Showing posts with label legal letter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label legal letter. Show all posts

Wednesday, 26 January 2011

ACS:Law's Andrew Crossley to 'sue the Internet' over emotional distress claims

LIVE FROM THE ACS:NEWS FRONT DESK, LONDON

News is breaking this hour to word that ACS:Law's defeated henchman Andrew Crossley is planning to once again take on his biggest enemy; the very Internet he exploited for his own financial gain.

Hi5 are notorious for their targeted-at-simpletons approach to advertising
Crossley, fresh from his firms court appearance yesterday, has enlisted the help of accident and injury law firm 'Hi5' who are known in the UK for their "had an accident in the past three years?" daytime television advertisements - screenings that have been under close eye by industry regulator OFCOM after complaints of misleading gluttony.

Hi5 is operated by UK-based lawyers Jonathan Miller and Terence Tsang who, according to a statement issued by Hi5, have 'little to no' connection to ACS:Law.

Crossley claims to have undergone an 'untold' amount of stress and anxiety after his website was taken down by cyber-protestors, his email database 'hacked' (leaked by his own firm) and after numerous death and terror threats against him. This, coupled with numerous investigations by the SRA and industry watchdogs seems to have pushed him over the edge.

"I have ceased my work... I have been subject to criminal attack," he said via his barrister to the BBC.

"My emails have been hacked. I have had death threats and bomb threats," Mr Crossley's statement said.

"They've threatened my family, my wife," he exclaimed.  When questioned to whether or not Mr. Crossley was still in contact with his wife he sneered and said "no comment."

The email leak back in September revealed that not only had Andrew's wife left him but Andrew himself carried a huge degree of frustration and resentment towards her and her new partner.

From: andrew.crossley@acs-law.co.uk
To: <removed.for.protection>

You are f***ing joke. Happy? You? With Kevin the drug addled hermit who has nothing to do with you or his family. You are the saddest person I have ever met.

Now get the f*** away from me forever you complete washed up drug addict loser.

Your email has been marked as blocked sender. No further emails from you will be received by me. Do not ever attempt any form of contact with me again as long as you live.


F*** off and keep out of my life.

Andrew your ex husband of 14 years


The leak of this email casts shadows over the validity of the alleged threats against Mr. Crossley's family, a family which appears to consist of little more than profit-orientated associates and large properties based in leafy West Sussex bought via his legally-grey letter sending business.

Crossley fails to address the on-going investigations against his law firm and its 'mind blowing' contempt of the legal system in the eyes of a judge.  For somebody who shrugged an attack on his website off as "typical rubbish from pirates" it strikes us as rather odd that an alleged set of death threats, most likely originating from kids in the US with access to Skype, if anywhere at all, could bring down his entire firm.

When quizzed to who Mr. Crossley plans on bringing legal proceedings against, he stated via his barrister "Pirates. F***ing pirates... The same ones who took my site down and hacked my emails... I know who they are and they will be seeing me soon."

Hi5 and Mr. Crossley declined to give further details of where they obtained the information of the accused pirates.

Perhaps Andrew is relating a little to what the recipients of his letters have stated after being targeted by his firm, excerpts below (thanks Slyck forums) --

"..these accusations are ruining our life as well as causing serious harm to my partner. My partner is disabled and has many health issues so for that fact alone it is devastating for us both.....

...I immediately called my 18 year old son down and started shouting at him....he's in the middle of his A levels at the moment and is really scared which is the last thing he needs at this time of stress.....

....I worry that the only way I can prove it is to take on a very expensive court case. In the meantime I feel smeared, and have to endure lectures from ACS like I was a criminal.....

.....I was trembling, felt light-headed and completely crushed.......It made me feel like a criminal even though I felt sure I had not done anything wrong.....

....My stress levels really started to rise because I did not have a clue where to start on defending myself.....

...My hands were shaking and I felt sick. My heart was racing. What was this all about?...I got myself into such a state...

