ACS:Law Anti-Piracy Law Firm Torn Apart By Leaked Emails

[Northernbloke]

In sporting terminology, this caper is about as rash as sticking your head in a lion’s mouth and flicking his love-spuds with a wet towel – Bamm!

Fecking classic quote - make a note of that Baldrick I'd like to use it more often in conversation

[cloudy73]

A few belters in this guys email box - I mean how the hell did he get away with this sort of harassment for so long? Yes some guilty parties owning up, but my god - this guy is a con artist!

Sky are in the crapper also I think over this.

ACS are finished, but he'll crawl away and open another company doing the exact same thing.

Why did they also start using Google mail addresses later on?

[KevinJB88]

Another 8000 Sky names and 400 plusnet names now!!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11425789

That's not good at all! At least it ain't in the common area's yet so its safe.

[Northernbloke]

Good job you changed your last post cloudy73 - you do realise that everyone subscribed to this thread and who gets email notifications just saw what you posted - I'm pretty sure that would have got you a ban if you'd left it up there

[cloudy73]

Good job you changed your last post cloudy73 - you do realise that everyone subscribed to this thread and who gets email notifications just saw what you posted - I'm pretty sure that would have got you a ban if you'd left it up there

Yip,

Soon as I put that up, I removed it - even I know not to be so irresponsible.

Apologies anyway guys, as I say, self censored.

[JonEp]

I want to know many MP's and Priests are on the ACS list ?

You know what... I'm going to find out.....

[pattikins]

What about comparing the ACS list with the BNP list, esp. if there is some asian ladyboy downloads

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned that be* (ISP) has being supplying names & addresses - given that a lot of people recommend them (myself included - I checked my mate's post code , esp. with their lax fair use policy.

[Possy_99]

they can't not supply them when faced with a court order tho.

[JonEp]

Back Up

http://www.ueof.co.uk/acslaw/postcode.php

[c0axial]

A Good Read that Archive is LOL

[Over Carl]

A great reply over on TF forums , posted by someone with real knowledge of the legal system ....

Good read - I'm thinking that should mean a theoretical max of 2 years per letter - will be interesting to see what actually happens.

[koola2]

BT embroiled in ACS:Law porn list
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11434809

[Latman]

Fantastic!!

Back Up

http://www.ueof.co.uk/acslaw/postcode.php

[chesser]

Got a lad here a beauty, saved the results, edited the file so his name and postcode appeared against Granny Lesbo Action 6 and changed the second entry to Granny Lesbo Action 5, brought it up in a browser this morning on my machine (as I'm his manager) and asked him what it was? The room was in uproar, he claimed he knew nothing about it but would be speaking with his brother in law...Class! He still believes it now and keeps asking me to checkup on his family members as well....legend...oh and for Ginnerfreak it's the Grewal!!

[crashtestmac]

Hook line and sinker..!

Although i was shocked that he was not trying harder to deny it..!

[Geko]

Back Up

http://www.ueof.co.uk/acslaw/postcode.php

Seems to be down, again.

[sirdave]

Got a lad here a beauty, saved the results, edited the file so his name and postcode appeared against Granny Lesbo Action 6 and changed the second entry to Granny Lesbo Action 5, brought it up in a browser this morning on my machine (as I'm his manager) and asked him what it was? The room was in uproar, he claimed he knew nothing about it but would be speaking with his brother in law...Class! He still believes it now and keeps asking me to checkup on his family members as well....legend...oh and for Ginnerfreak it's the Grewal!!

Classic just about to do this to my father in! love it

[4me2]

BT embroiled in ACS:Law porn list
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11434809

in full.


BT embroiled in ACS:Law porn list breach

By Daniel Emery Technology reporter, BBC News


The spreadsheet of PlusNet users was sent in an unsecure format by a BT lawyer
BT has admitted it sent the personal details of more than 500 customers as an unsecured document to legal firm ACS:Law, following a court order.
The news could put BT in breach of the Data Protection Act, which requires firms to keep customers' data secure at all times.
The e-mails emerged following a security lapse at ACS:Law.
A BT official admitted "unencrypted" personal data was sent, adding it "would not happen again".
The unsecured Excel documents were sent in late August by Prakash Mistry, a lawyer working for British Telecom, to Andrew Crossley - who runs ACS:Law.
"In accordance with the Court's Order of 17 February 2010 ("the Order"), please find enclosed the data in accordance with paragraph 1 of the Order," wrote Mr Mistry in the e-mail.
"Please acknowledge safe receipt and that the data will be held securely and shall be used only in accordance with the provisions of the Order," he added.

