Look Out – UK Internet Users Braced for More Piracy Threat Letters

Thousands of broadband ISP subscribers could soon be hit by a new wave of bullying Internet piracy threat letters (“Speculative Invoicing“) after Maverick Eye, which scours public P2P (BitTorrent) networks for unlawful sharing of copyright content, began “the UK’s largest anti-piracy campaign ever“.

Associated organisations usually track public Internet Protocol (IP) addresses on P2P networks and then later submit a Norwich Pharmacal Order (NPO) to a court, which forces the linked ISP to release details about any associated subscribers (e.g. name, address etc.).

Once those details have been secured then organisations like Maverick Eye will start to pursue related subscribers with letters, which usually contain veiled threats in the hope of either tricking the recipient into incriminating themselves or forcing them to pay a big settlement fee to avoid the threat of court action.

In reality such court cases are usually too expensive to pursue and most of those that have been attempted tend to fail, not least because IP address based evidence is notoriously flaky (e.g. the data may be incorrect and or fail to reflect that many people can share a single Internet connection).

Never the less copyright holders see this as a good scare tactic for pirates and the firms that surround them also view it as a way of making some easy money, even though there’s a growing graveyard of bankrupted and disreputable organisations or individuals flowing from past attempts (e.g. ACS:Law).

In that sense it’s no surprise to find that Maverick Eye, which are teaming up with the financial and administrative firm Hatton and Berkeley, have decided to try their luck in the United Kingdom.

Maverick Eye Campaign Statement:

“Piracy costs the UK economy about £500 million per year and countless jobs. It is a significant threat to the ability of artists and creative people to bring new content to the public.

Since July this year, Hatton & Berkeley and Maverick Eye have been busy working with producers, lawyers, key industry figures, investors, partners, and supporters to develop a program to protect the industry and defend the UK cinema against rampant piracy online. The entertainment industry can expect even more from these experts as they continue the fight against piracy in the UK.”

A spokesperson for Hatton & Berkeley similarly said, “[We] stand alongside our colleagues in an international operation that has so far yielded drastic reductions in streaming, torrenting, and illegal downloads across Europe.”

We’re not so sure about the “drastic reductions” claim, although Maverick Eye have already pursued some 6,000 customers of Sky Broadband via the same strategy (here); most of those were suspected of having pirated a little known film called ‘The Company You Keep‘.

The UK campaign that Maverick Eye promises to launch will apparently be even bigger than the Sky one, which suggests that they’ll also be going after subscribers from BT, TalkTalk and Virgin Media as well as perhaps some more from Sky Broadband or other ISPs. But for now no further details have been released.

Take note that if you do receive such a letter then it’s usually best to discuss the matter with Citizens Advice before responding and read the Speculative Invoicing Handbook. In many cases though it may be better not to respond at all and if you want a solicitors help then Michael Coyle from Lawdit has agreed to step in.

Meanwhile ISPs and the Government are separately in the process of launching a new Voluntary Copyright Alert Programme (VCAP), which will also send warning letters to those suspected of similar activity (here). But the VCAP letters contain no threats or demands for money and should only act as an “education programme“.