... she is now convinced that she is going to jail....

...I feel like a criminal....

....nausea, shock, numbness, heart racing, confusion, distress, you name it, I felt it..

...The worry and stress about this has affected the health of myself and my family...

....The effect of this on my health has been devastating: weight loss and sleepless nights. I have even harboured thoughts of suicide on numerous occasions...."


More on this story as it unfolds...

"Pirates and the Internet have driven me insane" - Andrew Crossley, ACS:Law

BREAKING NEWS LEADING TO POSSIBLE DEMISE OF ACS:LAW

ACS LIVE! ACTION NEWS has dedicated itself to following, reporting and mocking the rise and continual fall of now notorious scam UK Law firm ACS:Law and its head crony Mr. Andrew Jonathan Crossley.

Crossley is a man who has lead a trite and meaningless life full of contempt, slobbery and woeful gloating; dedicating his time to 'getting rich quick' off the backs of a future-thinking nation who believe in progression - and most importantly - sharing.

Proving once and for all that attempting to control the Internet, our nation's last open channel for free and unregulated broadcast, is far from the brightest of ideas, Mr. Crossley is throwing in the towel after being laughed and boo'd out of court.

The first time ACS:News heard Mr. Crossley's voice 'live' was shortly before his website was blasted offline by cyber-protesters.  In either a drink or drugs-fueled, or just plain childish flailing of emotions, Andrew shouted "You can't stop me", "Your muvvaz", "I'll get the f***ing law on you", and other such pearls of wisdom to that effect to our journalist over the phone.  Unfortunately this call was never recorded to see the light of day but one can rest assured this outburst did little to stop the inevitable onslaught that would quickly result in the leaking of ACS:Law's entire database of internal secrets and the methods used to enable this scam to operate in the UK.

The leak was without a doubt the wake-up call needed to push word of this nation-wide scam to the mass media.  The next day the country woke to news of the leak and word of a massive investigation underway by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and the UK Data Commissioner, among others.

File-sharers quickly released 'megapacks' containing all of the music supposedly protected by Crossley and his firm, further humiliating the exposed con-artists and showing just how detrimental appointing firms like ACS:Law is to a content holder's interests.

ISPs country-wide went on record both in and out of court stating that they'd start defending their customers against the likes of ACS:Law and wouldn't be duped again.

Since the leak ACS:Law has attempted and failed to come back online and most importantly rake in as much cash as they can before a possible half a million pound fine that could lead to the firms closure.

The leak ensured that the country was clued up to the goings-on at ACS:Law and the name quickly became synonymous with a get rich quick scam who's legal letters needed filing in the 419, spam and fraud baskets of our nation's homes, causing Crossley to attempt sending his feeble scare-letters under the guise of other law practices.

Now, after ACS:Law's final day in court, an undercover reporter for ACS:News has been on the phone to Andrew Crossley who had this to say:

"I have ceased my f***ing work... I have been subject to criminal attack.  My emails have been hacked. I have had f***ing death threats and bomb threats for f***s sake.  The Internet made me f***ing rich and now the f*** [the Internet] has ruined my f***ing life...  I'm out... There's nothing left for me here, even my f***ing b**** druggie wife hates my f***ing guts.  Let the c***s have their f***ing free music or whatever, I'm done trying to make money off these f***ing pirates.  They've driven me f***ing insane."

This comes in stark contrast to his initial 'on the record' response to the Internet turning on ACS:Law, when Crossley was quoted as saying "Big whoop... It was only down for a few hours. I have far more concern over the fact of my train turning up 10 minutes late or having to queue for a coffee than them wasting my time with this sort of rubbish... [The attack was] typical rubbish from pirates."

Could this be the end of ACS:Law?  We'd love to say yes but it's important we follow this through to the end.  Keep spreading the good word, keep an eye on the usual ACS:Law-related outlets, our Twitter page and your letter box.

