Sledgehammers To Crack Nuts

While the international record companies applauded the European Parliament voting for coordinated action to tackle piracy, a British judge was showing he’s running out of patience with the way UK anti-piracy laws are being enforced.

When lawyers acting for Ministry Of Sound appeared in a London court Sept. 21 to force Internet service provider Plusnet to hand over personal info of suspected illegal file-sharers, judge Chief Master Winegarten said sending letters to countless thousands of potential pirates was like using “a huge sledgehammer to crack a nut.”

Lawyers acting for various record companies have targeted alleged file-sharers with “pay up or else” letters, a practice that’s led to bogus legal firms sending out similar letters in the hope they’ll scare people into sending money.

Hearing Ministry of Sound Recordings Ltd. v Plusnet Plc., which also covered other named Internet service providers including BT, Sky and O2/Be Unlimited, Judge Winegarten warned that future applications for names of suspected illegal file-sharers may not be successful.

He refused to grant Ministry of Sound’s application for a court order because he wanted to address the public’s concerns before he could agree to it. He adjourned the hearing until Oct. 4.

Although it’s estimated that more than 100,000 identities have been handed over to lawyers such as Gallant Macmillan, which acted for Ministry Of Sound, the judge admitted that he didn’t possess the technical expertise to assess the nature or reliability of the evidence being used in these cases.

He also told the court he’s been surprised by the number of letters he’s received from people worried about the record companies’ enforcement tactics.

“There wouldn’t be this hue and cry unless you were pursuing people who are innocent,” he said.

He said he couldn’t understand how “these thousands or hundreds of thousands” of letters that have been sent out haven’t resulted in anybody being sued.

The personal details have appeared online of a further 8,000 UK people who have allegedly shared music or films illegally, following a security breach at legal firm ACS:Law.

The UK’s Information Commissioner said the company could be fined up to £500,000 for the breaches. The lists contain the names, addresses and IP addresses of users suspected of illegally sharing music.

They also contain details of how much compensation infringers paid ACS:Law, along with internal case notes.

In France the privacy commissioner has said the number of letters being sent to suspected illegal file-sharers is now so great that it’s impossible to check if the accusations are accurate.

The commissioner’s report said that “due to the high number of expected cases (25,000 per day at first, then 150,000), it is impossible for the right holders’ agents to check the infringement reports one by one.”

In Strasbourg Sept. 22, Euro MPs voted 328 to 245 to support The Gallo Report, which calls on the European Commission to propose legislation that would lay down a framework that EU member states could use to tackle intellectual property infringement. There were 81 abstentions.