Keep it safe

However, while BT requested that the personal information be held securely, the data was sent in a unencrypted document that could be read by anyone accessing the e-mail.

Two separate documents were sent out by BT. One with a list of 413 users which ACS:Law thought were sharing a music track called Evacuate The Dancefloor and a second document with more than 130 PlusNet users alleged to be sharing pornographic material.
"In answer to the question above about whether we sent out customer details in unencrypted files, I can confirm that this did happen," wrote a BT community moderator called Nigel on the firm's PlusNet forums.
"We are investigating how this occurred as we have robust systems for managing data.
"We have already ensured that this will not happen again.
"In this circumstance our legal department sent data to a firm of solicitors (ACS:Law) which reached them safely and we trusted that they would keep the data safe," he added.
A spokesperson for BT-owned PlusNet told BBC News that it had contacted all of its affected customers and were "working with them closely to protect them as much as possible from further exposure" and would be providing them with "an identity protection service including internet security software free of charge for the next 12 months".
PlusNet said it would now take a more rigorous stance against requests for user data.
"Due to serious concerns about the integrity of the process that is being used by rights holders, we will resist efforts to share more customer details with rights holders and those acting on their behalf until we can be sure that alleged copyright infringements have some basis and customers are treated fairly," the spokesperson told BBC News.
PlusNet said it was running an internal enquiry to ensure "that this type of incident will not happen again" and had alerted the Information Commissioner's Office.
Simon Davies, from the watchdog Privacy International, told BBC News that BT had "comprehensively breached" the Data Protection Act.
"More significantly, they appear to be in contempt of a high court order," he added.
The order, he said, was made in the High Court of Justice before Chief Master Winegarten on 7 July 2010.
The ruling, ordering internet service providers to hand over data to ACS:Law, states that it should be provided in an "electronic text format by way of Microsoft Excel file saved in an encrypted form to a compact disk, or any other digital media".
Mr Davies said he was going to write to the High Court and to the Attorney General and press for proceedings for contempt of court to be brought against BT.
Sky Broadband were also required to hand over lists of users suspected of illegally sharing files, but said they only ever send it in a safe format.
"Like other broadband providers, Sky can be required to disclose information about customers whose accounts are alleged to have been used for illegal downloading," the spokesperson told BBC News.
"Because the security of customer information is also a high priority, we only ever disclose such data in encrypted form," they added.
The news is the latest twist in an ongoing saga after legal firm ACS:Law was targeted by online activists from notorious messageboard 4chan.
ACS:Law has made a business out of sending thousands of letters to alleged net pirates, asking them to pay compensation of about £500 per infringement or face court.



Revenge attack

Users from 4chan, who have a long track record of internet activism, targeted ACS:Law during what it called Operation Payback.
ACS:Law's website was taken down for a few hours and after it was restored, it emerged that the company's e-mail database had been leaked online.
Many of the e-mails contained unsecured documents containing the personal details of thousands of UK broadband subscribers.



Amichai Shulman, chief technology officer of security firm Imperva, told BBC News that the documents emerged not as the result of a hack, but due to a security lapse on the part of ACS:Law.
"Hackers had one point in mind - to cripple the services of the law firm, to disrupt business services and cause humiliation," he said.
"Since ACS:Law's site was corrupted, they've reconstructed it from a back-up location which also included archive files with sensitive information.
"In the reconstruction process - which was probably done in haste - the archives with the sensitive data were copied to publicly accessible locations in the reconstructed website.
"Attackers immediately took advantage of that and downloaded them. They are now going through the stuff in those archives and are making public the 'interesting' data that they find.
"The more time they have to review the files the more public stuff we should expect to find," he added.
A spokesperson for the Information Commissioner Office (ICO) told BBC News that the BT e-mail would be part of its ongoing investigation into ACS:Law, but they would also check to see if they had any specific complaints from PlusNet users.
The UK's Information Commissioner, Christopher Graham, told the BBC that firms who breach the Data Protection Act could face fines of up to half a million pounds.


Are you a Sky broadband customer? Have you received a letter from ACS: Law? Send us your comments using the form below.

I received a letter from ACS Law a couple of weeks ago and was distraught to read that my details had been passed on because of a court order and I was accused of downloading porn illegally. I contacted the company and told them that I had been falsely accused and expressed my concerns. By this stage I was at my wit's end because of the stigma and the threat of being taken to court if I did not pay £500 to ACS. The response did not help me. I was told that a court order had forced them to provide my information and what ACS did with the information was up to them. All of this has made me extremely ill and unable to sleep at night due to worry and stress. Having looked on the internet and found innocent people in the same situation as myself, I am in the process of writing to ACS and refusing to pay. I'm appalled that companies can get away with this kind of behaviour. It's scandalous! I'll continue to worry until the matter is resolved, which I believe may take months, but I take some comfort meanwhile that ACS have quite rightly been exposed.

