Customers of several UK broadband ISPs, including Virgin Media (VMO2), received settlement letters (aka -“speculative invoicing“), demanding money to settle suspected cases of internet piracy (copyright infringement).
According to a report by ISPreview, recipients of these letters are then given just 14 days to respond to Lewis Silkin with their proposals. Customers at a number of other UK ISPs are also understood to have been targeted, although we don’t yet know which ones (such things are usually limited to the biggest players).
The situation raised privacy concerns, which Virgin Media defended by saying “(a) court order was successfully granted … which means a very small number of Virgin Media customers may now receive correspondence from (a rights owner).”
Read the full story at ISPreview
Why it matters
ISPreview said that billing campaigns such as these are not particularly successful, and that courts warn billers to be careful with their language and not give the impression that the recipient is guilty until proven innocent. Other test cases have been rejected because evidence has been poor.
