It's the weekend and Broadband Genie is enjoying a well-deserved break, but this story was too good to wait until Monday. ACS:Law, the infamous law firm which has been sending out dubious letters threatening to take people to court for file sharing, has had a massive database of its emails leaked onto the web.

 

The ACS:Law web site was taken down by a denial of service (DDoS) attack earlier in the week, an event described by boss Andrew Crossley as "typical rubbish from pirates". He's likely to have changed his tune now because someone discovered that before the site was restored a backup file containing the emails had been left in an open directory. Inevitably this was downloaded and widely distributed on file sharing networks.

 

The collection includes the incoming and outgoing emails of Andrew Crossley and his employees, complete with attachments, and contains masses of information about how ACS:Law goes about its business and how much money it makes, plus embarrassing personal details.

 

The leak reveals Crossley discussing how he might buy a Ferrari (he decides on a less impressive Jeep in the end) and talk about how the company can most efficiently track and record the thousands of alleged offenders, with an amusing exchange where he thinks two people can process 200 cases a day and is politely informed by an employee that they would have to work without breaks to achieve this target.

 

There are abusive emails to his ex-wife, personal contact details, passwords to Paypal and other sites, and it also appears that Crossley is a fan of loopy conspiracy theorist David Icke. Perhaps those inter-dimensional lizards are also guilty of file sharing?

Data protection breach

 

More seriously there is discussion about how they could "scare" people into paying by pursuing them directly, and allegedly an email with attached file containing the names and addresses of thousands of Sky broadband users (plus the names of pornographic movies they're supposed to have downloaded) which if true constitutes a serious breach of the data protection act.

 

File sharing news site Torrent Freak is busy sifting through the messages and has uncovered all kinds of worrying information, including emails from couples complaining that accusations of gay porn downloads have caused trouble with their marriage and desperate letters from people who can't afford the fines.

 

The leak further confirms the suspicion that ACS:Law seems more concerned about how much money it can get than protecting intellectual property. One email found by TF shows the company accepting a settlement figure despite having acknowledged the accused wasn't responsible for any infringment, and giving up on chasing someone else because they're bankrupt and won't be able to pay. It also reveals that in some cases Crossley's firm is netting over 50% of the cash received, the rest being split between the copyright owner and other third parties

 

At a time when the company is under investigation from the SRA for its questionable tactics this has to come as a major embarrassment, and should there be anything in there which breaks the law or breaches ethical guidelines it could lead to serious repercussions for Crossley and his company.

 

Links and stuff on:

http://www.broadbandgenie.co.uk/news/20100925-acslaw-hit-by-email-leak

 

:laugh3:

whoopsiedaisy! :lol:

Operation: Payback Is A Bitch

 

4chan launches DDoS against entertainment industry

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/09/20/4chan_ddos_mpaa_riaa/

 

"Operation: Payback Is A Bitch" began over the weekend as an attack against Aiplex, an Indian firm that acts as a hired gun for Bollywood film studios, resorting to DDoS attacks on websites hosting BitTorrent trackers that fail to respond to takedown notices. The attacks moved on to assaults that flooded websites maintained by the MPAA and RIAA and, most recently, ACS:Law. :laugh3:

Power to the people!:smug:

http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/5850493/ACS-Law_leaked_emails :lol:

They'll certainly be shitting bricks now!

Not to mention reports that Mr Crossley is due in front of the Solicitor Council for his actions in sending out letters to people whom didn't do anything

http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/5850493/ACS-Law_leaked_emails :lol:

Classic. :laugh3:

EPIC FAIL :laugh3::laugh3::laugh3:

A web poster encouraging users to target Mr Crossley and his firm was posted on the 4Chan message boards

 

Adult video-sharing list leaked from law firm

 

The personal details of thousands of Sky broadband customers have been leaked on to the internet, alongside a list of pornographic movies they are alleged to have shared online.

 

The list, seen by BBC News, details the full names and addresses of over 5,300 people thought by law firm ACS:Law to be illegally sharing adult films.

 

It appeared online following an attack on the ACS:Law website. The UK's Information Commissioner said it would investigate the leak. Privacy expert Simon Davis has called it "one of the worst breaches" of the Data Protection Act he had ever seen.

