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RECEIVED A LETTER FROM ACS:LAW?

(Or Gallant Macmillan)

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ACS:LAW - Humiliated by rejection of the US Copyright Group

An ambitious claim posted on the ACS:LAW website has been retracted and ammended after a confirmation from the Solicitor Group it claimed to have been "Working in cooperation with" was dismissed by the group. 

The "US Copyright Group" AKA "Savecinema.org" and also "Dunlap Weaver and Grubb" confirmed they are NOT working with the increasingly isolated Andrew Crossley.

Less than a month after losing his most active Para legal Terence Tsang, who left to join Cramer Pelmont, (leaving off the fact that he had EVER worked for ACS:LAW)  Andrew Crossley is now facing derision and ignomy after claiming to work for people who he is not.  How embarrassing.

This is all of course also on the back of his threat to SUE the people he had falsely accused for comments he considered libellious and defamatory

We call on Andrew Crossley to STOP what he is doing,  It is getting to the point of complete and utter humiliation now.

Below are the original post and the edited post after it became clear that Dunlap Weaver and Grubb had denied Crossleys involement.

[caption id="attachment_318" align="alignnone" width="470" caption="The original Post by ACS:LAW 1st June 2010"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_319" align="alignnone" width="470" caption="The edited Post after learning that the Group wants nothing to do with them"][/caption]

What do others think of ACS:LAW and their business plan?

Here is a short list of quotes from people regarding ACS:LAW and their "Business practice".  As can be seen from the diverse range of comment ALL critical of ACS:LAW this is in NO WAY "merely targetted by an Internet campaign" as ACS:LAW Chief Honcho Andrew Crossley claimed. 

These quotes are from Lords of the Realm, Industry leaders. the Music Industry, Consumer Watchdogs,  and there is even one from one Of ACS:LAWs own employees taunting a person whose friend had been targetted by one of their "Speculative Invoices"



Please Download the PDF version here acs law - what people think and of course post it around.  It IS the Truth.

ACS:LAW The heartwarming story of Andrew Jonathon Crossley (Or how he overcame financial problems to fleece the innocent... allegedly)

How heart warming it is to see that a man who as a result of being clinically depressed in 1999 suffered a stroke which in turn caused temporary complete blindness which in turn caused him to be unable to file his solicitors accounts on time or even at all for FIVE separate periods totalling FORTY-EIGHT months between periods ending 31st Dec 1999 and 31st December 2003, a period during which coincidentally this poor man was forced to enter into an IVA (Individual Voluntary Arrangement), was fined and ordered to be suspended indefinitely by an SRA tribunal in 2002, a man who had to face the further ignominy and trauma of a second disciplinary hearing in 2006 has recovered from this clinical depression and blindness enough to not only rebuild a career but a career as a successful* solicitor no less.

I hope all those Innocent falsely accused people who are currently experiencing financial troubles can draw some strength from this brave mans story for it appears (from his own website at least) that he is achieving a massive 80% success rate with his speculative invoicing campaign which by my rough calculations means his letter drop of 2009 has netted him in excess of £2.25m from internet users.

Let this man Andrew Jonathon Crossley be an inspiration in your darkest moments, let his triumph over depression, blindness indebtedness and insolvency spur you on.

That a man who for years was unable to get to grips with the numbers involved with his own basic practice accounts can just a few years later become an expert legal pioneer in the field of IP address’s and forensics is remarkable and gives me hope that one day I might yet go on to become a rocket scientist or invent the time-machine despite my poor showing in pure and applied maths and physics at A level.

The full story. LINK

The only Andrew J Crossley registered with the law society, (admission date 15/07/1991 see disciplinary report). LINK

* Well not that successful if you were to ask Vince Acors the Dubai "sex on the beach" chappie.
LINK

Who was Vince Acors PR man?*

Andrew J Crossley has been the subject of not one but TWO SRA tribunals involving failure to submit accounts. The previous hearing took place in December 2002, here's the decision:

"..the Tribunal could not allow the current failures on the part of the Respondent to continue indefinitely. For this reason, the Tribunal ordered that the Respondent be suspended from practice for an indefinite period to commence on the 31st January 2003 but confirmed that should he regularise his position and file his outstanding annual Accountant’s Reports with The Law Society by that date then the sanction imposed upon him by the Tribunal would be that of a reprimand and not a suspension. It was right that the Respondent should pay the Applicant’s costs and the Tribunal ordered that these be paid in the fixed sum of £1,250 plus VAT, a figure with which the Respondent agreed.”

