FACT Administration LLP, a partnership behind a piracy settlement scheme in the UK, appeared in Britain's oldest newspaper this week. The group demands at least hundreds of pounds from internet users for downloading a single movie but according to The Gazette, the partnership could be just weeks away from being forcibly dissolved. The number of businesses that face disruption is rather large, to say the least.
Most higher-tier anti-piracy groups are interested in taking down illegal sites, services and other commercial-scale pirates.Many of their targets are given multiple warnings before anything terrible happens because ending their piracy is the main goal. If that can be achieved without a legal battle, it’s better for everyone and it’s cheaper for everyone too. But there are also anti-piracy groups that don’t give warnings and don’t believe in second chances, no matter how small the infringement or how poor the alleged infringer might be. In fact, these groups deliberately target residential internet subscribers and demand hundreds, even thousands of dollars, euros or pounds in compensation – and feel entirely justified doing so because the law allows it.
Public support for these enforcement schemes is comparable to that enjoyed by wheel clampers and ANPR-powered parking fine companies. Even some MPs have said they don’t like them, and they’ve even been
criticized in the House of Lords. The common denominator is the obviously unhealthy power disparity between corporate giants and ordinary internet subscribers, something that is built-in and then reinforced by design. However, there is always someone bigger than the big guys and when they show up, the schadenfreude can be delicious. But before the main course, here’s a small hors d’oeuvre.
torrentfreak.com
