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Movie Piracy ISPs Demand Letters Overview:
- Who: UK residents who downloaded movies online.
- What: Customers of internet service providers, including Virgin Media, are reportedly being contacted by Voltage Holdings LLC with demands for cash settlements to avoid movie piracy lawsuits.
- Where: The letters are being sent to UK residents.
If you streamed or downloaded a movie online in the United Kingdom — and weren’t sure if the movie was pirated — you could be about to get a letter demanding you pay money to avoid a movie piracy lawsuit.
Customers of internet service providers including Virgin Media are being contacted with demands for cash settlements to avoid movie piracy lawsuits by a company called Voltage Holdings, LLC.
The demand letters are being sent as part of a nationwide piracy crackdown, with the main focus being movie piracy, TechRadar reports.
The crackdown reportedly began with several customers of Virgin Media, a UK-based movie streaming service, getting emails from Voltage.
The users were asked if they might have illegally downloaded the movie “Ava.”
“This letter assumes that you, as the account holder for the infringing IP Address, were the user of the relevant device on the dates and times at which Ava was shared without the consent of VOLTAGE. The purpose of this letter is therefore to give you an opportunity to admit or deny that your broadband account was used via BitTorrent in relation to Ava on the occasion specified above,” says correspondence sent by the company, according to TorrentFreak.
If they admitted to doing so, they were told they’d have to pay a fine and commit to not illegally streaming or downloading again.
If the person denies illegally downloading the film, they’ll have to go to court to prove it, according to reports.
Voltage is reportedly seeking information on specific customers of Virgin Media, who they accuse of piracy and has gone to a UK High Court to make its case.
The news follows a similar crackdown last year in Canada. A Toronto law firm reportedly mailed letters on behalf of HB Productions to hundreds of Eastlink customers who allegedly downloaded and shared the movie “Hellboy” through the file transferring service BitTorrent.
The letters stated that internet users could face a significant fine if they were found guilty of copyright infringement.
Last week, the Federal Court of Appeals ruled Voltage Pictures can proceed with a reverse class action lawsuit the company lodged against alleged movie pirates in Canada.
Voltage initially filed the reverse class action lawsuit back in 2016, but it was ultimately dismissed by the Federal Court in 2019, reports TorrentFreak.
What do you think of the movie piracy crackdown? Let us know in the comments!
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