BPI distances itself from file-sharing lawyers

 

Gallery

By Barry Collins

Posted on 27 Jan 2010 at 15:18

Music industry body, the BPI, has publicly distanced itself from the law firm accused of falsely pursuing alleged file-sharers.

The BPI has been one of the more vociferous advocates of legal penalties for persistent file-sharers and has backed the Government's plans to cut off repeat offenders.

However, in a statement sent to PC Pro, the BPI is putting clear water between itself and ACS Law - a firm that consumer group Which? says has sent demands for payment to more than 150 people who claim to have been falsely accused.

Our view is that legal action is best reserved for the most persistent or serious offenders - rather than widely used as a first response

"We don't favour the approach taken by ACS:Law to tackling illegal file-sharing, which is at odds with the proportionate and graduated response advocated by BPI and proposed in the Digital Economy Bill," the BPI statement reads.

"We uphold the highest standards of evidence, and our view is that legal action is best reserved for the most persistent or serious offenders - rather than widely used as a first response."

ACS Law was unavailable for comment at the time of publication.

ACS Law acts on behalf of copyright owners, who employ specialist firms to track peer-to-peer downloads and log the IP addresses of people downloading copyrighted material.

Which? claims that such evidence isn't conclusive, because it only identifies the connection and not the individual who downloaded the file. It means that people who leave their Wi-Fi connection unsecured, for example, could be being prosecuted for something they didn't do.

In one case, ACS Law sent a demand for more than £500 to a 78-year-old man who was accused of downloading a porn movie from a file-sharing site. The man's family claimed "he doesn’t even know what file-sharing or bittorrent is".