Several members of the House of Lords have strongly criticised law firms that send letters to alleged copyright infringers demanding payments with the threat of legal action.
According to TorrentFreak, the Peers labelled the practice “legal blackmail” and accused the law firms of “harassment, bullying and intrusion.”
The scheme entails threatening people with legal action if they do not pay several hundred pounds in damages. The first company to do this was the respected Davenport Lyons, which stopped after an exposé by the BBC's Watchdog programme. Later a firm called ACS:Law continued the practice.
Speaking at the House of Lords, Lord Lucas stated that the Government needed to look in to “providing a defence against law firms who just repeat endless allegations and threats – no intention, as far as I can see, of actually taking it to court.”
Advertisement
Related Stories
- UK ISPs to block The Pirate Bay Apr 30th 2012 at 10:18PM
- Windows Live Messenger blocks Pirate Bay Mar 26th 2012 at 9:45PM
- Anti-piracy "three strikes" policy in court win Mar 6th 2012 at 8:42PM
- The Pirate Bay faces UK net block Feb 21st 2012 at 1:03AM
- Kaspersky ditches BSA over anti-piracy bill Dec 6th 2011 at 2:27AM
- US seizes fake football jersey sites Nov 27th 2011 at 11:11PM
- Music and film industry presses BT to block the Pirate Bay Nov 6th 2011 at 10:34PM
- Unscrupulous anti-piracy lawyers suspended Aug 2nd 2011 at 3:35PM