The battle for keeping the Internet and our culture open, resourceful and free has only just begun.

ACS:News 2010 - 2011

Monday, 25 October 2010

BREAKING NEWS: ACS-Law blasted off the net, again

ACS:NEWS LIVE AT BREAKFAST

It's been almost a month since the initial takedown of ACS:Law's website, leading to one of the biggest data leaks in UK history.  The firms owner and registered solicitor scumbag, Andrew Crossley, is now churning out so-called 'legal' letters at a ridiculous pace in an attempt to scare as much money out of the UK public as he can before the inevitable.

In what's been dubbed a 'drive by' DDoS attack, ACS-LAW.CO.UK has once again been obliterated and taken offline by activists attempting to bring media attention to the tactics used by these law firms to generate revenue under the guise of 'copyright protection'.

The site went offline yesterday evening, GMT, and remains offline this morning.  Sometime during the night the site was removed all together and is now directing to a 'parked' page with little evidence of the scam left on the domain.  Before being knocked offline, ACS-Law appeared to be attempting a full comeback, finally updating their pathetically unprofessional MySpace-esque website with contact links and even, ironically, a home page link to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).

A search for ACS Law on Google, Bing or similar search engines now exposes the truth about the rogue law firm with the official site hidden away somewhere in the pages and pages of news about the catastrophic email leak.

If you've received a letter post September 24th - keep everybody updated by joining the official ACS-Law thread on Slyck and in turn gaining mountains of helpful advice.

The Internet was exploited by ACS-Law for profit.  That same Internet, our Internet, is to be its biggest downfall.

UPDATE:  Our reporters' attempts at contacting Andrew Crossley's mobile phone about his website, directly, have been met with a 'number not in service' tone.  You can contact ACS-Law's offices directly on 02071932493 in the UK or 442071932493 internationally and leave a message.

Monday, 11 October 2010

Received a letter from ACS:Law after the 24th September?

REQUEST FROM THE ACS:NEWS FRONT DESK

Have you or anybody you know received a letter from the team of fraudsters at ACS:Law since the 24th September 2010? (the email leak)

If so, the anti-ACS gurus at Slyck would like to hear from youGo here to find out more.

It doesn't matter if it was your first letter, second, response to a letter of denial or anything else.

We need to keep the news of the ACS:Law scam alive and not allow Andrew Crossley to sneak back into the shadows after the breaking news throughout the past two and a half weeks.

ACS:News recommends you include the following information in your post or message to SlyckTom:
- Date letter received
- What ACS:Law is claiming
- Whether or not it's your first letter
- If you chose to include a scan of your letter remember to block out your personal details (you can do this in Paint)

Your help will put together further journalistic investigation and exposure to the ACS:Law scam which is systematically being torn apart day by day.  Your help is greatly appreciated.

You can also catch up with other people who have received an ACS:Law letter in the near-500-page-long help thread, where you can also post information if you've been targeted by a similar firm.

Wednesday, 6 October 2010

FileWatch: Proof that ACS:Law DID NOT and CAN NOT stop sharing, employing these firms is futile

ACS:NEWS - YOUR AWARD WINNING 24 HOUR ANTI-SCAM BROADCASTER

Good evening netizens.  As news flies in about new law firms set to take over where ACS:Law left off, BT and the courts tell Ministry of Sound to go away until January and Operation Payback floors yet more targets, we at ACS:News would like to bring you a special segment dedicated to ACS:Law named ACS:News FileWatch.

It's no secret that Andrew Johnathan Crossley and his law firm employed some of the dirtiest tactics in the field of law to make money from the masses but just how well did they do at what they claimed to have been working towards; protecting copyrights?

Last week, news broke to the release of a 'megapack' put up by pirates claiming to contain every album and song ACS:Law were recieving money to protect.  The pirates who released the pack stated that finding each album was simple and that anyone with a connection to the Internet could do it.  Sounds like a challenge, huh?  In this special report, our field team sets out to find the files supposedly protected by Andrew Crossley and finds out whether employing firms like ACS:Law is actually worth the stress on your wallet.

