and get this evience tested once and for all.

Just musing, but Crossley is one brief, there are thousands of people in our boat. The law works both ways.

[PanchoVilla]

I spoke to someone from Lawdit Solicitors the other day (as I have still been freakin out over the whole situation) and I asked how many times do they need to write to ACS (the LoD) before ACS back off...and the solicitor said that they'll send off the LoD on behalf of client and then ACS may respond saying that they're sending a template and cannot be accepted (!) and then if neccessary, a 2nd letter is sent and ACS stop chasing after that.

 

Did you get any idea (no matter how rough) of how much they charge to make ACS go away?

[Time on my hands]

Did you get any idea (no matter how rough) of how much they charge to make ACS go away?

 

They wont make them go away or drop the case. ACS have a tick sheet for defendants and a reply via a lawyer like Lawdit will make them more likely to let you drop off the radar (but this is balanced against anything else you disclose about yourself).

 

The reason for the £300 starting price is that this is similar to the cost of instructing a solicitor to write a defence, so the defendant is likely just to pay off ACS law to get rid of them.

 

A general concensus is that you might as well follow the Speculative Invoicing handbook and fire off your own letters for the cost of stamps.

[PeoplePower2]

Hi Guys

 

Another "victim" here well my parents are im dealing with it on their behalf.

 

Its the Evacuate the dancefloor again!

 

My parents wouldnt have a clue how to upload or download music. Is it just me or are all the offences on weekends - designed so you cannot refute the claims on the basis of being at work!

 

Luckily i work for a solicitors so my colleagues have been very helpful in the construction of the LOD.

 

I will also be complaining to the SRA.

[shenme]

To all the new-comers - Welcome! Just want to say that I first received my letter for Scooter last June. After a little bit of letter ping pong (I think four or 5 in total) I have been left alone. One thing to bear in mind is that the ACS Law website "news" is worded in such a way to panic those who have been accused. Please, please, please do not feel pressured by what they write. It's nearly always a load of b*llocks. So calm down, get professional advice and advice from this forum

[pl1p]

I suggest everyone to read this.

 

particularly the sections relating to "infringement notifications"

 

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/copyright-infringement/condoc.pdf

 

 

This is proposed Online Infringement of Copyright and the Digital Economy Act 2010

Draft Initial Obligations Code

 

It could be argued that ACS:Law are taking advantage of the fact that these obligations are not in place as of yet and are trying to "harvest" as much as they can before they come into force.

[choddyholder]

To all the new-comers - Welcome! Just want to say that I first received my letter for Scooter last June. After a little bit of letter ping pong (I think four or 5 in total) I have been left alone. One thing to bear in mind is that the ACS Law website "news" is worded in such a way to panic those who have been accused. Please, please, please do not feel pressured by what they write. It's nearly always a load of b*llocks. So calm down, get professional advice and advice from this forum

 

Hi there did you employ a solictor? If not where did you get all your templates from (past 1st and 2nd that are on this forum)?

 

Cheers

[tp123]

It could be argued that ACS:Law are taking advantage of the fact that these obligations are not in place as of yet and are trying to "harvest" as much as they can before they come into force.

 

I agree -

 

My interpretation of the proposed code, and in particular the following parts;

 

3.2, 4.4, 5.6 and 7.5

 

is that it will effectively end the ACS:Law business model as it currently stands. It seems that the whole copyright infringement "business" will be cleaned up -

 

• Copyright owners will be able deal directly with ISPs.
  
• Allegations of copyright infringement will have to be evidentially robust and accurate, and proven to be so.
  
• The process of matching IP addresses to subscribers will have to be proved to be accurate.
  
• Provisions for grounds of appeal on which a subscriber may rely.
  

The sooner this comes in. the better.

[zero_flight]

Well if it stops ACS:Law from getting away with scaremongering people, the sooner the better. God knows how long the SRA investigation is going to take. But something needs to be done, sooner rather than later.

[qwerty12345678910]

To all the new-comers - Welcome! Just want to say that I first received my letter for Scooter last June. After a little bit of letter ping pong (I think four or 5 in total) I have been left alone. One thing to bear in mind is that the ACS Law website "news" is worded in such a way to panic those who have been accused. Please, please, please do not feel pressured by what they write. It's nearly always a load of b*llocks. So calm down, get professional advice and advice from this forum

 

Hi thanks for this, i have still not replied to the letter and am still a little rabbit in the headlights over this, reading all the posts helps though. Can anyone else advise how long the letter writing and threat of legal action is likely to hang over us in total? for example...do you know that it is now over after four / five letters and a year later? or can they come back for more? Does anyone know if we keep the letter writing going until the change in the law takes place...will they have to drop the case then as the law will of changed?

 

I know i only seem to write posts asking questions of you all. Sorry for that. Truth be told I am still thinking of paying to make it go away. I cant live with this fear hanging over me for months / years to come.

 

Best of luck everyone and thanks for all the posts they have been a great help and resource.

