Consumer group Which? has reported Davenport Lyons (DPL), a now infamous law firm involved with protecting specialist intellectual property rights, to the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) for "excessive" and "bullying" conduct in pursuit of those suspected of being involved with illegal file-sharing (P2P):


DPL typically works by gaining related customer details from broadband ISPs and then sending threatening letters to those suspected of involvement. The letter usually requests several hundred pounds in compensation for the act and a further fee to cover costs or legal proceedings could follow.

However there have been a number of cases where the data appears to have been in error and or the wrong people have been accused. Which? in particular recently warned that hundreds could be mistakenly accused of illegal file sharing (here). Not long after that Atari, one of DPLs clients, pulled out of their relationship with the firm (here).

Which?'s complaint also asserts that DPL ignores evidence made in defence of such claims and unduly raises the level of compensation requested over the period of correspondence. Naturally DPL has issued a press release in response (here - .PDF):


However much as we've said before, Internet Protocol (IP) addresses alone are not an effective way of determining a computer user’s true identity. They can easily be faked, hijacked, redirected and generally abused and used in ways that the systems employed by such checkers cannot detect. The only real way to be sure is to inspect a person’s hard disk drive.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), which will investigate Which?'s complaint, regulates more than 100,000 solicitors in England and Wales. Its purpose is to protect the public by ensuring that solicitors meet high standards, and by acting when risks are identified.