Can this be right...all free-thinkers out there...?

Question

Davenport Lyons are threatening to issue proceedings against me. Allegedly, my 13-year-old son downloaded a game illegally. I have spoken to him, he didn't know he was doing anything illegal. He didn't install the game and never played it, so he derived no benefit from it. Davenport Lyons are claiming £565 from me. I'm a single mum with two children, now 14 and 4, struggling on benefits. There are no childminders to collect my daughter from school so my employment possibilities are limited. Why do Atari and Davenport Lyons need £565 more than I do? Is this how our legal system is organised? To allow predatory lawyers to trawl through records to persecute a child for a genuine mistake?

They have tried this money-making operation before until the country got sick of it, apparently:

http://torrentfreak.com/youre-caught-dow...

To add insult to injury, if I settle out of court and pay the minimum £10 a month they are prepared to accept, the total amount repayable is £656.00. In addition to this, I have to answer a detailed questionnaire and provide them with a statement of means to prove that I cannot afford their original, and in my opinion, extortionate, claim.

I felt that this should be brought to the attention of the public, don't you agree?

http://techdirt.com/articles/20080825/23...

http://www.eurogamer.net/forum_thread_po...

http://www.slyck.com/forums/viewtopic.ph...

http://www.slyck.com/forums/viewtopic.ph...

http://www.slyck.com/forums/viewtopic.ph...

http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/to

Answer 1

As a parent it is your responsibility to make sure your son doesn't do anything illegal. Moreover, you could have given your son limited access to the Internet; making it impossible for him to download music, movies or games that are copyright.  

Answer 2

People are corrupt enough that they obviously don't take pity on even a struggling single mother...we have a messed up system in the US too...sorry you're going through that...

Answer 3

Unfortunately, software companies are now perfectly at liberty to direct their legal teams to pursue people who download software illegally, and demand payment in respect of their deemed loss of revenue.

Most ISPs have started issuing warning letters to users who frequently download illegal copies of software.  The same also applies to music, and the BPI are now getting ready to pursue users who download music illegally.

It's all about protecting copyright, revenue and the jobs of the artists, developers and shareholders.  

Yoy are going to have to explain to your son that he cannot download software illegally and that it must be paid for.  Ultimately it is theft in the eyes of the law.

Seek professional legal advice.