[Jasper1965]

I spoke to someone from Lawdit Solicitors the other day (as I have still been freakin out over the whole situation) and I asked how many times do they need to write to ACS (the LoD) before ACS back off...and the solicitor said that they'll send off the LoD on behalf of client and then ACS may respond saying that they're sending a template and cannot be accepted (!) and then if neccessary, a 2nd letter is sent and ACS stop chasing after that.

 

 

I'm surprised a legal firm would feel the need to counter any accusation of a default letter being sent tbh. Still any business must be good business and the lawyers don't seem to be doing too badly on either side of this farce.

[dracula666]

Hi guys.

One more here, same story, evacuate the dance floor. Not even sure whether that's an album or one song, but anyway, the problem is the same.

Could anyone please be so kind and send me LOD template. It's not that I'm lazy and can't follow the guide. But english is not my native language and I'm just a bit worried if acs law cought me on wrongly chosen word or used comma in the wrong place.

[Jasper1965]

And a little something to chew over....

 

Why Switzerland?

 

Of course had ACS Law conducted this IP harvesting in the UK they would have been subject to the conditions of the RIPA 2000.

 

This raises a few points which I'll cover briefly:

 

1) Is there a treaty or agreement in place between Switzerland and the UK relating to the interception of electronic communications.

1a) If yes then the terms of the RIPA 2000 should be extended to cover ACS's behaviour in a participating state ergo ACS must have a warrant issued in accordance with the law such:

 

Application for issue of an interception warrant

 

(1) An interception warrant shall not be issued except on an application made by or on behalf of a person specified in subsection (2).

(2) Those persons are—

(a) the Director-General of the Security Service;

(b) the Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service;

© the Director of GCHQ;

(d) the Director General of the National Criminal Intelligence Service;

(e) the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis;

(f) the Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary;

(g) the chief constable of any police force maintained under or by virtue of section 1 of the [1967 c. 77.] Police (Scotland) Act 1967;

(h) the Commissioners of Customs and Excise;

(i) the Chief of Defence Intelligence;

(j) a person who, for the purposes of any international mutual assistance agreement, is the competent authority of a country or territory outside the United Kingdom.

 

1b) If no then the data was gathered unlawfully and can be contested as such.

 

 

If the data was gathered lawfully under Swiss law but not UK law then the place to bring proceedings is surely Switzerland and the admissibility of evidence can be contested under UK law.

 

I don't have the time or resources to spell it out long hand but an electronic interception is an electronic interception and governed by statute.

 

And by request for the layman:

 

If the police and security services require permission to monitor electronic communications in the UK for national security, what gives Andrew Crossley the right to do the same for profit?

 

kopp Vs. switzerland 1998 and trawling outwards is a good starting place for budding lawyers with time on their hands.

[ACS-won't pay]

Hi Everyone.

I received the evacuate the dancefloor letter on 5th June, sent the LOD a few days ago. Looks like two men and a drum machine music is getting desperate to make money any way they can.

 

I would like to thank everyone on this site for the excellent information you are all providing.

 

This is becoming something of a hobby reading this thread now, actually looking forward to their next letter. Really want to fight this.

[8of9]

Just been musing: I wonder if ACS would actually bring an individual who had prepared a defence to court: it would be a huge gamble for them, as a successful defence would set a precedent and the golden-goose would truly be slaughtered (i.e. they would not be able to harvest cash via threatening individuals).

I wonder if we could counter sue, i.e someone put themselves forward and our community contribute to a warchest to cover legal fees, to get the Crossley into a court room and get this evience tested once and for all.

Just musing, but Crossley is one brief, there are thousands of people in our boat. The law works both ways.

 

If there's a mischevious devil out there who is confident enough to call Crossleys bluff and take it to a courtroom, then there is an offer from a solicitor at Lawdit to represent them for free. Check out the comments made by Michael Coyle in this article Will you get caught file-sharing? | Analysis | Features | PC Pro

 

 

So...

Is Michael Coyles offer still on the table?

Is there someone out there with the balls to take ACS to court and end this for good?

If there is , then there are potentially hundreds of people who would support them in any way they could.......isn't there?

[8of9]

I notice that the ISPA (Internet Service Providers Association) has just announced their finalists for Internet Hero/Villain of 2010.

 

UK ISPA Awards Reveal Internet Hero and Villain Finalists for 2010 − ISPreview UK

 

If they recognise ACS law as Villains, why aren't they doing something about it rather than wasting their time on meaningless "awards"

[andydd]

I notice that the ISPA (Internet Service Providers Association) has just announced their finalists for Internet Hero/Villain of 2010.

 

UK ISPA Awards Reveal Internet Hero and Villain Finalists for 2010 − ISPreview UK

 

If they recognise ACS law as Villains, why aren't they doing something about it rather than wasting their time on meaningless "awards"

 

Yes..instead, the majority of their members just roll over and hand over the info (our info !) to the court, even more worrying (especially if you read early posts), is the utter confusion/wrong information which was supplied when customers phoned their ISP to ask about ACS.

 

Andy