 

The documents appeared online after users of the message-board 4chan attacked ACS:Law's site in retaliation for its anti-piracy efforts. The firm 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.

 

It uses third-party firms to scour the net looking for possible infringements of music and film copyright. Armed with IP (internet protocol) addresses - which can identify the internet connection used in any copyright infringement - its lawyers can then apply for a court order to get the physical address of the PC from the service provider whose network has allegedly been used for the file-sharing.

 

A BBC investigation in August found a number of people saying they were wrongly accused by ACS:Law of illegal file-sharing. UK consumer group Which? says it has also received a number of complaints. Many contest that IP addresses can be spoofed.

 

ACS:Law is under investigation by the Solicitors Regulation Authority over its role in sending letters to alleged pirates. The leak contains around 1,000 confidential e-mails, along with the list, which was an attachment on one of the messages.

 

The collection was then uploaded to file sharing website, The Pirate Baywhere it is being shared by hundreds of users. The confidential e-mails include personal correspondence between Andrew Crossley - who runs ACS:Law - and work colleagues, as well as lists of potential file-sharers and information on how much the firm has made through its anti-file-sharing activities.

 

While some of the e-mails, detailing the internal workings of the company, may prove embarrassing, the leaking of an unencrypted document - that lists the personal details of more than 5,300 BSkyB Broadband subscribers alongside a list of adult videos they may have downloaded and shared online - could be a breach of the Data Protection Act.

 

Speaking to BBC News, Mr Crossley said there were "legal issues" surrounding the leak. "We were the subject of a criminal attack to our systems. The business has and remains intact and is continuing to trade," he added. Mr Crossley said he would not comment directly on the contents of individual e-mails.

 

"All our evidence does is identify an internet connection that has been utilised to share copyright work," he told BBC News when pressed about the BSkyB database.

 

"In relation to the individual names, these are just the names and addresses of the account owner and we make no claims that they themselves were sharing the files," he added.

 

Mr Crossley said he had no further comment when asked why the Excel document was unencrypted, but said he had notified the police, the ICO and was in communication with the SRA. A spokesperson for Sky told BBC News that they were "very concerned at the apparent security breach involving data held by ACS:Law".

 

"At this stage of our investigation, we believe that the data included the names and addresses of around 4,000 Sky Broadband customers," they said. "Like other broadband providers, Sky can be required by Court Order to disclose information about customers whose accounts are alleged to have been used for illegal downloading. We only ever provide such data in encrypted form."

 

Simon Davis, from the watchdog Privacy International, said he would be asking the Information Commissioner to "conduct a full investigation" and hoped it would be "a test case of the Information Commissioner's new powers".

 

"You rarely find an aspect where almost every aspect of the Data Protection Act (DPA) has been breached, but this is one of them," said Mr Davies. "It fits perfectly for the term 'egregious misuse' of personal data," he added. A spokesperson for the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) told BBC News that it "takes all breaches of the DPA very seriously. Any organisation processing personal data must ensure that it is kept safe and secure. The ICO will be contacting ACS:Law to establish further facts of the case and to identify what action, if any, needs to be taken."

 

BSkyB is yet to make an official statement on the matter, but said it was investigating the breach. The attack on ACS:Law is the latest in a number of high-profile attacks by piracy activists. Last week, hackers temporarily knocked out the websites of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

 

The attacks were declared on notorious message-board 4chan and were reportedly in retaliation for anti-piracy efforts against file-sharing websites. Users of 4chan are renowned for online activism and direct action. "Operation Payback", as it was known, was reportedly revenge for the MPAA and RIAA's action against The Pirate Bay.

 

The group has declared it will continue to target other sites involved in anti online piracy activity.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11418962

Hopefully this man will throw the book at them

I've never uploaded or downloaded pornography in my life” - Claire, Alleged file-sharer

 

Fresh ACS:Law file-sharing lists expose thousands more

 

The personal details of a further 8,000 people alleged to have shared music or films illegally have appeared online.

