Right then guys lets see if I can settle this argument for you. I have actually received one of these letters from DigiProtect and as such have been thouroughly researching wether or not they have a case to make against me.
Firstly I was in fact downloading the alleged file illegally. Now i don't care about the moral implications, it is in fact illegal to make copies of someone elses intellectual property.
The company that is serving these letters is actually a law firm called ACS-LAW who are working for DigiProtect. Sending a pre-lawsuit settlement letter is in fact standard practice in these situations.
According to information from ACS-LAW website 80% of people when threatened with legal action opt to settle. It also states that they have never taken a single case to court. This means there is no precedent set and a court battle could go either way. I myself intend to attempt to take this through the courts.
The evidence that is collected by DigiProtect is not planted as that would require trojan horse viruses to send results at the end of each download. That would be illegal.
Instead the company are using a bit of software called Logistep which accesses the bittorent peer to peer networks and then searches for files that DigiProtect have been told to search for. When found the program attempts to download. If it is succesful it will log the IP address and time.
ACS then went to the European High Court and got a court order for the eight largest ISPs to release details of account holders matching the gathered IP addresses at the times noted. These details were then sent back and are being held as "Evidence" of the infraction.
Because the software used attempted to download off of the user they can actually be held to of been "using p2p protocol(s), specifically for the purpose of being provided to third parties".
They are asking for the user to sign a document stating that they will never do this again and will pay a £400 settlement.
The legal grounds being stated are sections 16(1)(d) and 20 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents act 1988. These refer to broadcasting copyrighted work or inclusion in a cable program service.
This is actually very shaky legal ground as there is no precedent and some very ambiguous wording in sections 8 and 9(2)(a) mean that you can actually say that the copyrighted material is neither being broadcast or included in a cable program service. This means that you would have to be tried under section 18 which covers providing copies to the public. In this case you are covered by section 18(2)(a) which states that you are only infringing copyright if you are introduing these copies and not if you are in fact several copies down the line.
TO RIXQUE
There was a court order unfortunately. However according to the citizens advice bureau the account holder should be made aware of this. I was not and this is another area I will hopefully be taking to court.
Wish me luck in defending the rights of the common internet user. Now all i need is a solicitor who will take my case.
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I actually have one of these letters
Right then guys lets see if I can settle this argument for you. I have actually received one of these letters from DigiProtect and as such have been thouroughly researching wether or not they have a case to make against me.
Firstly I was in fact downloading the alleged file illegally. Now i don't care about the moral implications, it is in fact illegal to make copies of someone elses intellectual property.
The company that is serving these letters is actually a law firm called ACS-LAW who are working for DigiProtect. Sending a pre-lawsuit settlement letter is in fact standard practice in these situations.
According to information from ACS-LAW website 80% of people when threatened with legal action opt to settle. It also states that they have never taken a single case to court. This means there is no precedent set and a court battle could go either way. I myself intend to attempt to take this through the courts.
The evidence that is collected by DigiProtect is not planted as that would require trojan horse viruses to send results at the end of each download. That would be illegal.
Instead the company are using a bit of software called Logistep which accesses the bittorent peer to peer networks and then searches for files that DigiProtect have been told to search for. When found the program attempts to download. If it is succesful it will log the IP address and time.
ACS then went to the European High Court and got a court order for the eight largest ISPs to release details of account holders matching the gathered IP addresses at the times noted. These details were then sent back and are being held as "Evidence" of the infraction.
Because the software used attempted to download off of the user they can actually be held to of been "using p2p protocol(s), specifically for the purpose of being provided to third parties".
They are asking for the user to sign a document stating that they will never do this again and will pay a £400 settlement.
The legal grounds being stated are sections 16(1)(d) and 20 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents act 1988. These refer to broadcasting copyrighted work or inclusion in a cable program service.
This is actually very shaky legal ground as there is no precedent and some very ambiguous wording in sections 8 and 9(2)(a) mean that you can actually say that the copyrighted material is neither being broadcast or included in a cable program service. This means that you would have to be tried under section 18 which covers providing copies to the public. In this case you are covered by section 18(2)(a) which states that you are only infringing copyright if you are introduing these copies and not if you are in fact several copies down the line.
TO RIXQUE
There was a court order unfortunately. However according to the citizens advice bureau the account holder should be made aware of this. I was not and this is another area I will hopefully be taking to court.
Wish me luck in defending the rights of the common internet user. Now all i need is a solicitor who will take my case.