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Which? files complaint against Davenport Lyons
Author: Joe MartinPublished: 12th December 2008
Davenport Lyons has represented publishers such as Atari in the past, who have since severed ties with the law firm.
The problem however, is that a small number of people, who have documented their concerns on the bit-tech forums, feel they have been wrongly accused by the firm. This means that Davenport Lyons is often accusing innocent people, many of whom may not understand how to prove their innocence, and scaring them into paying up.
Davenport Lyons' antics have not gone unnoticed however, with consumer rights organisation Which? now taking a stand against the law firm and filing complaints on behalf of UK consumers.
Which? has investigated a number of cases on behalf of consumers in the UK and found that Davenport Lyons has wrongly accused a number of users on behalf of companies like Atari (which has since elected to stop working with Davenport Lyons). One accused person allegedly told Which? that he had cancelled his broadband subscription for fear of getting another letter, Ars Technica reports.
"We think the SRA needs to take urgent action against Davenport Lyons," Which? head of legal affairs Deborah Prince said in a statement. "In the current financial climate, we expect an increase in the action that companies may want to take against individuals. The SRA must investigate all such allegations and take decisive action where necessary."
Have you been contacted by Davenport Lyons? Get advice in the dedicated forum thread and let us know what you think in the discussion.
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Comments (12)
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I hope they get caught in this financial downturn and have to declare bankrupcy.
Same here ... your IP address was 'driven' LOL!
Watchdog was interesting really because they showed as evidence that the owner's computers were 'clean' and therefore the download had never happened. Haha! I nearly fell off my chair laughing at that one. How about ... 'they might have used another computer in the house' or 'they might have removed it since then very carefully'. I did not believe that those people may have been innocent either.. they looked guilty to me LOL!
People do have a responsibility to make sure their IP address is secure (eg. wireless access), but also bear in mind that ISP make mistakes and could technically say your IP was used when it wasnt by accident.
If I got one of those letters, and I was truly innocent then I would see them in court and I would bring my PC's into court and ask them to prove it ... "Pics or video or it didnt happen your honour !" (not before spending a good proportion of my time jury profiling like all the good John Grisham books !!) LOL!
As far as i am aware there is currenlty no legal requirement to secure a wireless network in the uk, there is I believe in germany. and to go with the speeding ticket metaphore you don't get a speeding fine if your car was stolen.
like the old lady that was accused of downloading gay porn....
The issue here I feel is quite obvious. The vast majority of ISPs in the UK provide their users with a dynamic IP range. When Davenports monkeys get a list of IP addresses that have 'infringed' their clients IP's they then go and ask the relevant ISP who has that IP. the ISP then looks to see who that IP is currently assignened to and then that person has a letter sent to them demanding £££.
The problem is that Davenport and the ISP do not seem to cross check WHO the IP was assigned to at THE TIME of the infringement, as if the offence happened 2 weeks ago, it is very unlikely that the same person has the IP address still. In which case Davenport end up harrassing the wrong person.
So, if you're using IP 1 and infringe, then switch to IP2 while I get IP1 - the address Davenport Lyons gets will be yours, not mine.
i am new to this site, but have been a contributer, reader of a forum dedicated to this at www.slyck.com perhaps the person who wrote the above would care to voice those thoughts on that site.
may i correct you. i doubt you are old enough to drive, but if your car is caught speeding, they send a notice of intended prosecution to the registered keeper. this gives 7 days for the keeper to identify the driver and inform the police who was driving. if there is doubt then the matter is heard under the rules of evidence in a court.
the matter of the peoples innocence on watchdog is an interesting point, however the bbc will not stake their reputation without thoroughly checking. how do you explain the couple in scotland that which? have represented and had an retraction from DL. Also DL have targeted people who they say have downloaded hard core gay porn. the matter has gained more publicity as old aged pensioners have received letters accusing them.
Not really an issue. Anyone who types "LOL!" more than once in a single post is walking proof of why democracy doesn't work.
Why? Says who? Since when?
Mmmmm.
For example, here is a section from the Be Fair Use Policy: