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ACS Law - embarassed and cracked wide open

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  • ACS Law - embarassed and cracked wide open

    ACS:Law were recently targeted by a DDoS attack to take down their website. Owner Andrew Crossley boasted that he did not care about the attack even though his site was down for a short while. Unfortunately it seems a mistake made by technicians when restoring his site has exposed his passwords to the web. With that, his entire corporate email history and site was copied and uploaded to thepiratebay. Oh dear.

    People are still sifting through the masses of emails, but details of how the company operated - its threat-o-grams, internal process etc are all now in plain sight to see. According to the articles, such gems included in there are; taking money off people who outright denied liability, threatening people with no evidence to back up those threats, what appears to be evidence of full on extortion as well as evidence that fines were only applied to people with the money to pay for them. Oh and theres the massive data protection Act breach by letting peoples personal details, Ips and addresses get leaked to the internet due to very lax IT security.

    A single mother of two explains how her husband who left her the previous year could have been responsible for the infringement and offers to pay the ‘fine’ of £495 in installments for £20/£30 per month. Despite ACS:Law accepting that the lady did not infringe, a company employee advises “I believe this [the offer to pay in installments] should be accepted.”
    We have hardly reached the tip of the iceberg with these emails, there are many hundreds left to go but even at this stage, things are certain. Nearly all emails revolve around money. Money being demanded, money being transferred from one company to another. Emails promising employees of more money if they do this, that. Emails to companies telling them how much money they can make by becoming a partner in all of this.
    This is not about copyrights and reducing piracy. Copyrights are simply being used as a method to generate money. Thus far, we have not seen a single email or piece of correspondence which talks about reducing piracy.
    It seems as of april this year they had clawed in over £600,000 in 'fines' from people, and figures show that anywhere from 40 to 50% of those fines went directly into the pockets of ACS:Law as their 'fee'

    Grab some popcorn and sit back for a giggle. This appears to be the beginning of the end for ACS:Laws threat-o-matic business

    The deconstruction of the emails is ongoing, but you can find posts here:

    http://torrentfreak.com/acslaw-anti-...emails-100925/

    http://torrentfreak.com/acslaw-gay-p...ed-men-100925/

    http://torrentfreak.com/leaked-emails-reveal-profits-of-anti-piracy-cash-scheme-100926/

    While I cant condone obtaining data by means of hacking and sharing in this way, I cant help but feel this is just deserts for the way this company operated.
    Last edited by shamen; 26th September 2010, 13:48:PM.
    Advice given is offered as personal opinion only. I always recommend you seek professional legal advice.

    Negative, I am a meat popsicle

  • #2
    Re: ACS:Law - embaressed and cracked wide open

    :rofl:
    #staysafestayhome

    Any support I provide is offered without liability, if you are unsure please seek professional legal guidance.

    Received a Court Claim? Read >>>>> First Steps

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    • #3
      Re: ACS:Law - embaressed and cracked wide open

      This nugget has also turned up in the emails

      "I think pursuing individual infringers' will "scare" them into paying up, more than what Lawdit or other representative would advise their client."
      It has been speculated on some sites this could classify some of the operation as 'obtaining money by menaces.'

      Privacy international have already started working with the ICO over the loss of tens of thousands of ISP's customers details (if you are with Plusnet or Sky broadband and have fileshared in the last few years, you could be on this list yourself - alongside the names of files you are accused of sharing).

      No word from the founder of the firm, my bet is he is holed up at home hiding from the world or is already on his way out of the country.
      Advice given is offered as personal opinion only. I always recommend you seek professional legal advice.

      Negative, I am a meat popsicle

      Comment


      • #4
        ACS Law

        In the brown stuff today it seems....

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: ACS Law

          yup just read that in the mirror
          If you think nobody cares if you're alive, try missing a couple of payments.

          sigpic

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: ACS Law

            Not just the Mirror.....the mail, metro,express,BBC.....the list goes on and on for them

            (It seems we've got 26 guests viewing this thread at the moment - hello guests)

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: ACS Law

              lol, Guests on threads - Legal Beagles Consumer Forum
              #staysafestayhome

              Any support I provide is offered without liability, if you are unsure please seek professional legal guidance.

