Posted on Connected Internet - tech, mobile and gaming news.
The firm behind recent lawsuits against alleged UK file-sharers, MediaCAT has ceased trading according to a report by the BBC. It follows the resignation of the head of the law firm, ACS Law, who were pursuing people through the county court system.
As a quick recap, MediaCAT had signed agreements with several copyright holders and had employed ACS Law, who received 65% of all monies recovered, to pursue cases initially against 27 alleged file-sharers.
When the matter came to court Judge Birss concluded that the crime of wilfully downloading and sharing files could not be reasonably applied to people who did not understand about home router security, and who had no knowledge that their internet connections were being used by others.
MediaCAT wanted to withdraw from the cases but Judge Birss said that this would be difficult as the original copyright holders were not in court.
Andrew Crossley, who headed up ACS Law, resigned during court proceedings saying he no longer wanted to deal with the cases as it was causing him too much hassle. He went on to tell how he and his family had been receiving threats.
During its time in operation, MediaCAT sent thousands of letters to home broadband users accusing them of file sharing. The company’s closure now presumably means the matter has been put to bed, however another company with ties to MediaCAT has already been sending fresh letters, including some to people whom MediaCAT and ACS Law had agreed had not committed copyright violations.
A solicitor acting on behalf of some of the people MediaCAT were pursuing through the court said they may sue Mr Crossley for harassment.
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