 

A list of more than 8,000 Sky broadband subscribers and a second of 400 PlusNet users surfaced following a security breach of legal firm ACS:Law. It comes after a database of more than 5,000 people suspected of downloading adult films emerged on Monday.

 

The UK's Information Commissioner said ACS:Law could be fined up to half a million pounds for the breaches. The two new lists, produced by ACS:Law, contain the names, addresses and Internet addresses (IP addresses) of users suspected of illegally sharing music. In addition, they contain details of how much compensation infringers paid ACS:Law, along with internal case notes.

 

The BBC has also seen e-mails which contain credit card details of people who have paid the firm compensation. Others contain responses from people claiming their innocence. One user whose name appeared on the list said he was "very angry" about the leak and believes "ACS should be shut down immediately, and that everyone on the list should be compensated".

 

He told BBC News that he was innocent of illegal file-sharing and had refused to pay the money demanded by ACS:Law. The UK's Information Commissioner (ICO), speaking after the initial leak, told the BBC that ACS:Law had a number of questions to answer. "The question we will be asking is how secure was this information and how it was so easily accessed from outside," said Christopher Graham.

 

"We'll be asking about the adequacy of encryption, the firewall, the training of staff and why that information was so public facing. The Information Commissioner has significant power to take action and I can levy fine of up to half a million pounds on companies that flout the [Data Protection Act]," he added.

 

Privacy expert Simon Davies called the leaks "one of the worst breaches" of the Data Protection Act (DPA) he had ever seen.

 

The documents appeared online after users of the notorious message board 4chan attacked ACS:Law's site in retaliation for its anti-piracy efforts, as part of what its users called Operation Payback. 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.

 

A BBC investigation in August found a number of people who said they were wrongly accused by ACS:Law of illegal file-sharing. The firm is under investigation by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) over its role in sending letters to alleged pirates.

 

The leaks consisted of about 1,000 confidential e-mails and attachments. It is thought documents may have also been acquired from the company's servers. The collection was then uploaded to file sharing website The Pirate Bay, where it is being shared by hundreds of users. The confidential messages include personal correspondence between Andrew Crossley - who runs ACS:Law - and work colleagues detailing a number of cases and how much money the firm had made from the letters.

 

Campaigners, who have long accused the firm of bullying tactics, have seized on the e-mails. Speaking to BBC News, Mr Crossley said there were "legal issues" surrounding the leak. "We were the subject of a criminal attack to our systems. The business has and remains intact and is continuing to trade," he added. Mr Crossley said he would not comment directly on the contents of individual e-mails. "All our evidence does is identify an internet connection that has been utilised to share copyright work," he told BBC News when pressed about the lists of personal data.

 

"In relation to the individual names, these are just the names and addresses of the account owner and we make no claims that they themselves were sharing the files," he added. :whatever:

 

Mr Crossley said he had no further comment when asked why the Excel documents was unencrypted, but said he had notified the police, the ICO and was in communication with the SRA.

 

A spokesperson for Sky told BBC News that they were investigating the new leaks and said they were "very concerned at the apparent security breach".

 

"Like other broadband providers, Sky can be required by court order to disclose information about customers whose accounts are alleged to have been used for illegal downloading. We only ever provide such data in encrypted form."

 

Sky said they have "suspended all co-operation with ACS:Law with immediate effect" and that the suspension would "remain in place until ACS:Law demonstrates adequate measures to protect the security of personal information".

 

Mr Graham told BBC News that while he did not have the power to put ACS:Law "out of business" a large fine could have serious repercussions for the firm. "I can't put ACS:Law out of business, but a company that is hit by a fine of up to half a million pounds suffers real reputation damage," he said.

 

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

"In relation to the individual names, these are just the names and addresses of the account owner and we make no claims that they themselves were sharing the files," he added. :whatever:

 

Har har, those letters they send out speak for themselves.

It gets better and better, now BT are in trouble!

 

BT embroiled in ACS:Law porn list breach

 

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.

 

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.

 

blah blah

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

Thousands of letters have been sent to alleged illegal file-sharers

 

Law firm ACS: Law stops 'chasing illegal file-sharers'

 

A lawyer has dramatically withdrawn from pursuing alleged illegal file-sharers in the middle of a court case he brought.