>ROLL VT

<Music Plays>

<Highlights of forthcoming segment...>


"Oh my god, I can't believe they're right there in front of us...", "<chuckling>Are they going to sue Google next?", "<excitement>Is that every file?  Every last one?  Oh *#$%......", "<shouting>WE'VE GOT A LETTER, I REPEAT WE'VE GOT A LETTER", "<distressed cries>IS EVERYBODY OK... #&$% IS EVERYBODY OK?"

Hello and welcome to ACS:News FileWatch.  In this month’s show we investigate just how well controversial law firm ACS:Law are protecting their client's 'intellectual' interests and if they really can keep people from sharing music on the Internet.

It's a misty early October morning and the team settle down at their desks armed with a list of files supposedly forbidden from the depths of the Internet.  Their aim: to see if, and just how easily the files can be obtained, depsite ACS:Law's claims.

Rachael, 23, was the first in our team to give it a try.  Rachael is tech savvy and uses BitTorrent regularly.  Using a combination of BitTorrent indexers and search engines she was astonished to find ALL of the music 'protected' by ACS:Law in readily downloadable, high-quality formats.

Next up was Matthew, ACS:News' 75 year old field reporter who has very limited experience with computers and the Internet.  "I like to email the grandkids at weekends and sometimes search for pictures of wildlife", says Matt, looking rather daunted by the prospect of being able to find and download an entire forbidden catalogue of music.  “Though according to ACS:Law I’m a big fan of talentless commercial dance act Cascada”, he mutters.  Matt starts by going to Google and searching simply for the titles of the music required followed by strings such as 'download', 'torrent' and 'mp3'.  To Matt's amazement he was able to obtain each and every album at lightening speeds, proving that even technophobes can and will use the Internet to download and share music.
“The grandkids will be proud of their granddad”, explains Matt.  “Maybe they’ll teach me how to share this stuff with others, though I’m not sure I want them listening to it!”

Throughout the day various other people tried the test and gained similar results with most people saying they could find the albums through a combination of Google, various P2P applications, BitTorrent and Usenet.
"I think anyone who plans on investing in ACS:Law should think long and hard before they part with their cash", claims one member of the team.
"I didn't doubt for a second that everything was readily available", claims another.
"If anything I think people will be more inclined to share the music they've been told not to, just to prove a point", says veteran field reporter Matthew.

Below are links to the files the team found.  These files were found using common search engines like Google and Bing and are NOT hosted by ACS:News.

MUSIC:

Aquagen - So Far So Good (The Very Best Of) Aquagen_-_So_Far_So_Good-(The_Very_Best_Of)-WEB-2009-eST
Direct Download:  HotFile | RapidShare | MegaUpload | zshare | Uploading | depositfiles | MegaUpload | TurboIt | FreakShare| FileFactory | RapidShare | zshare | NetLoad | FileFront | iFileIt |
BitTorrent: isoHunt | ThePirateBay
Notes: MP3 / LAME 3.97 / 320kbps


Blackguard - Profugus Mortis | Blackguard - 2009 - Profugus Mortis
Direct Download: HotFile | FileServe | depositfiles | MegaUpload | Ziddu | FileSonic | FreakShare | UGotFileRapidShare | zshare | SendSpace | NetLoad | MediaFire | 2shared 
BitTorrent: isoHunt | ThePirateBay
Notes: MP3 / LAME 3.97 / VBRkbps

Candlemass - Death Magic Doom | Candlemass - Death Magic Doom (2009)
Direct Download: HotFile | depositfiles | MegaUpload | EasyShare | FileFactory | UGotFile | RapidShare | zshare | badongo | NetLoad | MediaFire | ZippyShare | 2shared | Ziddu
BitTorrent: isoHunt | ThePirateBay
Notes: MP3 / LAME 3.97 / VBRkbps