(The Respondent did regularise his position and was reprimanded)

* We now know that the PR guy was Lee Bowden of Piri Ltd, Media C.A.T, and the Text Works. Media C.A.T? yep the very same ones who have now hired ACS:LAW to track down copyright infringers! ** Original Article posted by Jasper1965 on CAG February 2010

Which? vs ACS:LAW "The UNUSUAL suspects"

[caption id="attachment_276" align="alignnone" width="114" caption="Page 1"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_277" align="alignnone" width="117" caption="Page 2"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_278" align="alignnone" width="115" caption="Page 3"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_279" align="alignnone" width="117" caption="Page 4"][/caption]

Which? computing in their latest Magazine have an article regarding the many falsely accused people who have been caught in the "Speculative Invoicing" plan by ACS:LAW.  Described in the Lords as "Legal Blackmail, the article exposing it further to the light is published here. (I would urge you all to actually BUY Which? as it is truly an EXCELLENT magazine)

I would like to say a big thankyou to Which? Computing AND to Deborah Prince the Legal affairs Chief

 "Fair Use is Claimed"

New Bull$hit Detector

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="230" caption="Click to start"][/caption]



this is the new ACS 2 Bullshit Detector.  It has been run past the latest letters and seems to be VERY reliable at detecting bullshit.  If you have any comments on how the new ACS 2 can be improved please let me know.

One year on and ACS:LAW still Threaten

Today is the First year anniversary of ACS:LAW sending out their "Speculative Invoices" of course when I say "they" I really mean Andrew J Crossley.  Let us not make ACS:LAW sound more grand than what it really is.  A one man band.

So with all the "Forensic" Evidence and "Airtight" cases, WHERE are the chances to stand in court then Andrew?  One Year? No Court cases?  shame on you!

Lee Bowden and Media CAT..... Coming soon

[caption id="attachment_175" align="alignleft" width="144" caption="Lee Bowden - Media C.A.T and Piri LTD"][/caption]

Lee Bowden the Friend of ACS:LAWs Andrew Crossley and the "Sex on the Beach in Dubai" Vince Acors has been "Pretending" to now be a "Copyright Expert" protecting some rather nasty Pornography films such as "Granny F%$%$rs" and the like.  "Copyright Expert"?? LMAO oh really? wasnt this the same Lee Bowden who used to pretend to be a MEDIA AGENT for his Friend?  Hmmm ANYTHING for a quick buck I guess.

If Mr Bowden likes to hang with people who have sex in Arabic Countries in public and likes to watch Porn movies of this kind then he should at least keep such things to himself.  BUT it seems he has been sending out letters demanding money from people who he believes shares the same fetish as him.  IF any of you have been targetted by this sick individual, please get in touch..... 

As Andrew Crossley his friend and the signature of the letters once said "Sex Sells..." Well quite but I would certainly NOT be interested in viewing such filth, paid or not.

ANYONE of you out their who have received a letter from these people PLEASE send it to me at my email.

ACS:LAW to Hit the Cannes Film Festival! In search of crap films to extort money from

Or "The Trough is dry so we will talk to people who have NO idea that we have NO good reputation"

ACSLAW to Hit the Cannes Film Festival!  Wow exciting times, Andrew Crossley must have made a LOT of money to weasel his way there. 

The chances of this idiot of course being thrown out of Cannes is quite high. NO respected Film Producer or production house is going to give him a second look.  Who will? Well films that are crap and that no one wants to watch. 

