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O2/BE There Send More Pre-Warning Letters In Anticipation Of Further Golden Eye International Claims
Golden Eyes more Pounds – Lacks Proof
In a repeat of last Decembers warning letters in anticipation of Golden Eye International Limited (“GEIL”) Letter Of Claim (“LoC”) of copyright infringement on behalf of Ben Dover Productions (“BDP”), O2/BE There have started to send out the same warning letter to their customers in what can only be in anticipation of further LoCs from GEIL on behalf of the other 12 producers.
GEIL successfully gained disclosure of O2/BE There subscriber details (Which was un-opposed by O2) from their Norwich Pharmacal Order (“NPO”) application in March 2012 for BDP, but were unsuccessful with the other 12 producers. They subsequently won their appeal for the 12 producers in December 2012.
The 12 producers (Listed in the NPO Court case) in question are: Celtic Broadcasting Ltd, Easy On The Eye, DMS Telecoms Limited, Gary Baker, Harmony Films Limited, Justin Ribeiro Dos Santos t/a Joybear Pictures, Orchid MG Limited, Kudetta bvba, RP Films Limited, Sweetmeats Productions t/a S.M.P, SLL Films Limited & Terence Stephens t/a One Eyed Jack Productions.
For the new recipients of these imminent LoCs, many will be completely unaware of what is effectively a “phishing” campaign by GEIL. This is because GEIL have only the evidence of a “monitored” IP address and with this they “bought” the subscriber details from O2/BE There. The letter under “Infringing acts” starts:
This letter assumes that you, as the internet account holder at your address, were the user of the relevant computer on the day and time in question
After making such a statement, the letter goes on to say:
In the event that you were not responsible for the infringing acts outlined above because, for example, another member of your household was the user of the computer, you should make full disclosure to us of the other parties at your residence using your internet connection to make the Work available for download
So they assume the subscriber is the infringer then say they may not be responsible, to which they say:
A failure to make such disclosure may lead to a claim being made against you with the court being asked to conclude, on the balance of probabilities, that you were the user of the computer
A completely innocent subscriber who has not committed the infringement, and not authorised anyone else to commit the infringement may receive a follow up letter demanding a disproportionate settlement simply because they respond with details of who also lives at their address.
The subscribers who will receive the latest letters GEIL are sending out can see from the NPO judgement that Judge Arnold said:
Furthermore, it will expose them to receiving letters of claim and may expose them to proceedings for infringement in circumstances where they may not be guilty of infringement, where the subject matter of the claim may cause them embarrassment, where a proper defence to the claim would require specialised legal advice that they may not be able to afford and where they may not consider it cost-effective for them to defend the claim even if they are innocent
This is the Judge who presided over GEILs NPO application, and this Judge knows innocent people will be targeted.
The Judge goes on to say:
What the Claimants ought to do is to proceed in the conventional manner, that is to say, to require the Intended Defendants who do not dispute liability to disclose such information as they are able to provide as to the extent to which they have engaged in P2P filesharing of the relevant Claimants’ copyright works
So from the words of the Judge, those “who do not dispute liability” are “to disclose such information as they are able to provide”. The Judge does not say that those who do dispute liability should disclose such information.
The man who has perpetrated this phishing campaign is Mr Julian Becker who is a director of GEIL along with Ben Dover (a.k.a. Mr Simon Lindsay James Honey). Mr Becker has been known to make rather odd quotes to the Adult Media Press, such as:
Fundamentally we are pursuing those that are uploading not downloading, they are potentially uploading to millions of others who are also using these networks. How many they upload to is impossible to calculate, but in effect these violations are unauthorized distribution, we are not pursuing those who have simply downloaded one film.
Now the words there are totally misleading and could lead a subscriber who is innocent or guilty in to a false sense of assurance. “pursuing those that are uploading not downloading” is completely irrelevant because the nature of BitTorrent software IS downloading and uploading. And as I have found out, GEILs response to those who admitted one infringement is a demand of £350.00 which contradicts his statement of “we are not pursuing those who have simply downloaded one film”.
For those who have received the warning letter from O2/BE There and may receive an LoC from GEIL, what can you do?
As is always the advice:
BE CALM, DO NOT PANIC and DO NOT IGNORE.
The Citizens Advice Bureau (“CAB”) would be one of the first ports of call, they can be contacted on 08454 04 05 06, their website at adviceguide.org.uk or you can attend your local Citizens Advice Bureau.
The Open Rights Group (“ORG”) are there to give guidance and advice also.
The Speculative Invoicing Handbook Second Edition provides valuable information and a recommended read.
Read up about these people and this Copyright Trolling / Speculative Invoicing on this Blog, Torrent Freak, and also the Forums at Slyck with a goldmine of information.
