Davenport Lyons issued this claim against me...?

Question

Davenport Lyons have issued 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-downloading-dream-pinball-settle-now-or-go-broke/

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?

Answer 1

If this gets into the public domain it's going to make this lot look like bullies and I'm sure they don't need that. So make sure it does.

Answer 2

Unfortunately this isn't uncommon in our society. Many of the teens who downloaded music illegally didn't know it was illegal, and yet suits were still brought against them. Advise your son not to go to any websites that involve torrents, as some of them may allow him to download illegal content.

Answer 3

Seek legal advice (most attorneys will not charge for the initial consultation, and a letter to the company outlining the fact that they have no case and will be countersued should only cost a few pounds).

However:

1) Parents, in your local jurisdiction, may be legally held financially responsible for any act performed by their child.

2) "I didn't know" may not be legal defense for a 13-year-old where you are.

Also, however, DL would have to prove that it was your son who downloaded the file.  If you have an unsecured wireless connection, anyone could have connected to it and downloaded the file.  (Or a visiting friend of his may have done it.)  I doubt that the laws there hold you responsible for anything done using your internet address - which is all they have - if they even have that much.  (It usually requires a court order to get even that.)  You may be able to just tell them to stuff it - in nicer words, of course.  (Check with an attorney.)

It's very difficult to prove a case as circumstantial as this, even in a civil case.

Answer 4

Please email me with your email address.

Answer 5

I would write to the editor of all the big papers and contact the local news. maybe if they get the story out there the company will let it go as they don't want the bad publicity.