Who is Crossley working with regarding his “colleagues based in Europe and the United States”? Well if I had to hazard a guess at what smells the same in the US as this Crap in the UK it would have to be the “US Copyright Group” who has on its client list such films as “Steam Experiment,” “Far Cry,” “Uncross the Stars,” “Gray Man,” or “Call of the Wild 3D.” never heard of them? Well like I said that is because they are CRAP and don’t deserve to earn any money (Don’t believe me? Check out IMDB or the name of Far Cry Director “Uwe Boll”).  This is where the TRUE reasoning behind the “creating a revenue stream and monetizing the equivalent of an alternative distribution channel.” as US Copyright Group Lawyer Jeffrey Weaver recently commented, comes from.

You pick a game or a film or music, that is basically CRAP and does not sell much, rather than saying “Hey it’s a piece of Crap” they say, “the reason it has not sold is that people have copied it for free”.    They BUY the rights for P2P distribution of these AWFUL titles and then ANY IP that is caught in a SWARM is targeted, spoofed or not, they don’t care.  It is ALL money to them.  AVATAR of course did VERY bad at the Box Office because of all the free downloads!

Of course don’t fool yourself that this is actually JUSTICE, if there was ANY chance of it going to Court the actual claim would be DROPPED, see they don’t want a fight, OH NO they want to SCARE people into THINKING they will be taken to Court.  Don’t believe me? Ok, go find ALL the people that ACS LAW, Davenport Lyons or Tilly Bailey & Irvine have ACTUALLY prosecuted. Oh and Isabella Barwinska DOES NOT COUNT.  Go on, and please IF you do find someone please please email me, I will be VERY surprised.

 Oh and one last point, considering it was claimed that Isabella Barwinska was the FIRST person Prosecuted for file sharing in the UK, you could also go and see if you can find me a photo or any other info on this lady.

So I hope someone in Cannes spots this fat balding charlatan and takes some pics of him and his sidekick Terence.  You know where to send them…..

ACS:LAW Response to the DeBill being passed

The rather childish response from ACS:LAW as posted on their website.

ACS Law are delighted with the passing of the Digital Economy Bill through the House of Commons and welcomes a new age of prosperity for our creative industries. The swift and decisive action taken today will ensure that rights owners may now invest with confidence to deliver high quality media to the masses. 

This firm has always held the belief that the owner of the internet connection should be held, in the first instance, to be responsible for copyright infringement occurring on their internet connection. We are encouraged to see that the government are of a similar view. The Digital Economy Bill comes as a tragic blow to those who have failed in their misguided attempts to campaign against our work and similarly, those who believe that they can continually deprive hard working musicians, film makers and software companies of the revenue they rightly deserve without repercussion. 

In a short space of time, we have demonstrated sustainable and measurable results for our clients. As our client list grows, we continue to represent and work closely with rights owners to ensure that their intellectual property is protected. The future holds many new opportunities which this firm will capitalise upon, as we aim to multiply our successes through a new marketing initiative to take advantage of the Digital Economy Bill.

Time to pop the champagne cork and celebrate? We certainly think so.

So says ACS:LAW (Leaving aside the fact that he targets many innocent people with his $250 piece of crap monitoring software).  I will leaves their words hanging as they do, there is NOTHING I can say that would make them any more ridiculous than they already are.  I will also leave the last Word to Mr Crossley, regarding his clawing back money for the rightful owners.  "After my expenses the copyright owner is the largest single beneficiary," he said.

What he of course FAILS to mention is that in the ACS:LAW Business Model Logistep, Digiprotecr and now his own Friend LEE BOWDEN, BUY the rights to the material for a pittance and so make the money as the "Copyright Holder", nice work if you can get it, oh and of course you don't have a conscience.

Like a T-Shirt? DeBill Passed, Democracy NOT FOUND

[caption id="attachment_201" align="alignleft" width="116" caption="Cant prove a Negative?"][/caption]

Now the Digital Economy has been pushed through and it is quite clear that the MP's are in the pockets of BIG BUSINESS rather than acting as OUR representatives, I thought I would post a little light relief.  I mean it is good to protest right? A RIOT is merely the language of the unheard....right?  Well man do I feel unheard right now.

