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

[andydd]

Eerr..Its possible coz I have them, its a large file, its on quite a few torrent sites, but its raw email data so isn't instantly viewable anyway......plus theres a hell of a lotta emails !..Ill let you know when I've opened it.

 

I gather that the BSkyB list was an Excel attachment to one of the emails.

 

Andy

[andydd]

Ouuch !.

 

Viewed the spreasheet, it's quite a serious breach, it lists BSB customers (and a few Easynet and Unknowns), their IP address, the film they were alledged to have downloaded (mostly porn I'm afraid) and then their name and address. If anyone think they maybe on this list they should be warned that this information is now freely available and needs just a little know-how to download and view, of course there are thousands of other emails to/from Andrew and his staff containing all sorts of personal information.

 

Andy

[andydd]

Interesting is that even where they have identified the ISP, there are still plenty of cases where they can't identify the user, (about 1500 out of 5500).

 

Andy

[andydd]

BBC seems to be looking into it,

 

 

Forgot to add Virgin Media are the only ISP to not have given this firm any details, So if your with VM BB and had a letter off this firm then ignore.

 

Payback is a b*tch.

 

MrH.

 

Yep...You are correct..and TalkTalk (which I think has been mentioned before in this thread).

 

"However the communications reveal many disturbing facts and also appear to confirm that ACS:Law has preferred NOT TO TARGET two specific ISPs with demands for personal details, TalkTalk and Virgin Media UK. Both appear to be more trouble than they're worth for the law firm, which is after all centred on making money; that is also very much clear from the emails."

 

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/story/2010/09/27/confidential-uk-illegal-isp-file-sharing-details-leak-from-acs-law-after-ddos-attack.html

 

Andy

[andydd]

The SRA report into ACS

 

http://acsbore.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/final-report-acs-law1.pdf

 

Andy

[andydd]

Fair enough and Im not suprised, but Ill point out anything I've posted is from websites that have clearly posted the information in direct form on their sites already (I havnt posted anything from the emails directly), also it is now clear that nothing was hacked, the email backup was actually posted on ACS Law's website, a major cockup on their behalf !

 

It is now reported on so many sites that I find it hard that ACS would be able to do anything about it, even if they wanted.

 

And..yep..gold dust is the right word..it blows apart almost everything ACS have said upto now.

 

The real pity is that there are many thousands of people who have now have the misfortune of having their details known.

 

We shall see what tommorow brings

 

Andy

[andydd]

AAww..All my juicy stuff has been removed, never mind, I understand why. Without giving too many details, many of the emails will be very embarassing for ACS Law, they discuss their business model, the reasons why they 'drop' cases.

 

Oh yeah...ACS staff are rather poorly paid, but then again they may not be in employment much longer, wouldnt you like to be a fly on the walln in the ACS office today ?

 

Andy

[andydd]

ACS don't chase 'infringers' with Talktalk or Virgin, no doubt because those two companies refuse to co-operate, well done to them . Shame on Sky

 

Andy

[andydd]

No doubt the viabilty of taking legal action against ACS will become clear in the next few days.

 

Andy

[andydd]

Just a quick question to anyone in the know.

I am a Sky customer and am worried that my information may be among the leak.

 

What is the implication of downloading the torrent file to check if my details have been exposed (how else would I know?)

 

We know ACS:Law monitor certain torrent files, could they be monitoring who downloads the torrent, capture the IP address and do the usual trick of applying for an NPO to track who downloaded the file?

 

The information was made available by them to download from their site, no hacking took place as such.

 

Good question, its unclear thoughht whther downloading this torrent would be considered breach of copyright, ACS themselves are not the copyright holders of the film/music that is downloaded they are merely acting on behalf of the clients, it would be a bit strange if ACS suddenly became the client, anyway, I very very much doubt whether they are bothered to try and trace people who have downloaded this torrent, it would be hard to prove it had a monetary value anyway and I'm sure you could argue that you downloaded it as you believed it contained personal information about yourself.

 

Plus I'm sure at this moment they are running around like headless chickens worrying what to do !

 

Actually a proper 'legal' way to check would be simply to ask ACS or send a SAR request if needs be to find out if your name is on the leaked list(s).

