Virgin Media Subscribers Told to Pay “Thousands of Pounds” to Settle Piracy Lawsuits

Virgin Media Subscribers Told to Pay “Thousands of Pounds” to Settle Piracy Lawsuits

Postby dutchman » Wed Sep 22, 2021 2:27 pm

Virgin Media subscribers receiving letters accusing them of movie piracy may find that settling their cases will be a costly affair

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Last week TorrentFreak broke the news that Voltage Holdings LLC, a company well known for tracking down pirates worldwide, has obtained a High Court order compelling Virgin Media to hand over subscriber data.

As a result, some of the ISP’s subscribers have begun receiving letters accusing them of pirating the movie ‘Ava’ with the advice that if the matter goes to court, they could be found liable for copyright infringement. Of course, this is something Voltage and its partners would prefer to avoid and to that end, are offering recipients the option to admit liability and pay a settlement fee.

In line with earlier High Court guidance, initial letters to subscribers don’t provide any idea of what that settlement amount might be. In the past the sums requested have tended to drift around the several hundred pounds mark but early indications suggest that Voltage and its partners are now aiming much, much higher.
Multiple Thousands of Pounds Requested

According to sources familiar with the matter who spoke with TorrentFreak on condition of anonymity, attempting to settle a case with Voltage’s law firm Lewis Silkin LLP will not be cheap. Early indications suggest that the amounts requested run to several thousand pounds and are likely to vary in scale depending on the specific defendant.

At this stage it’s too early to definitively say what factors are being considered when assessing the settlement amount. However, if earlier methodology is deployed it’s possible that Voltage’s anti-piracy monitoring company (believed to be MaverickEye) will take the BitTorrent swarm size (the number of people sharing the movie at the same time) and multiply that by the price of the Ava movie.

As previously reported, this system has serious flaws. However, for people who simply want to settle and move on, paying Voltage a few thousand pounds should make the whole thing go away – at least in respect of this particular accusation. But what about those who wish to contest the claims being made?

At the core of the letters is the assumption that the person who pays the Virgin Media bill is the person who downloaded and shared the movie ‘Ava’ without permission. ‘Assumption’ is key here since Voltage acknowledges that may not be the case and someone else in a household could be liable.

If the bill payer did not carry out the infringement and did not authorize/allow someone else to do so, under the Copyright Designs and Patent Act they are not liable. This means that they can issue a direct denial to Voltage but that would not prevent the company from filing a claim if it believes it has a case.

At this point it’s important to note that any claim by Voltage would be actioned in a civil court where cases are decided on the balance of probabilities – 51% confidence of infringement could tip a case in the company’s favor, resulting in a damages award. That’s in addition to the associated legal costs of a failed defense.

Given that Voltage is setting the bar so high with demands for multi-thousand-pound settlements, it seems likely that defendants who can afford to mount a defense will do so. Michael Coyle of Lawdit Solicitors is currently taking on defendants’ cases for £300 (plus VAT) but for those with fewer resources, it’s difficult to know where they can turn other than Citizens Advice.

However, there are some other interesting facts buried in the High Court order that could render some cases dead in the water before they begin.

While the letter from Lewis Silkin LLP ticks all the boxes and conforms to the standards laid down by the High Court, there are some interesting details in the actual order that the law firm’s letter does not directly address.

For example, the High Court states that Voltage may not initiate legal proceedings against a minor, which means anyone under the age of 18 in England, Wales or Northern Ireland. This means that if a parent pays the bill and a 17-year-old illegally downloaded and shared the movie, Voltage cannot bring a case against them.

Furthermore, the High Court says that Voltage cannot pursue cases against an infringer who is a pensioner. The retirement age in the UK is currently 66 and according to the High Court’s instructions, “anyone over the age of 65” can not have proceedings brought against them. In addition, anyone who is considered ‘vulnerable‘ will not have to face proceedings either.

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Re: Virgin Media Subscribers Told to Pay “Thousands of Pounds” to Settle Piracy Lawsuits

Postby rebbonk » Wed Sep 22, 2021 6:54 pm

I think we've seen this before? AFAIK, no successful prosecution has ever been brought?
Of course it'll fit; you just need a bigger hammer.
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Re: Virgin Media Subscribers Told to Pay “Thousands of Pounds” to Settle Piracy Lawsuits

Postby dutchman » Wed Sep 22, 2021 7:26 pm

There was supposedly a default judgement given against a "Mrs Barwinska" which was uncontested but I could find no court record of any such judgement.

What's different in this case is that Voltage Pictures are the original production company as opposed to just a licensed distributor.

It's fairly easy to tweak a Torrent client to avoid detection. Delete public trackers and either use a private tracker or distributed hash table and turn off uploading. Contrary to popular belief VPNs offer no more protection than Virgin Media, if they are asked for your personal details they will happily hand them over.
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