I have ACS:LAW sending me their shite and threatening me with financial ruin if I dont cough up first £500 and now they want over a £1000, (although I do wonder if Mr Crossley knows that or if it is only Mr Tsang, you just cant tell these days) crooks Birds of a feather and all.  I have written dozens of letters and made even more phone calls, managed to persuade some BBC Journos to do a story about ACS LAW, Everyone seems to be saying that ACS LAW are WRONG,

Anyhows, where was I , ahh yes since Baron Madelbrot decided he would do the bidding of David Geffen and the rest of the Corporate world rather than those who elected him wante

404 ERROR

d, sorry? I forgot NO ONE elected this MORON did they? Well that makes it even WORSE.  Oh balls, I cant write anymore, this who clusterf%$k of a Government has REALLY got my goat.  here take a look at a couple of fantasy T-Shirts for fun.

British Government Bought by BIG BUSINESS?

[caption id="attachment_193" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption="Peter Mandelson with (l) Jacob Rothschild and (r) David Geffen"][/caption]

For all the THOUSANDS of people who contacted their MP's regarding the Digital Economy Bill, a more shameful display of arrogance can scarcely be remembered in the House of Commons as that was displayed yesterday.  With the whole FUTURE of our Digital Economy hanging in the Balance,  it was a sad day indeed for those who still believed in Democracy.

There can be NO doubt that our Business Secretary, Peter Mandelson has IGNORED the call of thousands if not MILLIONS of people to listen to the opinions of the TWO men pictured with him in the above Collage.  David Geffen, and Jacob Rothschild et all. 

It is a DISGRACE and that is all I can say about this situation, a debate held AFTER the Election was announced.

ACS:LAWs Terence Tsang the "Del Boy" of file sharing buys job lot of monitoring programs "Off the back of a lorry" to help out his Bosses Mate!

[caption id="attachment_175" align="alignleft" width="144" caption="Lee Bowden - Media C.A.T and Piri LTD"][/caption]

With news breaking that the Paralegal Terence Tsang has bought code from a freelancer with a view to:  

[caption id="attachment_176" align="alignright" width="106" caption="Terence Tsang - ACS LAW, AvanGroup, AdvanMedia"][/caption]

 “Create a bit-torrent client for me which will obtain details about file sharers of certain torrents. Server is Linux. The torrent client just needs to monitor IP addresses and take information which is then placed in a database,” writes Tsang in his request.  

[caption id="attachment_177" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Andrew Crossley - ACS LAW"][/caption]

“The information needed is as follows: Host IP, Hit Date and time (GMT time), Provider network name (i believe whois search will help with this – can you think of a better way?), P2P Client, File name, File size, MD5 of file,”  

And also:  

 “So we need to get the software to monitor a number of specific torrents it needs to create a database of the above information. The database needs to be able to import into a database file like csv. I am only interested in UK IP addresses. Easy job if you have the skills,”   

It seems only right in light of ACS LAWs failure to release details regarding their “Monitoring system”, and the fact that ACS LAW Sole Partner Andrew Crossleys buddy and work associate Lee Bowden has entered the fray as a client of ACS LAW to do what they do best and SPECULATE, so here goes.  

Lee Bowden owns MEDIA C.A.T and The Text Works and is a Partner with Jay Puddy of Pirri LTD.  Although there is NO suggestion that Pirri LTD is involved with this but MEDIA C.A.T most certainly is and so is Bowden.  

Indeed at the hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice in London on November 19th 2009 When Chief Master Winegarten asked why rights holders were dealing with Media C.A.T and not directly with DigiProtect, Crossley said that  

“[Media C.A.T] happen to operate in the UK…dealing with UK companies…” In referring to the scheme ACS:Law and DigiProtect operate in respect of these hardcore porn titles, Crossley tried to suggest that they were doing a public service by helping to prevent the sharing of restricted movies on P2P.  

Chief Master Winegarten responded by noting that  

“[this is] not a moral crusade” and that in his opinion, ACS:Law and DigiProtect were doing this “…because you want the money.”  

So what are we to make of this? Well it PROVES that Terence Tsang bought code for the very purpose of bringing file sharing suspects to court.  

The work dates back to April 2008, I do NOT know when he left Davenport Lyons but this time scale would at least indicate the timing of a realistic business practice.  Indeed  their WAS a abortive website that attempted this that was registered back in January 2009, it name was http://www.stoppiracy.co.uk/ and a quick WHOIS search reveals that the Registrant is…… Terence Tsang of Advanmedia/AdvanGroup and also of ACS:LAW.    

