Death Threats in an Odd Turnabout

[Renegade]

http://m.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/filesharing-case-hunter-becomes-the-hunted-20110207-1ajb6.html

A controversial London-based law firm that sent tens of thousands of letters demanding payment from people it accused of illegal file sharing has dramatically quit its copyright litigations, claiming death threats are causing "immense hassle" to the lead solicitor's family.

The founder and lead solicitor at ACS:Law, Andrew Crossley, announced in a statement to the Patents County Court in London that his firm would no longer be chasing alleged copyright infringers.

"I have ceased my work. I have been subject to criminal attack. My emails have been hacked. I have had death threats and bomb threats," Mr Crossley said in the statement read to the court by barrister Tim Ludbrook, who is acting on behalf of copyright licensee MediaCAT. "It has caused immense hassle to me and my family."

I can't help but laugh at litigation like that being withdrawn, but the cause of it... well... not very funny.

[f0dder]

They're out to ruin people's lives, and got their own lives ruined... fair enough, even if I don't approve of death threats.

[Stoic Joker]

They're out to ruin people's lives, and got their own lives ruined... fair enough, even if I don't approve of death threats.

+1 Compared to the type of threats these people typically make... death is a kindness.

[Renegade]

They're out to ruin people's lives, and got their own lives ruined... fair enough, even if I don't approve of death threats.

+1 Compared to the type of threats these people typically make... death is a kindness.

You guys are going to bring out my lawyer-hatin'-rantin'-hollerin' self complete with outlandish blatherings pretty soon.

[40hz]

I think f0dder hit the nail on the head. It's amusing to see how quickly bullies cry "foul" the moment someone shifts the field of play away from the spot where the bully holds absolute advantage.

But I also can't completely buy into what they're saying happened despite how much I may be amused by it.

It could be little more than a "good story" concocted to to justify their desire to quit the game now that the courts have indicated they're not happy with Mr. Crossley et al's tactics.

As the above article reported:

ACS:Law is at the centre of a long-running row over its method of so-called "speculative invoicing", where thousands of generic letters are sent to internet users it suspects of illicit file sharing.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority is currently investigating its practices as hundreds of the accused claim to have been wrongly identified.

Hmmm...seems like somebody is in big trouble right now.

I also think it's worth saying there's a big difference between some irate file sharer screaming "I'M GONNA KILL YOU!!" in an e-mail; and having your offices shot up in the wee hours of the morning shortly after receiving a note that suggested you stop what you're doing.

Last I heard, nothing like this has happened.

But it's all about "the presentation," as anyone who goes to court for a living would know. That, and how creditable you appear to be when you testify.

And right now, the credibility of this law firm rates pretty low in my book.

[Eóin]

Besides if you read these bits,

Mr Crossley's revelation came at the close of last week's Patents County Court hearing into 27 people accused of illegally sharing copyrighted pornography, of which MediaCAT is the exclusive licensee.

Of the thousands of letters ACS:Law has sent to alleged infringers, these 27 cases are the only ones to be heard before a judge. ACS:Law attempted to drop the cases just days before its first court hearing earlier this month but was told it needed the court's permission.

Judge Colin Birss, QC, called the situation "absolutely extraordinary" and said: "I am not happy about this. I get the distinct impression that at every twist and turn there is a desire to avoid judicial scrutiny."

It's sounds like the 'death threats' were just an excuse. In reality it seems the law firm never want to go to trial, instead they just wanted to extort money from people through fear.

[Renegade]

...extort... through fear.

Nice choice of words there. Really. It's so bang on.

BTW -- With the increasing number of laws on the books in many of the countries that people here live in, we/you're all criminals. Gotta love lawyers... 

[Stoic Joker]

Gotta love lawyers...

Oh and indeed we do ... I like mine best boiled in oil...

[nosh]

I hate to see all this hate being focused on perfectly reasonable people. I sure hope no harm comes to them.

Perfectly reasonable

"We are happy that the country's President, Pratibha Patil, has given her consent to the Maharashtra Government to enact a law wherein both the seller and the buyer of a pirated CD/DVD would straightaway be sentenced to three months of prison without bail if caught red-handed. A fine would not be as rigid a punishment as a three-month sentence," reasons Dalal.
http://www.indiantelevision.com/aac/y2k9/aac198.php

I'd also like to take this opportunity to dispel false rumors about Indians starving. As you can see all it takes to feed yourself for three whole months here is to buy a pirated CD or DVD. All thanks to the MPA's well thought out initiatives.

[Renegade]

Pirated DVDs... Jeez... DVDs are defective by design due to... Sigh... That's just another rant that everyone already knows.

It's just so moronic that you have to pirate content in order to get decent quality. The crap you get through iTunes is really bad. Just piss-poor resolution. Sigh...