              Received a Court Claim? Read >>>>> First Steps

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: ACS Law

                I had 22 on my HSBC thread lol - and only 1 response you implying that be HSBC?

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: ACS Law

                  http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE68R1MB20100928 lol

                  Watchdog investigates porn-sharing leak claims
                  LONDON | Tue Sep 28, 2010 10:57am BST

                  LONDON (Reuters) - The country's privacy watchdog said on Tuesday it will investigate reports that hackers broke into a law firm's computers and leaked the details of thousands of Sky broadband customers alleged to have shared pornographic films.
                  The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) said it would check whether London-based ACS:Law breached the Data Protection Act by failing to protect its servers. Companies found guilty under the act can be fined up to 500,000 pounds.
                  #staysafestayhome

                  Any support I provide is offered without liability, if you are unsure please seek professional legal guidance.

                  Received a Court Claim? Read >>>>> First Steps

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: ACS:Law - embaressed and cracked wide open

                    also have mergeded the two threads
                    #staysafestayhome

                    Any support I provide is offered without liability, if you are unsure please seek professional legal guidance.

                    Received a Court Claim? Read >>>>> First Steps

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: ACS Law - embarassed and cracked wide open

                      yeah but leclerc watched most of them

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: ACS Law - embarassed and cracked wide open

                        Well their sites gone.

                        Also...lol at this,


                        The leading lawyer in the UK specialising in the law of harassment, Mr Tim Lawson-Cruttenden, solicitor advocate of the eponymous firm, Lawson-Cruttenden and Co. has given the following advice to ACS Law Solicitors in relation to the repeated (and with respect, misconceived) allegation by some that this firm is guilty of such conduct:-

                        For the reasons set out above and generally it is my opinion that ACS Law have acted in an orthodox manner in accordance with conventional standards of legal practice and, more importantly, in compliance with Court Orders. I do not consider that there is any merit whatsoever in any allegation or claim that the letters referred to above are actionable in harassment or are in any way improper or unprofessional.
                        Tim Lawson-Cruttenden15th September 2010

                        BBC - Inside Out - South - The solicitor protestors love to hate
                        http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk...st-460233.html


                        #staysafestayhome

                        Any support I provide is offered without liability, if you are unsure please seek professional legal guidance.

                        Received a Court Claim? Read >>>>> First Steps

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: ACS Law - embarassed and cracked wide open

                          trying to see whats it all about now are they anything to do wih hsbc if so help with OH problem.
                          Last edited by messimoo; 28th September 2010, 10:50:AM.
                          sigpic

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: ACS Law - embarassed and cracked wide open

                            Originally posted by Amethyst View Post
                            Well their sites gone.

                            Also...lol at this,


                            The leading lawyer in the UK specialising in the law of harassment, Mr Tim Lawson-Cruttenden, solicitor advocate of the eponymous firm, Lawson-Cruttenden and Co. has given the following advice to ACS Law Solicitors in relation to the repeated (and with respect, misconceived) allegation by some that this firm is guilty of such conduct:-

                            For the reasons set out above and generally it is my opinion that ACS Law have acted in an orthodox manner in accordance with conventional standards of legal practice and, more importantly, in compliance with Court Orders. I do not consider that there is any merit whatsoever in any allegation or claim that the letters referred to above are actionable in harassment or are in any way improper or unprofessional.
                            Tim Lawson-Cruttenden15th September 2010

                            BBC - Inside Out - South - The solicitor protestors love to hate
                            http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk...st-460233.html

                            The SRA may well find differently following their recent investigation. It's also worth noting that the firm Crossley 'inherited' the file-sharing business from took Counsel's opinion (which, of course, carries more weight than that of a solicitor-advocate), which was failry damning of the merits of their methods.

                            I note that ICO is now investigating and the IC himself has mentioned fines up to £500k.

                            Comment

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