We KNOW that Lee Bowden and Andrew Crossley are friends or at the least associates.  Bowdens Company Media C.A.T is in trouble with it’s finances and needs cash, how? Well a quick search of Companies House Website SHOWS that Media C.A.T is in trouble.  

1)  If Terence Tsang had inside knowledge into the methods used by Logistep and Digiprotect which having worked for DL we assume he would have.  Have we just uncovered the specification of the “Monitoring Software”? , if so then this confirms what we have suspected all along, that this “Monitoring Software” is not fit for purpose. This may also explain the complete reluctance by ACS:Law to provide the “Evidence” and “Expert Reports” to those that have requested them.  

2)   Is this commissioned application the very same monitoring software now being used by Media C.A.T ? , and if it is then is this not a serious conflict of interest? not only does it raise serious concerns about the quality and processes used by the “Monitoring Software” it’s also possible that the solicitors concerned:  

a.      Commissioned the program  

b.      Operate the Program  

c.      Gather the Evidence  

d.      Produce the letters of Claim  

e.      Receive Money from the “Damages” claimed  

This may be something that the SRA may wish to investigate further and if the suspicions are proved to be true they should be held to account for their actions.  

So What is the Truth? Is Andrew Crossley merely helping out a friend in need(Lee Bowden) or is Terence Tsang trying to break away from ACS LAW?  How Did Tilly Bailey & Irvine get involved? ….we cant know for sure but certainly their needs to be an investigation by the Solicitors Regulation Authority at the VERY least into the actions of these three people.  It seems at the VERY least that all roads lead to Terence Tsang and Advanmedia/AdvanGroup

Credit: Thx Flaw!

Wanted Posters

As described by Lord Lucas and Lord Clement-Jones in the House of Lords.  "Legal Blackmail"  (Click on Thumbnails)

Open letter to Andrew Crossley Re: Threat to Slyck Forums

This is an open letter to Andrew J Crossley. I have noticed a post where you have threatened the Slyck Forums for defamation. I find this most strange but will try to shed some light upon it considering you have brought up my name in relation to the alleged defamation.

 I am no Solicitor, merely a concerned net user accused in your dragnet of sharing a “Work”. I deny it and still await the evidence you hold on me, it has now been nearly a year.

You say I called your Paralegal Terence Tsang, a “W%$£$%” and also that I have implied that he has been “harassing” people online. First let us be clear, either Terence DOES work for you or he doesn’t, of course I know he does and also because of his desire to inflate his own ego to your detriment (more of that to follow), I know he also DID work for “Davenport Lyons”

You made it quite clear when interviewed that you had NO link with “Davenport Lyons” I know that to be “economical with the actualite” you see you were SEEN with Davenport Lyons Solicitors at a Court Hearing, Terence told a friend of mine that he WORKED for the, so their WAS and IS a link.

The question of evidence has been longstanding to be almost humorous, indeed if you were not representing some VERY vilely titled Films for your “Clients” I would be truly on the floor laughing. A single line from a an MS spreadsheet that says NOTHING is hardly evidence is it Mr Crossley? “Army F$£$%£s” is really not the sort of film you should be representing is it? I mean would you like your name associated with it? Oh don’t answer it already is along with many many more I could not actually reproduce here. What DO you call a person who acts for the Sex Industry and represents “Clients” anyway? Pimp?

 I know that you infringed copyright on your original Website, not only with pictures but also articles, I know you were compelled to take them down by rights holders in some cases. That is not good is it? Someone setting themselves up to defend peoples rights by err…. Taking them without permission. http://tinyurl.com/lzygvt

Remember the Word Documents that you hosted on your original website? You can learn a lot from Word Documents, that is how we first knew of Terence Tsang “TTsang” was rather obvious, as was “Davenport lyons” on the “Created by” Field. You did deny any link with Davenport lyons of course as I mentioned earlier, but come on really? Admit it, you will look less foolish and more honest. Remember Tracy Prevett? The “tprevett” who wrote your FAQ? Work for ACS LAW or Davenport Lyons? Don’t answer http://tinyurl.com/ye3mx77

