A while back we reported on a firm of London solicitors called Davenport Lyons that were swooping on alleged file-sharers, sending threatening letters designed to make the recipient pay up £500 or more in out-of-court settlements.

To our knowledge no challenged case has ever wound up in court but with the pick'n'mix chance of getting just a few £500 cheques in an economic recession, the practice seems to be spreading after it was revealed that another firm of solicitors, ACS Law, strangely on the same block as Davenport Lyons, is now sending out almost identical letters.

Heck this must be a lucrative business then and with no apparent laws to stop this practice, it won't be long before there are solicitors up and down the country, wildly picking names at random from phone books and chancing their luck.

Call me cynical, but this appears to be little to do with protecting copyright and everything to do with making easy money through fright tactics, particularly when you consider that the the solicitors get the lions share of these fat cheques.

I suppose it was inevitable that with expensive lifestyles, some in the legal profession would start looking at 'bread & butter' money to keep them ticking over when things aren't so great, but these people are vampires. It wasn't so long ago that Davenport Lyons name appeared in a case involving a retired Scottish couple, that left it with egg on it's face, and with the evidence being no cast-iron guarantee that the accused were actually involved, its little wonder that defended cases have been dropped like a stone.

After all, its far easier to send out a series of letters to reap a few £500 cheque than actually work for a living, stand up in court and present your evidence - what little there is of it.

© Hellmail.co.uk (07 May 2009)

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See Also >>

• Davenport Lyons Atari P2P Case On Rocks (28 November 2008)
  
• UK File Sharing Evidence Is Flawed (04 December 2008)
  
• Which? Complains To SRA About Davenport Lyons (09 December 2008)
  

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