Cascada - Evacuate The Dancefloor | Cascada - Evacuate The Dancefloor [2009][CD+Cov]

Direct Download: EasyShare | zshare | 2shared | HotFile | badongo | MegaShare | SendSpace | HotFile | DepositFiles | MegaUpload | TurboIt | UGotFile | RapidShare | NetLoad | MediaFire | MegaShare | ZippyShare | 2shared | Uploadbox | iFileIt | x7 | MegaUpload | Easy-Share | FileSonic | FreakShare | FileFactory | UGotFile | badongo | NetLoad | ZippyShare | 2shared | FileFront | iFileIt | x7
BitTorrent: isoHunt | ThePirateBay
Notes: MP3 / LAME 3.98 / 320kbps 

Chimaira - The Infection (Deluxe Edition) | Chimaira-The_Infection-(Deluxe_Edition)-2009-FNT

Direct Download: RapidShare | zshare | badongo | MediaFire | ZippyShare | 2shared | ShareBase | iFileit | x7 | ziddu | MegaUpload | depositfiles | FileServe | HotFile
BitTorrent: isoHunt | ThePirateBay
Notes: MP3 / LAME 3.97 / VBRkbps

Deathstars - Night Electric Night
Direct Download: zshare | HotFile | 2shared | SendSpace | badongo | MegaShare | MegaUpload | HotFile | depositfiles | MegaUpload | TurboIt | ExtaBit | FreakShare | UGotFile | badongo | NetLoad | Load.to | ZippyShare | ShareBase | UploadBox | x7 |
BitTorrent: isoHunt | ThePirateBay
Notes: MP3 / VBRkbps

Eluveitie - Evocation I The Arcane Dominion
Direct Download: HotFile | depositfiles | MegaUpload | Ziddu | FileFactory | RapidShare | zshare | SendSpace | badongo | MediaFire | MegaShare | FileFront | iFileit | x7 
BitTorrent: isoHunt | ThePirateBay
Notes: MP3 / 256kbps

Epica - The Classical Conspiracy | Epica-The_Classical_Conspiracy-2CD-2009-FOAD

Direct Download: HotFile | FileServe | x7 | Uploadbox | bandongo | SendSpace | zshare | RapidShare | Ziddu | MegaUpload | depositfiles
BitTorrent: isoHunt | ThePirateBay
Notes: MP3 / LAME 3.97 / VBRkbps

Guru Josh - Infinity (Single)
Direct Download: HotFile | Zippyshare | SendSpace | HotFile | depositfiles | MegaUpload | Ziddu | Turbobit | FileSonic | Zippyshare | Sharebase | Uploadbox | iFile | x7 | Uploading | zshare | HotFile | depositfiles | MegaUpload | RapidShare | HotFile | FileServe | DepositFiles | MegaUpload | Easy-Share | Ziddu | FileSonic | FileFactory | RapidShare | zshare | SendSpace | MediaFire | FileFront | iFileIt | FileDropper | TurboItExtraBit | FreakShare | UGotFile | zshare | badongo | Load.to | ZippyShare | 2shared | ShareBase | UploadBox | x7 | MegaUpload | MultiUpload | Uploading | zshare | HotFile | depositfiles |
BitTorrent: isoHunt | ThePirateBay
Notes: MP3 / LAME 3.97 / 320kbps

HammerFall - No Sacrifice No Victory
Direct Download: despositfiles | MegaUpload | Ziddu | FileSonic | FreakShare | FileFactory | RapidShare | zshare | badongo | MegaShare | ZippyShare | 2shared | HotFile
BitTorrent: isoHunt | ThePirateBay 
Notes: MP3 / LAME 3.97 / VBRkbps

