UK BitTorrent Users Under More Pressure From Lawyers
Written by enigmax on January 11, 2008Lawyers in the UK representing software developer Reality Pump are lining up more threats against file-sharers. Having previously represented the publishers Zuxxez and CodeMasters, these lawyers like quoting German law to UK citizens to scare them - which appears to have backfired in a big way.
Lawyers Davenport Lyons are fast becoming a thorn in the side of alleged UK file-sharers. Having cut their teeth threatening alleged sharers of ‘Dream Pinball‘, they more recently moved on to those alleged to have shared ‘Colin McRae Dirt’.
Now they have obtained a court order to force ISPs (Be Un, BT, Easynet, Eclipse, Entanet, Eurisp, Fasthosts, Kcom, Opal, Orange, Pipex, Plusnet, Supanet, TalkTalk, Thus and Tiscali) to reveal the names and addresses behind an unspecified number of IP addresses alleged to have shared the game ‘Two Worlds’ from publisher ‘Reality Pump‘. Reality Pump are linked with Zuxxez, publishers of Dream Pinball.
The modus operandi is the same as before: Use an unaudited, untested p2p tracking system to capture IP addresses, use lawyers to imply a criminal offense has been committed (which is not the case) to obtain a court order, which is then used to force ISPs to give up customer data which is never used in a criminal case. At this point the account holder receives a threatening letter demanding around £700 ($1,400) stating “pay up or else we’re going to sue you” - except on track record, they never do.
Legal recommendations from TorrentFreak’s counsel suggested that ignoring such letters is a bad idea, in that if the case actually went to court, the court wouldn’t appreciate the ignoring of paperwork. While this remains true for cases eventually going to court, it seems that cases are not doing so. After hearing of many hundreds of instances of threatening letters being sent, we have not heard of a single case going to court and now there seems to be a building feeling amongst people who have received the letters that the best thing to do with them is to ignore them.
One person who received a letter about his alleged sharing of Colin McRae told us: “I got the letter through the post on a bad day and just panicked. I wrote to them denying their claims and giving them as many facts as I could to show it wasn’t me but they haven’t left me alone since. Other people i’m in touch with who ignored the letters haven’t heard anything back at all so i’m kicking myself for contacting them. They say I have just days to pay the full amount.”
Another person involved in the Colin McRae case says he responded to Davenports using the ‘wireless defense‘ - i.e he had an unsecured router that someone accessed without his permission. After some delay a letter was received from Davenport which states that he is responsible for what is done on his connection. It is noteworthy that they have not stated any relevant UK law to back this up - we are not aware of any precedent under English law that they could state, which probably explains why they didn’t.
Applying German law to English file-sharing cases backfires
In their letters, Davenport Lyons state that under German law, a user is responsible for what happens on his connection. They state: “We believe that a UK court would take the same position.” Oh really?
Ok, just for fun, let’s try applying German law to the UK cases and see what we come up with:
According to a great post on P2P Blog, a fireman who was accused of sharing stuff illegally in Germany claimed that he had nothing to do with this sharing. The record companies used an argument they had success with in past cases (possibly the German cases referred to by Davenport), i.e, as the owner of the connection, he was liable for the infringing actions of others. In this case the ‘others’ were members of his family - children etc.
This time, the courts weren’t so sympathetic. They have just decided that this man CAN’T be held responsible for the infringing actions of others, just because his name was on the bill. The court decided that as the record companies could neither prove that the fireman shared the material nor that he knowingly failed to prevent infringement, he could not be held liable. The decision in Frankfurt stated that adult family members don’t even have to be instructed or controlled by the connection owner unless they are suspected of committing any file-sharing activity. Another court has rejected the liability of a company in case an employee committed copyright infringement using the company’s internet connection.
It is of MY view, Davenport Lyons, that a UK court would take the same position. An IP address alone does not identify an infringing individual, so get used to it.
Stay tuned over the weekend for our interview with a lawyer helping to defend 500 file-sharers.
Previously: Swedish Politicians Strike Blows at Copyright Lobby
Next: Anti-Piracy Voice-Overs to Prevent CDs from Leaking
98 Responses
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[quote comment="260664"]I’m glad I don’t live in the UGAY[/quote]
no i bet you live in the U.S.ASSHOLE you fucking mug
@26 LOL.
@Post - Anyone who hosts a DDL site (or similar), which links to other sites, get letters like that ALL the time saying to pay up. It generally consists of bullshit which ends in pages and pages different laws you’ve broken..
And all you do is ignore the letter and you’re sorted.
it’s ok i’ll be fine as long as i wear my tinfoil helmet
@26 + 27 lol u guys r jokers
I will never ignore a treat even non-credible because I fell insulted and it will causes me to attack immediatly with multiple urestrained blows.
The parasites of the entertainment industry has been warned.
I feel lucky that i live in the UK yet none of those is my ISP…
Someone should take those guys to court for all the crap they do….I’m sure there’s a case somewhere….
# 21 Peer guardian doesn’t work. Simple proof of this is going to a website called “Ninja surfing” Even with PG on it immediately shows you your IP address and even pretty well where you are on a map, pretty scary stuff.
got letter today about a game called two worlds ! I haven’t download it but own the game any way waste of money that was…. what is it all about please? ..quote..
