Law firm ACS:Law which caused a stir by sending out letters chasing alleged filesharers for payments on behalf of copyright holders has elected to drop all its criminal prosecutions. At the launch of their letter/invoice campaign, the company came under attack from hackers via a DDoS who exposed corporate e-mails to the internet that seriously undermined the legal process and left it itself exposed to data protection laws.
It now appears that a dirty tricks campaign from the black hat brigade full of threats and subterfuge has tolled and the firm has withdrawn all its actions. It may not be the end of the story for them though as the courts and the SRA law society are investigating their inferred bullying tactics. Also, legal representatives of the accused are now looking to sue for damages.
Where this leaves any future legal process against illegal filesharing remains unclear but yet again the power of the internet has shown its teeth…and once more the black hats fade back to the shadows with a wry smile with their mission accomplished..
The awesome Open Rights Group succinctly summed the whole thing up here
No comments:
Post a Comment