 

The patent court in London is currently scrutinising 26 cases brought by ACS: Law on behalf of its client MediaCAT. The law firm had sent thousands of letters to alleged file-sharers.

 

But in a statement read to the court, solicitor Andrew Crossley said he had now ceased all such work. He cited criminal attacks and bomb threats as reasons.

 

"I have ceased my work...I have been subject to criminal attack. My e-mails have been hacked. I have had death threats and bomb threats," he said in the statement, read to the court by MediaCAT's barrister Tim Ludbrook. "It has caused immense hassle to me and my family," he added.

 

In September ACS: Law was the victim of a cyber attack which exposed thousand of its e-mails online. These e-mails detailed all the people it was pursuing and the pornographic films they were accused of downloading for free.

 

The data breach is the subject of an ongoing investigation by the Information Commissioner, and Mr Crossley could face a hefty fine. ACS: Law hit the headlines when it began sending thousands of letters to alleged file-sharers, on behalf of client MediaCAT. Consumer group Which has accused it of sending letters to innocent people, while some ISPs have refused to hand over details about their customers.

 

Groups such as the BPI, which represents music labels, has criticised its methods. Those methods hinge on a partnership between ACS: Law and MediaCAT, which in turn has signed deals with various copyright holders allowing it to pursue copyright infringement cases on their behalf. The court heard that copyright owners receive a 30% share of any recouped revenue while ACS: Law takes a 65% share.

 

Members of the public who received letters were given the choice of paying a fine of around £500 or going to court. Detractors have accused Mr Crossley of seeking to make money with no intention of taking any cases to court.

 

In his statement, Mr Crossley denied this. "It has always been my intention to litigate and, but for the fact that I have ceased this work, my intention was to litigate forcefully in these 26 cases," he said.

 

Mr Crossley is subject to an ongoing investigation by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Even before Mr Crossley's statement, the court case had been highly unusual.

 

ACS: Law's client MediCAT wants to drop the cases and letters have already been sent to the defendants informing them that action against them had been dropped. But Judge Birss said granting permission to discontinue the cases was not a simple matter due largely to the fact that the actual copyright holders were not in court.

 

This meant that, in theory, these copyright holders could continue to pursue cases against the 26 defendants. "Why should they be vexed a second time?" he asked. Judge Birss also questioned why MediaCAT wanted to drop the cases.

 

"I want to tell you that I am not happy. I am getting the impression with every twist and turn since I started looking at these cases that there is a desire to avoid any judicial scrutiny," he said.

 

The case was made more complicated by the fact that a new firm, GCB Ltd, had begun sending similar letters, including one to one of the defendants who had been told just the day before that no further action would be taken.

 

Judge Birss said he was considering banning MediaCAT from sending any more such letters until the issues raised by the cases had been resolved. Doing so, he said, would be a highly unusual move but one made more likely by the fact that Mr Crossley had said in his statement that there were "no new letters pending" and that GCB Ltd had also halted its work.

 

The judge was keen to find out what the relationship was between GCB and ACS: Law, something Mr Crossley sought to clarify in his statement.

 

He said that he had no connection with GCB Ltd beyond the fact that the founders of the firm had previously been employed at ACS: Law. The case has raised some serious questions about how copyright firms pursue file-sharers.

 

Barristers acting on behalf of the accused questioned whether an IP address - a number assigned to every device connecting to the internet - could be used to identify the person who downloaded illegal content.

 

Barrister Guy Tritton also questioned the nature of the letters sent by ACS: Law, asking why it described MediaCAT as a "copyright protection society" - a title that he said was "misleading".

 

Judge Birss is expected to deliver his judgement on the case later in the week.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12253746

Also known as "We know the system we use to identify the so-called offenders has more holes in it than a colander, and was worried that if we were to continue the court would poke more holes in my colander"

Data leak lawyer Andrew Crossley fined £1000

 

 

Data leak lawyer Andrew Crossley fined £1000

 

ACS lawyer Andrew Crossley has been fined £1,000 for failing to make sure sensitive information about thousands of file sharers was secure.