The accusation that Terence has been harassing people? Hmmm well what would YOU call it, Terence has been known to stalk the chatroom at Beingthreatened, and also on twitter sending Direct Messages, and also emails, but you MUST have know about all that surely? I mean he is not a loose cannon is he? Is he?http://tinyurl.com/yz7rj5u

 I was amazed at how many websites Terence had set up http://www.batchfords.co.uk, http://www.ADVANGROUP.COM, http://www.autoadvan.co.uk/, http://www/quicksalefast.co.uk, http://www.japaneseauctions.co.uk, http://www.stoppiracy.co.uk, http://www.acs-law.org.uk/ http://www.ukcompromiseagreements.co.uk/

To name but a few, and then of course there is the case of the two he was forced to hand over, what were they again? Oh of course,

http://www.moorganstanley.com and  http://olddnational.com

now I am quite sure these were attempts at making money at the expense of Morgan Stanley and Old National Bancorp, again you MUST have know about these right?

I wonder if you know that Terence was making deals on Twitter to send mail directly to him? Of course you did.

I am sorry to have said the “W%$£$%” word in regard to Terence as what I meant to say was “Who is this Shyster Terence Tsang” see, I am not sure what he does in the comfort of his own home, (apart from watching “Animal farm” and downloading “Championship Manager” but of course that is only what HE has said.) NO I cannot KNOW that he is a “W%$£$%” so I should not have said it, on balance of probability though, and lets face it at the Civil Court that is what it is, I would say it is most probable that he is a “Shyster”, of course as you knew NOTHING about what he was up to I could not possibly comment, but you know now what he has been up to.

As far as the comparison between yourself and Harold Shipman, I can only apologise if you thought I was actually comparing you to the Bad Doctor, anyone who actually read the comment though would have realized I was merely using a metaphor, I was saying that as the Music Industry had been criticized for being so heavy handed in dealing with alleged infringers, the fact that you had been slated BY the Music Industry struck me as an extremity, and the only thing I could think about was Harold Shipman calling a Doctor a “bit negligent”.

I hope you will come clean now Mr Crossley, it would be interesting for you to go on record and say why Ms Beale bailed out on you and went to Newmans. Ohh and BTW, looking at your Word Document, I see you have a Macintosh, very nice. Now show us the Evidence

BTW I also know that Media-Cat  is owned by your friend and colleague Lee Bowden who is also a Director of Piri LTD, Had a nice chat with the fellow Director who did not seem to happy with what Mr Bowden was doing.  Of course I also know that Media-Cat is in financial trouble http://tinyurl.com/ylpuszg I know he was also the Media Agent for Vice Acors, you remember him right? http://tinyurl.com/4hkq8a 

Those in glass houses Mr Crossley....

Brian Miller is "Virtuallyinhouse"!

A scary thought indeed but it seems that one of the "Davenport 2" has a Webpage on...... GOOGLESITES!.  Now don't take this the wrong way but, does it not seem rather amaturish for a so called "Specialist in the fields of interactive entertainment, e-commerce, music, computer games and the enforcement of related intellectual property rights on the internet." to have his pitch on a FREE webserver?

Even stranger is the fact that he has a link and it seems indeed that "Virtuallyinhouse" is a part of his Wifes larger business. Stranger still that a few years ago a group called "Davenport Cats" threatened to disclose details of a personal nature regarding Mr and Mrs Miller in light of the  "Bullying and Harrasment" that Davenport Lyons was conducting at the time and which has  now landed Mr Miller and his Co-Director David Gore in hot water with the SRA. 

 Now my point regarding this is that at the time it seemed unsightly that Mr Millers Wife should be dragged into an argument merely because she was married to a "Bully", and I agree she should not, however nor do I believe it is right that Mr Miller trades off his Wifes name if he feels that he does not want the spotlight to shine on her unfavourably.  Does that make sense? 

See for yourself.  Mr Millers Amateurish business site is here http://www.virtuallyinhouse.com/  See for yourself on the links.  Read how it describes Mr Miller then check out the link "Recomendations" and see that the link still shows Mr Miller working for Davenport Lyons.  Can we say shoddy? I thought we could

EDIT: Of course I realise that my little Blog may well look amateurish, but that is ok, I dont have money from people I have "bullied and harrassed" to build a better one......