 

Andy

[andydd]

Out of the 6000 odd emails I quite by chance happened to come across the original Sky lists, I wonder where the 8000 list is ?

 

It has been reported that it also contains detials and notes about whether the 'infringer' (ACS's prefered terminilogy !) has paid and how much.

 

Andy

[andydd]

I will also need to check if i am on this spreadsheet. I know the company are potentially being sued, but if our names and information are on these emails/spreadsheets then do we have the right to claim compensation as individuals? If so what is the best place to start?

 

 

With a solicitor ?..But a better one than Mr Crossley . Actually a request/SAR to ACS is prob the best start.

 

Being Threatened site has said "Should anyone be considering taking action in relation to the release of their sensitive private data, we'd recommend seeking formal legal advice before doing so. However, in our opinion there is a reasonably strong prima facie case for doing so. "

 

Andy

Edited September 28, 2010 by andydd

[andydd]

According to the beeb, that list (and I presume the email it came from) has only just been released today so its almost as if someone has tried to stagger the bad news for ACS:Law.

 

S.

 

I think all information comes from the original email leak, its prob just that someone has only just found it.

 

Andy

[andydd]

As mentioned elsewhere there is another list now, with 8000+ names on it, every single one of these those relates to a single song "Evacuate The Dancefloor", no doubt its a pile of crap

 

Andy

[andydd]

They sell plenty of flasher macs around your way then or people leave their wireless connections open without any protection.

 

What I can't understand is that there are millions of porno vids online (so I am told), so why share stuff that is probably already out there.

 

I have a feeling that a lot of material is placed deliberately online, with a view to taking actions over copyright. If this is the case, I don't blame the legal people for pursuing, but the people behind this. I suspect that similar to music CD sales, sales of porn CD's/vids have dropped, because of internet availability. So how do you go about getting your money back from the costs of producing these products. This sounds more like a new business model, than an issue of copyright.

 

Obviously allegations have to be proven, but I come to the conclusion that there is more to this story, than has so far been revealed.

 

By share they mean 'have available on your P2P client', when you download anything you are also sharing it, that is how P2P works, when it has finished doanloaded you can either leave it running in your P2P client and thus carry on sharing it or remove it and stop sharing it.

 

The reason why ACS have accussed people of 'making it available' for downloading is purely financial, as is clear from their leaked emails.

 

..and yes, you may well be correct about items being placed on their deliberatly as a trap, this especially applies to poor selling music and porn, in all honesty would someone actually PAY for a Scooter song or a second rate MOS compilation ?

 

Andy

[andydd]

(IN response to putting the 'list' on Wikileaks)....I'm not sure that giving the spreadsheets a wider audience is a good idea, they do have the ability to cause much embrassment to people, I find the emails to/from Crossley and his clients and staff far more interesting, just come across one from a new member of staff who has complained that she has only just started her legal career (at ACS) and does NOT want to named or involved in SRA action, and quite rightly so !

 

Andy

[andydd]

Checked the list and I am def on it - Any legal ppl on here to advise what I should do next?

 

Tut tut..naghty boy..what you been watching ?..hee..I'd sit tight for a while, no doubt there will be many people contemplating action, actually i wouldnt be suprsied if an (enterprsing ?) solicitor did a bulk email to everyone on the list and ask if they wanted to purue a (joint) action against ACS Law.

 

And to think Mr Crossly described the scenario as like waiting 10 mins for a train or coffee..ha..idiot..this is going to wreck your career ..fool

 

Andy

[andydd]

Opps looks like sky may have been making money by selling the IP's

 

Well..they certainly charged ACS 'admin' costs, these were sometimes added to the 'bill' sent to the infringer, normally only a few pence, but I did see an email where an ISP was demanding a fee of £20 per IP !, so it could actually make them money..assuming ACs paid up, there are some emails from Etranet (I think) chasing Mr Crossley coz he hadnt paid up.

 

Andy

[andydd]

The overall list is a backup of the entire ACS email (about 400mb), about 6000 emails, there are many attachments, some of these are the 5300 user spreadsheet already mentioned, listing Sky customers and the porn film they have alledged to have downloaded, another attachment is a list of 8000 Sky customers all accused of downloading the song "Evacuate The Dancefloor", this second list also notes if they paid up, not many had !

