Big Guns Come Out In Effort To Show RIAA's Lawsuits Are Unconstitutional

UK Lawyers Video Game Piracy Shakedown Catching Plenty Of Innocent Bystanders

from the this-is-what-we-call-a-shakedown dept

Thu, Oct 30th 2008 6:54am — Mike Masnick

Last time we checked in with UK law firm Davenport Lyons, they were trying to set up a shakedown process where they threatened to sue as many people as possible for allegedly sharing a video game. Despite some lofty talk by Davenport Lyons, it was quite clear from the beginning that this never had anything to do with copyright. It was just a straight up shakedown. The firm would send threatening letters claiming that it had evidence (even if it did not) and then demand a settlement fee be paid to avoid an actual lawsuit. It's difficult to see how or why that should be legal.

The firm was aided in its quest by drastically exaggerating a legal "win" in one of these cases. The win was because it was a default judgment. The woman that was accused of file sharing did not show up in court, and the court had no choice but to rule against her. Yet, to hear Davenport Lyons tell it, you might be lead to believe that a full blown court case occurred, with a full defense of the actions, and the woman lost.

A lawyer in the UK who was disgusted by this practice, Michael Coyle, has offered to defend as many innocent recipients of the shakedown letter as possible, and now the press is reporting he's already pursuing seventy cases of innocent people being falsely accused (and has heard from hundreds more). The article profiles one such case, where a couple (aged 54 and 66) were accused of sharing a car racing game. The only problem? They have no video games on their computer, nor any file sharing software (and they didn't even know what it was until they got the threatening letter).

Even more ridiculous? They wrote to Davenport Lyons three times without any response. It was only once a magazine picked up their story that Davenport Lyons and Atari dropped the threat. It's about time that the press shines a light on these practices, which clearly have little to do with protecting the rights of copyright holders, and plenty to do with a new, highly questionable, revenue stream that some might call "extortion."

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Filed Under: file sharing, pre-settlement letters, uk
Companies: atari, davenport lyons

25 Comments

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Thomas, 30 Oct 2008 @ 7:11am

In the book "The Godfather", there was a line "1 lawyer can steal more money than 10 men with guns." Or something on that order. Why hire thugs to rob people at gunpoint when you can do it 'legally' with lawyers? It's no different from **AA; extort money without evidence.
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Anonymous of Course, 30 Oct 2008 @ 7:11am

How can you call it anything else.
I threaten to do bad things to you unless you give
me money I'm not entitled to. What other name fits
so well as extortion?

If anyone but a lawyer tried that they'd be in jail.
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Crosbie Fitch (profile), 30 Oct 2008 @ 7:18am

No more rights, just privileged
Copyright holders have no more rights than anyone else, they simply have the privilege of suing anyone who copies their published work without their permission.

If you believe all men are created equal and that such a truth is self-evident, then you do not privilege anyone above anyone else, even publishers above the public.

End the inegalitarian privilege. Abolish copyright.
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- Anonymous Coward, 30 Oct 2008 @ 10:15am
  
  Re: No more rights, just privileged
  "If you believe all men are created equal and that such a truth is self-evident, then you do not privilege anyone above anyone else, even publishers above the public."
  
  All men are created equally, no where does it say they will forever remain so.
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Peavey, 30 Oct 2008 @ 7:37am

been there
A few years ago my mother unknowingly bought me a bootlegged boxset for Christmas off ebay. I couldn't get our money back and decided to resell it (not smart).

A few days later I got letters from lawyers from the movie studios threatening to sue if I didn't mail them all means that I have to create bootlegged DVDs including a printer, my entire PC and all blank media.

It was a total shake down based on nothing other than me selling the fake boxset. I told them to screw off and luckily, never heard from them again.
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No Six Pack, 30 Oct 2008 @ 7:39am

Scam
Not only is it extortion, but it is a scam.
Where is the DOJ or equivalent ? Why are they not stopping this sort of crap.

Has the RIAA patented this business model ?
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Crazy Coyote, 30 Oct 2008 @ 7:55am

You can steal more money with a pen in a suite than a gun in the street.
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SteveD, 30 Oct 2008 @ 7:56am

Default Jugement?
It seems a bit confused; on the one hand you have torrent freak saying the woman never tried to defend herself and this was a default judgement, and on the other you have organisations like the BBC reporting its a landmark case because its the first that wasn't a default judgement...who is right?

http://torrentfreak.com/uk-game-piracy-the-propaganda-the-evidence-and-the-damages-080821/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7568642.stm

It should also be noted that trackers like the Pirate Bay deliberately pollute the IP pools with fake addresses to hinder this sort of legal action, but its not clear if that was responsible for this particular mistake.
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IP, 30 Oct 2008 @ 7:57am

Unique IPs?
I thought you would have commented on this part of the article Mike:

"their IP address - the unique numbers which identify a particular computer."
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No Six Pack, 30 Oct 2008 @ 8:03am

Business Model
1) Get IP Addr from random number generator.
2) Obtain associated name and street addr from ISP.
3) Mail letter threatening legal action unless settlement payment is made.
4) PROFIT !!!
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- Anonymous of Course, 30 Oct 2008 @ 8:18am
  
  Re: Business Model
  You're doing it all wrong!
  
