Some interesting details about anti piracy lawyers, Davenport Lyons, have recently found their way into the public domain, and they reveal that the controversial firm of lawyers knew all along that the people they were targeting with pay-up-or-else letters related to alleged illegal file sharing were mostly innocent. They also knew that the evidence they had been given was unreliable and unlikely to stand up to close scrutiny.
Davenport Lyons first came to the public’s attention back in 2007 when they were responsible for a landmark case against a woman accused of illegal filesharing. This marked the beginning of a highly lucrative scheme whereby people were targeted as a result of their IP address being logged for alleged illegal file sharing. Most were sent threatening letters along the lines of “pay up or we will take you to court” and, unsurprisingly, a large percentage of victims did indeed pay up.
As a result of such dubious business practice, Davenport Lyons are now facing a Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal next year and following a series of leaked letters, the Solicitors Regulatory Panel has decided that the firm has put its own interests before the clients.