Quote:
Originally Posted by cook1984
No, no, no! Do not send them a penny, and do not waste money on solicitors!
If they persist, just tell them firmly that you are not going to pay and that you are innocent. It is up them to prove you downloaded the files, not for you to prove your innocence.
Davenport Lyons are trying to scare people into paying up, simply by sending official looking letters from a legal firm. In reality, they have no basis for their demands and there is no legal reason you should pay them. Think about it for a moment - anyone can send a letter demanding money for some alleged download. It's quite another thing to actually take legal action and argue the case in court.
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I will agree with the sentiment of Cookie1984 to not hand over any money, but if Davenport Lyons do take the court action route, and you are prepared to defend yourself in court, then you won't need a solicitor, but keep the following mind also if you think they won't pursue you.
Davenport Lyons secured a default judgement against a woman for a similar claim, in a court that specifically deals with copyright infringements, and they got a default judgement because the defendant didn't turn up, nor had any legal representation on her behalf. That judgement was to the tune of £16,000........16 big ones, that's a down payment on a mortgage, if you can get one these days.
It may well be possible to get a solicitor who will represent you on a
pro bono basis, one such solicitor has offered this service for UK defendants, articles can be found in this thread. I'm not sure how that is progressing, but here's some reading:
Not so high awards to four file sharers.
Here's the big one, YIKES.
Now, as Cookie says, these may be defendants that simply ignored the threats, but I am hard pressed to find anything on the net that confirms this.
What we can see though is that DL mean business, and if they think the defendant can't afford a reasonable defence lawyer, or simply ignores the letters, then they know they could potentially secure a significant payout, by default.
I'd say it takes a serious set of stones to stand up to this kind of thing, but until somebody actually does, this is going to continue.
By all means fight the good fight if you are completely confident in your defence, and damned good luck to all of you who have to do this.