Jim Lynch: Off the Top of My Head…

Heh, heh. Talk about going after the wrong people.

Davenport Lyons is quickly becoming the de facto copyright cop in the UK, acting on behalf of content owners to chase after suspected infringers. The firm has been in the news several times this year for sending letters to people operating open WiFi networks, saying that they’ll be responsible for the illegal actions of others. More recently, the firm has been sending letters on behalf of game publishers. In both cases, the letters demand users pay up for their alleged crimes or face even more serious charges in court. So it’s no surprise that Davenport Lyons is behind the latest string of letters, which accuse citizens in the UK of illegally downloading copyrighted adult films and offer a pre-court settlement.

The Guardian highlights the absurdity of the letters by profiling a 60-year-old couple accused of downloading Army F**kers, a sordid tale about Gestapo officers and farm hands and… well, you understand. Davenport Lyons, representing the German porn company that created the film, sent a 20-page presettlement letter to the couple, demanding they cough up £503 (roughly US$774) or face high court action. The couple was, not surprisingly, bewildered by the request. “We were offended by the title of the film. We don’t do porn—straight or gay—and we can’t do downloads. We have to ask our son even to do an iTunes purchase,” they told the newspaper.

You’d think that these legal firms would think for a moment about how this is going to look in terms of public relations before they send these kinds of letters out. It’s called aiming before you fire and these guys just don’t seem to do it with any kind of regularity.

I’m glad that some universities are pushing back against the RIAA and other groups like it. It’s well past time for that to happen as the RIAA types have gotten way out of control with their gestapo-like tactics.

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