 

Mr Crossley's website, which contained information belonging to 6,000 people suspected of sharing files, was hacked resulting in all the information leaking online. The website in question, that of his firm ACS Law, is now defunct.

 

The Information Commissioner's Officer ruled that the firm had failed to ensure the information was secure, and that it would have imposed a £200,000 fine if ACS Law had still been trading.

 

The ICO's investigation found that Mr Crossley failed to seek professional assistance when he set up and developed his IT system. The system did not include basic security measures such as a firewall and was only

meant to be used for domestic purposes.

 

Among the information leaked were names, addresses, credit card details, sex lives and the financial status of the people suspected of file sharing.

 

Some victims of the leak felt they had been falsely accused.

 

ICO member Christopher Graham said: 'The security measures ACS Law had in place were barely fit for purpose in a personal home environment, let alone a business handling such sensitive details.'

 

Simon Davies of Privacy International said he had been receiving emails from the leak victims saying they were 'angry and frustrated' at the size of the fine against Crossley.

 

Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/news/862956-data-leak-lawyer-andrew-crossley-fined-1-000#ixzz1M2rVbTnT

The ICO has as much bite as this

 

The ICO's investigation found that Mr Crossley failed to seek professional assistance when he set up and developed his IT system. The system did not include basic security measures such as a firewall and was only

meant to be used for domestic purposes.

 

That is one of the most tech-incompetent things I have ever heard of.

 

Pirate chasing firm ACS:Law back in business

 

ACS:Law, the controversial law firm that tried to get money from people by accusing them of illegal file-sharing, appears to be back in business.

 

Ralli Solicitors, which represented some of those accused by ACS:Law during a UK court case, has told the BBC it is now advising a client based in Greece.

 

"They have received e-mails purporting to be from the law firm," said Ralli solicitor Michael Forrester.

 

The letters have been sent to overseas addresses. "The IP addresses quoted do not appear conventional, making reference to country codes outside of the UK," said Mr Forrester.

 

"Despite this, the letters of claim refer to UK law under the Copyrights, Design and Patents Act," he added. One of the letters seen by the BBC read: "We act as solicitors for DigiProtect Ltd, the owners of copyright of various films and music rights.

 

"Our client has retained forensic computer analysts to search for and identify internet addresses from which their copyright works are being made available on so-called peer-to-peer programs."

 

It requests a compensation payment of £1665 or else court action will be taken. The letter asks that cheques are made payable to ACS:Law and supplies a central London address, which is in an adjacent building to where the law firm used to trade from.

 

ACS:Law has enjoyed something of a chequered history, and has been accused of taking advantage of tough new laws on piracy in order to make money. Sole proprietor Andrew Crossley teamed up with companies DigiProtect and MediaCAT, which purported to represent copyright owners.

 

Together they sent letters to around 10,000 people in the UK, alleging that the IP addresses of their computers had been linked to illegal file sharing. Individuals were given the option of paying £500 or facing court action. Many of those contacted said they had never engaged in such activity. Consumer watchdog Which accused the firm of speculative invoicing and claimed that none of the evidence would stand up in court.

 

Mr Crossley eventually brought 26 cases to court, but soon after hearings began he tried to have them dismissed. Judge Colin Birss QC refused to allow proceedings to stop and accused Mr Crossley of trying to "to avoid judicial scrutiny".

 

He, in turn, left the court mid-way through the case and had his barrister read out a statement in which he said that he no longer wanted to pursue net pirates because he had received death threats.

 

The case was dismissed and Mr Crossley faced a large bill for wasted costs. The accused have since settled out of court. Soon after, ACS:Law was wound up and declared bankrupt.

 

Mr Crossley is currently the subject of an investigation by the Solicitors' Regulation Authority. "It is unclear how the firm ACS:Law is continuing to operate, despite purporting to close earlier this year and the sole principal recently being made bankrupt. We have advised clients that we may be dealing with an imposter," said Mr Forrester.

 

ACS:Law was not contactable at the time of writing.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14215510

We have prove that your IP address was found in a log of downloads, it doesn't prove that you downloaded it because IP addresses are piss easy to change & sites are known to plant fakes in their logs. Anyhow please pay us £2000, of which nothing goes to the artists, as I fancy a new car.