Slashdot Mirror
UK Law Body Targets RIAA-Style Settlement Letters
PerformanceDude writes "The Register reports that a major UK law firm knew it sometimes had no reliable evidence of unlawful filesharing when it demanded hundreds of pounds in damages from internet users, according to the solicitors' watchdog. London-based Davenport Lyons threatened thousands of people with legal action for alleged copyright infringement between 2006 and 2009. They were told that by quickly paying around £500 damages, plus costs, they could avoid court. Following complaints to the Solicitors Regulation Authority, Davenport Lyons now stands accused of deliberately ignoring concerns over the standard of its evidence."
Now if firms responsible will actually be punished for false claims, we might be going somewhere.
Sent from my PDP-11
Double tap to the body, then the kill shot to the head.
No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
As long as an effective defense is more expensive than out of court settlement, this type of harassment will exist. Even though Davenport Lyons may have known that some of the recipients of the letter were not guilty of anything, it would have been time consuming to figure out which ones they were. And with the state of the courts these days, it was more effective to take a wide view and hit everyone they could.
Until the government provides basic defense in all cases, this type of thing will continue.
and don't get caught: was how a legal person explained to me about lying in court. Basically some solicitors will do anything to line their pockets.
Apparently, English civil courts require real evidence when you bring a case before them.
It's kind of a neat idea. Here, it's "Well, we have an IP address that we think the defendant used around that time!" We should adopt that standard here in the good old US. Actual, hard evidence. What a great idea!
To fight the war on terror, stop being afraid.
... Than civil death will do. Have all the lawyers involved permanently disbarred, charge everyone down to the cleaning lady with being accessory to blackmail and extortion. Permanent mark on their criminal record, so they will have to struggle mightily even to get a job flipping burgers. Let's see how those crooks like it, having to say goodbye to their fine houses and expensive cars and having to move to cheap flats while their kids say goodbye to Eton and become shank fodder in the mean streets of Old Blighty.
Geeks are so full of shit that "beating the crap out of them" takes a whole new meaning.