The Davenport "TWO": Their Solicitor speaks out

[caption id="attachment_126" align="alignleft" width="122" caption="Mark Stephens - Stephens Finers Innocent "][/caption]

The Solicitor representing Davenport Lyons EX Director Brian Miller and and current Director David Gore, has spoken out about his clients innocence.  Mark Stephens from the improbably named "Finers Stephens Innocent" said the following

Mark Stephens, a partner at Stephens Finers Innocent who is representing the two solicitors involved, rejected the consumer group’s allegations. He said Davenport Lyons has a long tradition of protecting the rights of creators, and its methodology for handling illegal file-sharing cases conforms to industry best practice, and has been adopted in the Digital Economy Bill currently going through parliament. Stephens said it was not correct to say the solicitors’ conduct was inappropriate in the manner alleged by Which?, adding that Davenport Lyons has a 100% success rate for the illegal file-sharing cases that it has taken to court. Stephens accepted that there was a ‘small concern’ regarding the information provided by the internet service provider, which Davenport Lyons had relied on. In a few cases, he said the ISP had wrongly identified the people involved. But once the error was discovered, the cases against them were not pursued. There were also a number of people who had left their computers in an insecure state and third parties had gained control over them. Again, said Stephens, these people were subsequently not pursued.

Here at "Received a letter from ACS:LAW?" we like to take the opportunity to share with you the results of this information when we fed it through our "Bull$hit Detector"

[caption id="attachment_125" align="alignleft" width="121" caption="The Davenport/ACS/TBI Bull$hit Detector - Click here"][/caption]

It does not look good.  The FULL Statement can be found at http://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/two-solicitors-accused-over-file-sharing-bully-tactics

Davenport Lyons, ACS:LAW, Tilly Bailey and Irvine, SHAME ON YOU

These people sent a letter demanding £500 to an elderly couple, accusing them of illegally downloading gay porn film Army F*ckers.

The firm’s clients include German company DigiProtect, which owns the rights to Army F*ckers.

Can you even imagine what it must be like for a family man who is innocent yet receives a letter accusing him of downloading GAY Porn? How does he explain to his family that it is wrong? This is just one example of this kind of nasty "Extortion" or as the House of Lords referred to it, "Legal Blackmail".  How many families will be destroyed by people like Miller, and Gore, and now Andrew Crossley of ACS:LAW, and Amanda Mitten of Tilly Bailey & Irvine?  Destroying people for a fast buck, nasty just plain nasty.  Shame on them.

Miller and Gore will of course be given a right to defend the allegations that are levelled at them, and a chance to a fair hearing.  It is not fair that this right is stripped from the people they accuse.  The ones who pay up, pay for a hoped silence to keep it from their families and loved ones, but those who choose to stand strong keep receiving letter after letter, even after they have denied the allegation. 

ACS:LAW and Tilly Bailey & Irvine MUST either put up or SHUT UP, if you have this evidence then lets go to court and let us defend ourselves as is our right,  STOP this legal circus that you claim Mr Crossley can last for up to SIX YEARS, end it NOW, go to court and try to save your tattered reputation, after the news that your previous Client in the "Sex on the Beach in Dubai" (Vince Acors) was confirmed as your personal friend and that also your other friend Lee Bowden of Piri Ltd and Media-Cat is also involved with you after working as Mr Acors Press Agent, I realy dont think you have a reputation to protect.  Is that why you are so dogmatic?,  that you have nothing left to lose? Well then so be it, I think you will be following Mr Miller and Mr Gore into the Disciplinary tribunal soon enough, and Ms Mitten dont think you will get away with it either.

