Disgusting !

[sunama]

Ive been following this thread now. Numpty, can you scan this letter that you received for us to take a look.

Given that there is no phone number strikes me as odd. I wouldnt even dignify the letter with any sort of response. Hold onto it though.

What also strikes me as suspicious is the fact that Numpty is the only other person (in the UK, it seems) to have received such a letter. Also, Numpty has only just signed upto these forums. It couldnt be that Numpty and Dicehunter are in league with each other, or shock horror, the same person?

Numpty might be tempted to pay, as he committed the crime. But in the case of Dicehunter, he didnt even commit the crime, in which case, I would definitely goto court. Should he receive another letter, write back telling them your side of the story and that you will be happy to argue your case in court. No way would I pay £700 for a crime I didnt commit.

And for Gods sake, donot use the argument of not knowing that you could download games off the internet, for free, illegally. If the Judge hears that, he might just get ****** off enough to think you are a big fat liar.

If these cases/stories are genuine, then keep us informed as these will be the first cases in the UK to have been taken to court. The result of your cases could set a precedent in UK law.

 

[SGWills]

only thing that jumps out at me, would be to ask who's your isp's ? sounds like inside job as its surely again DPA to give out personal info to 3rd parties without customer conscent?

just ignore until a letter from the courts arrive on your door, just explain that there was similar people who were scammed in the same way as this as gone, til then get on with your life

 

[Pez]

Hello Tefal, ok I see your point. Regardless though, it is still illegal and how it can be different from one country to another is beyond me.



Hello snowdog, that's fair enough and thanks for your post.

Stop greeting everyone

You need to realise that different laws apply in different countries... UK law in not world law.

 

[Hades]

The Long Tail > Wal-Mart...

ps3ud0

Spot on

 

[peetee]

easy thing to do is go buy the game second hand and snap the disc, tell them you didnt want to buy a new disc because you could download it for free.

 

[sunama]

easy thing to do is go buy the game second hand and snap the disc, tell them you didnt want to buy a new disc because you could download it for free.

Superb.

Also get your friend to write you out a receipt, back dated a few weeks/months before you downloaded the game.

You now have a valid excuse with proof that you purchased the game, 2nd hand, for cash, before you ever downloaded it or received court summons.

 

[Numpty]

contacted my isp and they inform me that any company requiring information about my account/ usage would need my permission , i recieved no such request

 

[monkeyspank]

Superb.

Also get your friend to write you out a receipt, back dated a few weeks/months before you downloaded the game.

You now have a valid excuse with proof that you purchased the game, 2nd hand, for cash, before you ever downloaded it or received court summons.

You now have vaild proof that your friend, and possibly you, broke the EULA lol

 

[KPeh]

Superb.

Also get your friend to write you out a receipt, back dated a few weeks/months before you downloaded the game.

You now have a valid excuse with proof that you purchased the game, 2nd hand, for cash, before you ever downloaded it or received court summons.

I haven't been paying attention to this thread (too many pages!), but what you've said that wont hold up. With p2p programs there will be copyright infringement whether or not you have a license for the game, as you are not simply making a copy for yourself, but uploading it to others too.

And if you've a decent chance of losing, don't go to court. Copyright infringement is a criminal offence, not a civil one. It wont look good on your CV.

 

[Jon Frost]

Any updates? Any scans of these 'letters' yet?

 

[SexyGreyFox]

easy thing to do is go buy the game second hand and snap the disc, tell them you didnt want to buy a new disc because you could download it for free.

I bet nobody has thought of this before.
However, how do you get around the distributing of the product to other people on P2P?

 

[Majago]

What also strikes me as suspicious is the fact that Numpty is the only other person (in the UK, it seems) to have received such a letter. Also, Numpty has only just signed up to these forums. It couldnt be that Numpty and Dicehunter are in league with each other, or shock horror, the same person?

His join date is 2005 he just hasn't posted much.

 

[sunama]

I bet nobody has thought of this before.
However, how do you get around the distributing of the product to other people on P2P?

It would appear that this is the point that is getting people "done". Downloading a program might be justified, but uploading it to several people seems to be the big no-no.

A lot of P2P programs now offer encryption. This effectively, "hides" from ISPs, the fact that the 1's and 0's you are sending/receiving, are in those from a file sharing program. Would this be sufficient?

I doubt however, that the IP address would be masked/hidden.

I remember a project known as 'Freenet' which effectively does this allows users to share information/files, totally anonymously. Its a shame that this hasnt taken off.

 

[sunama]

You now have vaild proof that your friend, and possibly you, broke the EULA lol

Please elaborate. As far as I know it is perfectly acceptable within the law to sell any item that you own. This includes a computer game. What the buyer does after you have sold it to him, is not your responsibility.

 

[Hellsmk2]

So what was the verdict in this case? Davenport Lyons is actually a legit company, and can sue?

I've got a mate who's just received the same letter.

They are a real company, but they have yet to take a single person to court. I think the general consensus is that they're trying to scare people into paying up and not bothering with those who don't.

Your friend should either write to them and tell them to stuff off, or ignore it completely. He should also give his ISP an earful as they are not supossed to give your information out so readily.

Real company - scam claim!

 

[peetee]

I bet nobody has thought of this before.
However, how do you get around the distributing of the product to other people on P2P?

really? Ever since i was about 10 I figured if i ever got caught i would just go buy the second hand products of whatever i was caught with to avoid getting spanked, keep it hush though, we dont want the masses catching on

The uploading part is obviously not covered by this, but tbh most judges etc wouldnt understand this, you could say 'i didnt know it did that, it never asked me if it could!' or something, lets face it, these are the people that decided RAM = log files?

 

[peetee]

someone should report them to the police, its illegal monitoring isnt it?

They get your name number address personal details(activitys) and then they will save them on their computer's which they need your permission for do they not?

 

[breman1972]

Looks like you may have got away with it?

http://torrentfreak.com/anti-piracy-company-breaches-privacy-080123/

 

[Jon Frost]

Davenport Lyons has implied it gained a court ‘victory’ on December 17th following ‘Final Warning’ letters it sent to people in the ‘pinball’ case recently. However, this appears to be a ‘victory’ against someone who just didn’t bother to turn up in court. Some precedent.

 

[sunama]

Actually, given that it did goto court, although the defendent didnt show up, it was a win none the less. Obviously they have a plan of argument in place to prosecute the file sharers, though I'm not familiar with the pin ball case.

Their real test will come when they come up against someone who is admitting to nothing and is claiming innocence, with a decent excuse.