Simone, South Yorkshire


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11434809

[Bald Bouncer]

Lawyers to continue piracy fight

A London law firm has pledged to continue to target file sharers, despite controversy surrounding the acquisition and care of users' data.

Gallant Macmillan is to go to the High Court on 4 October to seek the personal details of hundreds of PlusNet users.

Internet service providers have pledged to take a tougher stand before handing over data, after the leak of thousands of users' personal details by ACS:Law.

Simon Gallant told BBC News that he had "no problem" pursuing legal claims.

Mr Gallant's firm is seeking a court order from British Telecom-owned subsidy PlusNet for the personal details of a "large number" of broadband users the firm suspects of illegally downloading and sharing music from the nightclub and record label Ministry of Sound.

The hearing is scheduled to be heard before Chief Master Winegarten at the High Court on Monday, and follows only a few days after the personal details of thousands of users were leaked online, following a security breach by the legal firm ACS:Law.

Users from 4chan, who have a long track record of internet activism, targeted ACS:Law during what it called Operation Payback.

ACS:Law's website was taken down for a few hours and after it was restored, it emerged that the company's e-mail database had been leaked online.

Many of the e-mails contained unsecured documents with the personal details of thousands of UK broadband subscribers.

PlusNet said it would now take a more rigorous stance against requests for user data.

"Due to serious concerns about the integrity of the process that is being used by rights holders, we will resist efforts to share more customer details with rights holders and those acting on their behalf until we can be sure that alleged copyright infringements have some basis and customers are treated fairly," the spokesperson told BBC News.

But Mr Gallant said that, as far as he was concerned, "nothing has changed" and he hoped to get a list of users suspected of illegally sharing files.

"We are proceeding with the application," he said.

"I am aware this type of work is contentious and we have done a great deal of due diligence and are aware of all the concerns people have raised.

"Providing a rights holder can prove to me that they have a valid legal claim, why should I - as a solicitor - have any problem representing them?" he added.

Demanding letter
Like ACS:Law, Gallant Macmillan also sends out letters to users suspected of illegally sharing files.

The letter states that his firm has cause to believe that someone at the specific IP address (the electronic identity assigned to a person's broadband location and internet service provider) has illegally downloaded or shared music from the Ministry of Sound. It then asks users to sign an undertaking not to do so in the future and requests "compensation and costs" of £350.

To date, there has been only one successful case brought against someone in the UK for illegally sharing a file.

Games firm Topware Interactive won an out-of-court settlement of £16,000 following legal action against Londoner Isabella Barwinska who shared a copy of the game Dream Pinball.

"I don't know what percentage of people are going to compromise and pay the compensation," said Mr Gallant.

"But we are going to have to bring cases to court, because it would be quite wrong to send out hundreds of letters without following through."

The concept of sending out thousands of letters demanding compensation to users suspected of file sharing started in late 2007 by a firm called Davenport Lyons and then was expanded by ACS:Law.

Critics
It lead to the beingthreatened.com site being set up to assist users wrongly accused of illegally sharing files.

The policy of mass mail-outs has been criticised by many groups, including the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) which said earlier this year that "legal action is best reserved for the most persistent or serious offenders - rather than widely used as a first response".

Gallant Macmillan actions are likely to attract the ire of users of 4chan, who are currently targeting firms involved in combating online piracy.

Hackers temporarily knocked out the websites of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and then followed up with an assault on ACS:Law's website, which led to the subsequent security breach.

On Wednesday morning, Operation Payback triggered a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack against the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT) and the site was put out of action for a number of hours.

The latest post on the 4chan forum states that "Our new target is [UK based internet policing company] websheriff.com."

"We've not been hit yet, but our IT guys are aware," the firm's John Giacobbi told BBC News.

"We have a different attitude to online piracy than firms such as ACS:Law.

"What most file sharers are guilty of is exuberance, so while we to take down sites illegally sharing files, we also then direct them to sources of legal and official music, such as promotional tracks or YouTube channels."

Source

[JonEp]

I have compared all the Names & Addresses in the ACS:LAW leak and compared them with the Latest BNP database.

Just One Match!

J S**** GALLERY OF SIN http://www.videosz.com/movie.php?s=1...us&dvd_id=1273

I hoping it was going to be "I want to cum in your Indian Bum Vol No 7" ..... That would of got the BNP masses talking.