FLASHBACK: Eyewitness to Davenport Lyons aiding ACS:LAW in Court hearing

This piece is from the Legendary Beingscammed. who was threatened by ACS:LAW for trying to help the Victims of their letters.  Originally posted on the 11th May 2009.  In light of the TWO Directors of Davenport Lyons being sent by the SRA to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, I though it good that this be posted so all new recipients could see the truth.  Thanks ACS:FLAW for pointing this out to me

Topware in Court

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Well that was very interesting.I attended the court proceedings this morning between Topware and BE UN LTD, much to the angst of Andrew Crossley. Not sure if he even knew that courts are public and as such anyone may attend and observe (provided that you don't interrupt / interfere, and you ask the judge nicely).Now the link between Davenport Lyons and ACS: Law became oh so more clear. The link is about as close as possible without them being the same company. Even in the minutes preceding the hearing, a representative of DL was giving prepatory documents to Andrew Crossley for him to use at the hearing...

During the hearing the Master even had to ask if this was the same case that he saw previously with DL, and wasn't that them in the corridor?

Also in attendance was a Miss Camilla Balleny from  Arnold & Porter LLP - Camilla Balleny As far as I could tell, she was representing A&P who represent Virgin Media and BE UN Ltd.

The end result of the hearing today was that this hearing and two others (similar but with other ISPs) until Monday 8th June 11am, same place.

What was so interesting were the claims that Andrew Crossley made to Master Winergarten during the proceedings. That 1500+ letters had been sent out, and that a significant proportion of people pay the demand (35-40%). This is SO much higher than what we (collectively on the forums) had thought. Not sure if it's bull***t or bravado, but of course there wouldn't be any docs available to back that up. It was more that he was convincing Master Winergarten that they were doing the right thing, and having success, and that if they weren't guilty why would they pay etc.

That means that if some 500 people have paid up, each at around £600, that's £300k going into someone's pockets. Makes the whole thing worthwhile... almost... until you get stricken off as a lawyer for all this, and get made to pay the money back (perhaps).

I spoke to Camilla Balleny (think I freaked her out a little) after the hearing, and asked her if she knew how they got the IP addresses, and if she knew that the method that they got them was illegal or dubious at best, and had been thrown out of court in other European countries, and that a lawyer got struck off for 6 months for doing this.... Although I wasn't expecting any answers, her surprise, discomfort and silence spoke volumes. I even offered her to see the letter that ACS Law had sent me, though by this stage I think she just wanted to get the hell out of there.

Camilla - if you're reading this, the offer stays open, I'm sure plenty of us would be happy to send you format versions of our letters.

So, where from here? Well, I was going to go over to Hanover Square and visit Andrew Crossley, but after seeing him in the flesh, and having him validate in front of me all that we had previously suspected, I just didn't see the need.

He is taking this seriously, making a lot of money from it, and although seemed a little disorganised he was doing a fair job of convincing everyone else - who either didn't have the knowledge or information to know better.

The hearings were adjourned because the ISPs hadn't had time to verify all the facts (times, IPs etc) of the NEW batch of IPs to be churned through this ever growing fiasco. So thank you at least for that much, that the ISPs are checking that they're not giving out the wrong details this time.

I will continue with my stance of complete denial - although I'm not going to send any correspondence to ACS, as I would actually like for them to take me to court. I would LIKE to see all the EVIDENCE they have against me. I would LIKE to fight this, slam them down and stop all this bullying they are doing.

Stand strong people, and please use whatever means you have available to get the word out to the less informed people that they shouldn't pay (unless they really want to), to deny deny deny and let's see what happens when they try to take me to court.

Beingscammed, if you are still about, please email and say hi

The SRA refers Davenport Lyons to the Solicitors' Disciplinary Tribunal

The SRA Refers Davenport Lyons to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal

Directors David Gore and Brian Miller will stand before a misconduct panel over the bullying letters sent out to people demanding payment and accusing them of illegally sharing copyright material.  A scheme since taken on by ACS:LAW with the help of Ex Davenport Lyons Paralegal Terence Tsang

A leading law firm is being investigated over claims that it bullied and harassed hundreds of people wrongly accused of illegal filesharing. The Solicitors Regulation Authority, an industry watchdog, said it is investigating a complaint brought against Davenport Lyons, the London-based solicitors' firm that has led a number of prosecutions against illegal filesharers. The consumer group Which? first made an official complaint in 2008, after a number of people contacted it to say that they had received letters from Davenport Lyons demanding payment for illegal downloads that were nothing to do with them.