  1) Get IP Addr from random number generator.
  2) Obtain associated name and street addr from ISP.
  3) Mail letter threatening legal action unless settlement payment is made.
  4) ???
  5) PROFIT !!!
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- Anonymous Coward, 30 Oct 2008 @ 9:36am
  
  Re: Business Model
  You forgot step
  5) Repeat
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Anonymous Coward, 30 Oct 2008 @ 8:17am

Youve got to pay to play
Apparently several times?
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Just Me, 30 Oct 2008 @ 8:42am

Re: Business Model
You forgot the part about stealing underpants!
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JB, 30 Oct 2008 @ 8:54am

How is what they are doing any different from the all to famous Nigerian Royalty scams of e-mail lore? The information presented to the person is false, as in the infringement notices, and they are asking for money. If I were ever to get a letter from someone asking (scratch that) DEMANDING money and implying that something bad would happen to me otherwise, I would immediately contact lawyers, authorities, and the supposed company. I would never just hand over money expecting that they are trying to protect or help me. Sadly there are too many innocent minds out there allowing people to take advantage of them. Please question things that are abnormal such as these.
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- LGT, 18 Nov 2008 @ 12:05pm
  
  Re:
  I just got one of those letters - any suggestion how to come back at them villains?
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Anonymous Coward, 30 Oct 2008 @ 8:59am

Mike, why did you put extortion in quotation marks? It seems to me that the scheme you are describing fits the definition of extortion perfectly - unless there is a more stringent legal definition I'm unaware of?
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Overcast, 30 Oct 2008 @ 9:32am

That firm should be shut down - that's like running an extortion ring.
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Anonymous Coward, 30 Oct 2008 @ 10:03am

No no no you people have the steps all wrong

1) Get IP Addr from random number generator.
2) Obtain associated name and street addr from ISP.
3) Mail letter threatening legal action unless settlement payment is made.
4) Harass and embarrass
5) Collect money
6) MAKE PROFIT !!!
7) Stomp on the defendants
8) Rinse
9) Repeat
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Jake, 30 Oct 2008 @ 11:20am

As an aside, to the best of this layman's knowledge the UK doesn't have a specific offence of extortion; we have blackmail, fraud and 'Demanding Money With Menaces', which is aimed more at threats of actual violence. I think cases like this fall into a bit of a crack; they're not quite one thing or another, which is a shame because being successfully convicted of any one of those three types of offence could lead the senior partners of Davenport Lyons to spend several years in prison.
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Dan, 30 Oct 2008 @ 11:52pm

I say counter suits all around. I hear libel is fairly easy to prove in the UK.
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AnonTech, 31 Oct 2008 @ 7:05am

Cue the Godfather theme music....
I think that the Mafia should sue RIAA and D-L for copyright infringement. To my knowledge, they pioneered this income-generating technique so clearly these young punks, RIAA and D-L, are willfully infringing!
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Not Happy, 19 Nov 2008 @ 12:07pm

Davenport Lyons
I just received one of these letters in the post today in reference to a download, im going to the Citizens Advice Bureau this coming monday to see how to proceed, i would pay the money just to make them stop but how many times will they try and with how many clients? I cant say for sure that my wireless network is secure and for me to pay them is an admittance of guilt, if someone is using my connection to download how many times have they used it and how could i pay out £505 per download as this could ammount to more money than i have ever earned in my life.

This is crazy, their letter was very demanding and i was almost tempted to pay just to get this firm off my back then it occured to me, if i pay for this one how many more wiil there be as i know these people who sell pirated material download multiple files sometimes on more than one machine.

I will just have to wait and see.:(
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Fight Back, 20 Nov 2008 @ 3:13am

I have read on other forums that people that have paid up have then recieved more letters after a time asking for further amounts. They have paid up simply to get rid of the stress of having to deal with a court case, perhaps scared of going to jail or having thier job put at risk.
Not because they actually committed an offence.

If you have not done anything wrong then you do not and should not pay them a penny. Why would you?!
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donnathorburn, 22 Nov 2008 @ 8:39am

davenport lyons
i downloaded a song for my son and i put on my phone and know i am getting sued for the amount of 503 POUNDS from them as well for there client bur i had read that its like they lay a trap and then catch them out i mean i know i shouldnt of done it but i didnt kwow i was file sharing but they get court orders for your isps to give them your details but im going to a lawyer to see what he can do and whats not to say u pay it then a couple of months down the line u get another one were does it end what about the big time sharers they are the ones getting away with it
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