ACS Law file sharing cases dismissed

Law firm responsible for thousands of threatening letters to alleged file sharers sees eight cases thrown out of court

All eight cases recently brought to court by ACS Law against alleged illegal file sharers have been dismissed by a judge.

The firm is known to have sent thousands of letters to alleged file sharers threatening legal action on the back of the Digital Economy Act. Many recipients have opted to pay the fine, often in the region of £200, rather than face a day in court.

The firm attempted initially to secure a default judgement , where the file sharers had invoked no defence, to avoid an expensive trial, in all cases.

However, in three of the cases, the defendants had responded to the allegations, thereby making a default judgement impossible and necessitating further legal costs.

In three other cases, the judge found that the defendants had not been served proper notice.

In the two remaining cases, the firm had made a procedural error, and the judge felt unable to award a default judgement.

The judge said that even if the correct procedures had been followed, he didn't feel that owning an insecure internet connection was the same as 'authorising' copyright infringement, which is a test required by the statute. It is currently impossible to prove whether an infringement was committed by the owner of an insecure internet connection, or a third party 'piggy-backing' on the connection.

The decision was welcomed on the forums of Pirate Party UK, a political party campaigning for updates to copyright and patent law to reflect the digital age, as user Gavman wrote: "Good to see a judge on the ball there."

James Bench from website beingthreatened.com, set up to advise and co-ordinate those being chased by firms such as ACS Law, said: "When they write to you, they send you the IP address from which the illegal activity originated, and the version of the file sharing client used." He added that this may not be significant enough information to prove guilt.

ACS Law's website was attacked and taken down by a distributed denial of service attack earlier this year by a vigilante group angered by its methods.