 

The above Excel files are quite small about 10mb or so, but I feel it is not wise to post them as they are rather sensitive.

 

The onus really is on ACS and Sky to inform people if tey are on these lists, and they should pull their fingers out and do it quickly.

 

Clearly these files should not have been just passed about as attachments (for example it would of been easy to just press the wrong button and send it to the wrong recipient), Sky 'claim' this dat was sent in encrypted form so ACS did the unencryption and then were very careless, I'd hate to be their IT guy (no doubt the IT was outsorced to one of the many support companies in London).

 

Andy

[andydd]

Andy has been a naughty boy!

 

http://beingthreatened.yolasite.com/resources/20090513140313.pdf

 

Looks like he got away before by the skin of his teeth, I would have thought just having an IVA would have made time unsuitable to be a Solicitor.

 

Never mind I think his luck has just run out!!

 

Pookey

 

PS Think I might give ACS a call tomorrow to ask why their website is down at the moment.

 

Hhmm..It says he had a period ofdepression in 1999, I doubt whether the recent events have made him happy either.

 

Andy

[andydd]

May be this link might be of use to some people,

 

http://www.yourfilehost.com/media.php?cat=other&file=British_Sky_Agreement_Andres_Gunnar_Ballinas_Olsson__signed_.pdf

 

Part 3.1 looks interesting

 

Hhmm..I assume that Andres is the writer of "Evacuate The Dancefloor", the spreadsheet refered to must be the 8000 user list that has recently surfaced, there is no mention that the spredasheet is or shall be encrypted, I believe Sky's claims that they encypted their data is simply not true, it would appear that this spreadsheet always existed and that the Sky IP data was simply filled in, no doubt by some sort of automated/macro given the size of it.

 

I wonder if it is neccesary for a contract to be entered into between the 'client' and the ISP, Sky in this case ? Did other ISP's enter into similar contracts or did they just see it as an easy money maker, that single spreadhseet earned Sky just over 17 grand !

 

Andy

[andydd]

I already made reference to the above PDF, thats how came up with the 17 grand figure in my earlier post (i.e 8040 users x £2.20), nice lil earner for Sky !

 

Andy

[andydd]

http://www.wiredvc.com/acslaw-159and-the-33norwich-pharmacal-orders/

 

A very good well written article here.

 

Andy

[andydd]

(To obtain the lists)

 

It's available on torrent sites, youll have to download the whole torrent of the email backup and then perform some jiggery pokery untill you can actually read the mails, ..and then go through 6000 of them to find the spreadsheet..its not exactly quick, although the mails have been posted on various sites (not in torrent form) but these appear to come and go, no doubt due to the dubious legality of posting the emails.

 

Andy

[andydd]

If you read through the emails it is clear that there are numerous reasons when ACS Law did actually 'drop' the case against the infringer.

 

1) If the 'infringer' was a child.

 

2) If the 'infringer' claimed the 'wireless defence' (although later on ACS say this won't be a valid excuse)

 

3) If the person is disabled or there is some other sort of problem.

 

4) The check sheet has a tick box marked 'Politically sensitive' (not sure what this relates to, although they have in one instance accused a former circuit judge).

 

5) Its more likely to get drop if you employed a solicitor.

 

6) It is very likely to get dropped if you can show some sort of error (even minor), for example someone was claimed to be using a torrent program version 4.0.0.8, but the 'infringer' proved that the version mentioned was unreleased at the time of the offence!

 

7) That in your reply you show that you are very asture both in legal and IT matters (this clearly makes ACS worried !)

 

8) Other instances, ACS accused a B & B who said they had no idea who the guests were at the time and another when ACS accused a foster family, this especially scared ACS as there are various laws reagrding the identification of people in foster care.

 

Alass there are many replies that say..I'm sorry it wont happen again or I didnt do it guv, etc or It was someone else, alas ACS had no hesitation in chasing up letters like that.

 

The best way to get it dropped was (is ?) to write a very strong professional letter (pref from a solicitor and not one of the 'templates'), denying any knowledge of the matter and finding an inaccuracy in the details that they sent and showing that you have considerable IT and legal knowledge, also mentioning that should the matter progress to court you would be seeking considerable costs.

 

Andy

Edited September 30, 2010 by andydd