In their letters, Davenport Lyons state that under German law, a user is responsible for what happens on his connection. They state: “We believe that a UK court would take the same position.” Oh really?
quote
where in the letter does it state under German law cant see it? this as there are many pages ? I will ignore this demand for money with menaces….but still is worrying also this
@33
Take them to court for extortion and file criminal charges. even if it doesn’t go to court it may make them think twice
Got my letter from DL this morning.
First reaction, freak out, run around the house flapping my arms and biting fingernails to the bone
Second reaction was to sit down and read the letter again (all 30 pages of it). In the notes on evidence section 3 paragraphs 2 and 3 it covers the security of connection, at no point does it mention German law.
With that said I’ve heard that there is a firm of solicitors willing to take up this case for ‘the 500′. I’ll be on the phone to them shortly.
Also received letter regarding two worlds this morning. What is the firm of solicitors? Starting to worry now…
I got this letter today from Davenport Lyons.. about twto worlds!!! what the hell
Got the letter today also for Two_Worlds.. at first I thought what the !!! but now it looks like a money grab scam hoping people will cough up the £750 early out of panic..
I wouldn’t mind but I only had the nocd crack on utorrent I actually had an original game. I’m not paying £750 for a nocd patch (which ironically TW was patched officially as nocd by the 1.2 patch from the game makers themselves)
I have also receieved this letter?!
For dling a 7gb file?!
IMO that was a 4gb file at most, going to read it good now.
Sean who are the solictors who will take up the case???
Thanks
Thank you for the information. I ve got offer to pay 758£ .I ll go to CAB in this 14 days . I gave call to my friend already. I gonna defend my rights. Anybody could use my IP address cos we have dynamic one with router,( they imagined one and sent it too me it even does not look like ) then gave call to Virgin media LTD They knew nothing I went to Police they ve got phone number of Lyons it s 02074682600 I gave them call they offered to go to solicitor. I ll spend everyth what I have but will not give them a peny !!!!I did not play and downloaded games from 2001 year when I ve got problem with eyes ….I do not wanna swear but to get my confidential information and try to scare me…they gonna be bitten by law..I ll do my best ..russbear@mail.ru
guys we can do it together maybe ?It s gonna be easier for us and hurter for them !!!and if we lose maine case we can do singles …I am not sure how it works here but we need to beat them
Right o lads.
We need to group together and total up to see how many of us there actually are.
I’m going to set up something online where we can all register for this as it basic bullying to try and get money out of you.
MSN off anyone would be great and then ill talk to you a bit a we will get this sorted in the mean time
DO NOT PAY THIS AND DO NOT WRITE OR CONTACT THEM THEY CAN USE THIS AS EVIDENCE, TO SAY THAT YOU ARE GUILTY.
Some email addresses would be nice so i can talk to you over msn or something.
Please lets sort this out, group together and not bow to these stupid threats.
Matt Lucas.
Hi, i also got a letter from Davenport lyons also for two worlds. I will be going to cab as i also have a router and it is not encrypted and to my knowledge someone could have easley used it. But there is no law to say i have to have it encrypted and also it seems to me this was a set up by one of the companies…..i will respond to the letter explaining the above, i would also like to get this sorted so my address is partyrogue@hotmail.com plaease get in touch and let me know if someone sorts something out …… thanks
Thats what i like to see thanks partyrogue.
Invite sent.
Dear Sir or Madam I received a letter from yourselfs accusing me of downloading/uploading a game called Two Worlds (work) and u say it was done with my ip address 86.20.158.184 . I have not heard of this game let alone even played it. We have 2 pcs in the house for the children to play on and i have checked both computers to see if this game is on there, and there is no sign of it . Having phoned my service provider and explained the situation to them. The only thing that we can think of is that I have a D-Link wireless router and somebody outside the family has been hacking into this. I have been informed by my service provider, that the best way to stop this is to encrypt it. Not being computer literate and also never gave it a thought that someone else would be using my ip address. I have now asked someone to put an encrypt on it NOT for the fact that u sent me a very nasty letter, and not for the fact that it is law i should do it (as there is no law to say i have to have it encrypt). But i have done it encase anybody tries to exploit my children in any way, so i should thank u for bringing that to my attention.
I would like u to send me the name of the person who has been doing this as u must have something that has the people who have been using this router ie name code or something to back the claim up. As i have had to take a couple of days of work to sort this out and seek legal advice , i will not charge for this letter but would like a response from u to this matter in hand and also the names of the persons using my router as it seems u have all the evidence Yours Faithfully
This is the letter i have sent (ARE WE NOW IN A POLICE STATE UK) sad we have no rights
I received my letter yesterday from Davenport Lyons regarding Two Worlds (work).
I as well as partyrogue is using a wireless router which at the time they mentioned in the letter was not encrypted (a friend said it was not good and helped me later to encrypt it for security reasons).
I am not from the UK originally and have no idea what i can do or where i might be able to seek advice.
burre_burst@hotmail.com
what trackers did the people that got these letters use? Private? public?
i used no tracker?!
i just got a letter!
god damn it i also got this letter -two-worlds-bull-cr@p
the advice given to me was to ignore it
lets hope thats the right option…
i do have the legitimate game too
i think its was to do with the snotty e-mail i sent to them telling them that the game sucked and was going back to blizzards world of warcraft
but is ignoring this letter is the wrong thing to do then i will pop into the local Internet cafe telling every1 how long i will be spending in jail ^.^
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