Mantic Ritual - Executioner
Direct Download: HotFile | RapidShare | zshare | x7 | MegaUpload | depositfiles | MediaFire | ZippyShare | 2shared | FileFront | iFileit | SendSpace | badongo | Ziddu
BitTorrent: isoHunt | ThePirateBay
Notes: MP3 / LAME 3.97 / VBRkbps

Nightwish Made in Hong Kong (And In Various Other Places)
Direct Download: zshare | badongo | MediaFire | 2shared | MegaUpload | iFileit | x7 | HotFile | depositfiles | Ziddu | Turbobit | FileFactory | UGotFile | RapidShare
BitTorrent: isoHunt | ThePirateBay
Notes: MP3 / 160kbps

Samael - Above | Samael-Above-2009-FNT

Direct Download: zshare | HotFile | badongo | MegaUpload | despoitfiles | SendSpace | 2shared | Load.to
BitTorrent: isoHunt | ThePirateBay 
Notes: MP3 / LAME 3.97 / VBRkbps

Subway To Sally - Kreuzfeuer 
Direct Download: RapidShare | MegaUpload | depositfiles | HotFile | zshare | Uploading | HotFile | iFileIt | UploadBox | ShareBase | MegaShare | Load.to | NetLoad | badongo | UGotFile | FreakShare | ExtaBit | depositfiles | MegaUpload | x7 | Zippyshare | NetLoad |
BitTorrent: isoHunt | ThePirateBay
Notes: MP3 / LAME 3.93 / 320kbps 

Success Will Write Apocalypse Across The Sky - The Grand Partition And The Abrogation Of Idolatry | Success_Will_Write_Apocalypse_Across_The_Sky-The_Grand_Partition_And_The_Abrogation_Of_Idolatry-(Advance)-2009 
Direct Download: RapidShare | MegaUpload | depositfiles | Uploading | HotFile | zshare |
BitTorrent: isoHunt | ThePirateBay
Notes: MP3 / LAME 3.97 / VBRkbps

VA - Hands On Scooter | VA-Hands_On_Scooter-2009-hbZ

Direct Download: zshare | Load.to | badongo | SendSpace | HotFile | depositfiles | EasyShare | Ziddu | Turbobit | FileSonic |
BitTorrent: isoHunt | ThePirateBay
Notes: MP3 / LAME 3.97 / VBRkbps

So there you have it.  Solid evidence that employing law firms such as ACS:Law to 'protect' your works is not only a pointless waste of money but a sure way to alienate your potential audience, placing you squarely in the 'they are against file sharing' category.

...Back to you in the studio...


Disclaimer: None of the files above are hosted or supplied by ACS:News and are therefore not in breach of any copyright legislation.  ACS:News are merely reporting links as they are found, direct from our NYC news room.

Monday, 27 September 2010

BREAKING NEWS: ACS:Law to be Sued for Huge Breach of Data Protection

LIVE FROM ACS:NEWS HQ
Massive news is breaking this hour as to LEGAL ACTION being taken against ACS:Law and Andrew Crossley by Privacy International (PI).  This is the first in a possible wave of action to be taken since the leak of ACS:Law's email database containing firm secrets and the full information of many of their victims including addresses and credit card numbers, amoungst a vast amount of other information.  You can view PI's full press release which, we are hearing has just gone live, HERE.

The Press Release clearly outlines how the data was obtained and distributed online, stating the importance of noting that the data was made public by ACS:Law web administrators themselves and not via an outside security breach.

Tens of thousands of pieces of information on ACS:Law victims are now publically obtainable exposing their names, addresses, phone numbers, email address, credit card details and the file(s) they have been accused of sharing online.  In many cases these are titles of pornography where the victim 'paying up' could be deemed safer to their reputation than going to court accused of sharing explicit titles online.

UPDATE:  There has now been several mainstream media reports on the situation, see the original breaking ACS:NEWS post for constantly updated links.

ACS:NEWS will be keeping you up to date on this news as it happens...