Read here for testimonies of those who received letters similar in the past, and realise YOU ARE NOT ALONE.
Adult Industry Trade Association (AITA) to close – Emails to the Chair RE “Golden Eye International” involvement
It has been announced that the Adult Industry Trade Association (AITA) is to be closed down. The committee it seems feels that it is untenable and has been running at a loss since 2010.
After conducting research and feedback from the “Adult” Industry, that is Porn Industry to you and me, 64% of respondents felt that an adult trade association was needed but only 32% believed that AITA was an effective voice for the industry. These figures seem rather damning. Two Thirds believe their should be an association but that the AITA is rather useless actually acting as that association.
The Official AITA statement reads:
“With the limited resources available to AITA, it did not come as a surprise to learn that the majority of current members felt that AITA is underperforming in its provision of key services when considering their relative importance. It is clear that this cannot be addressed without a significant injection of cash. AITA has significantly reduced its running costs over the last three years, however with corresponding decreasing subscriptions it has been running at a significant loss since at least 2010. Due to the lack of ongoing support for AITA from the general UK adult industry, and after much deliberation, the committee believes that it is no longer tenable for AITA to continue after the end of the membership year (March 31st) and all committee members will resign on that date and the company closed down. The committee would like to thank all members for their support over the years. As individuals they will continue to work to support the UK adult industry where they can, offering ongoing advice in their particular area of expertise and continuing to network at adult industry events.”
This is rather interesting as a statement made by the AITA December 12th reads
Trade body AITA has announced that it has appointed Jason Maskell of JCaz as its interim chairman following the resignation of Jerry Barnett. Maskell’s tenure is scheduled to run until the end of March 2013.
A statement on the AITA website, posted 11th December, read: “The AITA committee would like to thank Jerry for all his time and work he has put in to AITA during his time as a committee member and chairman and wish him well for the future and all his does.”
Now those following the Golden Eye International Legal action may not realise that Jason Maskell is also the head of Orchid MG, one of the litigants in the “Speculative Invoicing” action. Orchid MG were one of the Producers added to the action in Golden Eyes Appeal.
On the suggestion of one of the other Producers, I had written to the AITA before Maskell had taken over, and had received an email from the then head (Barnett), that whilst he did not agree with the action, he could understand why it happened, and that they should make the most of what they could do while they could do it. I thought an interesting response.
After Maskell took over in December 2012, and on realising he was one of the Producers added to the action, I thought, “Hmmm, this sounds like a conflict of interest”, I was however misled into thinking that the AITA was a kind of self regulation group who might actually care for innocent people being targetted by Porn Barons and NOT a pressure group for the Porn Industry, my mistake.
I sent an email to the AITA detailing my concerns with the Golden Eye action and received, what to me was no more than a Golden Eye Press release from the AITA, I then sent a second email and got no response at all.
On Twitter this week Maskell attempted to engage me and offered me an interview on camera, using almost word for word, what Terence Stephens of “One Eyed Jack” had offered, I again politely declined, explaining again why I might not want to break rank, namely the fact I have already been threatened with legal action by Golden Eyes previous legal team. After failing to get me to do the interview, I pointed out to Maskell that he had not replied to my last email, and I would rather he did that, He responded by saying he wouldn’t respond as I was “moaning about a court approved action” in my email, by Maskel of the AITA, I thought how odd (and unprofessional), far from moaning I thought I had laid out my concerns in a fairly cogent manner.
Anyhow, I include our email exchange here, just for the record, and would like to just add, that if the AITA are looking for a big cash injection, why on earth have they not asked Mr Ben Dover? Surely he is interested in the Industry that has made him a multi millionaire? No? Oh….
Was I really merely “moaning”, about a legal action I didn’t like?
Response to Golden Eyes Appeal “Success”
Thanks to Bpaw!
On the 21st of December the Appeals Court found in favour of Golden Eye International (GEIL) and sanctioned what the original Judge had refused saying it “would be tantamount to the court sanctioning the sale of the intended defendants’ privacy and data protection rights to the highest bidder”.
GEIL intend to keep 75% of all monies collected, their Director Julian Becker has now responded to the successful appeal. We think we should respond too!
“I am delighted that the Court of Appeal ruled in favor of Golden Eye, albeit that I am still confused that the initial ruling allowed us to act for Ben Dover but fell short in permitting the right to protect the other producers that I represent”
“The other producers that I represent”? Maybe you should be aware that other Pornography Producers tried this method of “monetizing alternative revenue streams” before, Darker Enterprises, Pure Platinum/Liquid Gold, Mebray, Phoenix, Relish and Load XXX amongst others, and they all fell flat on their faces, when Media C.A.T and ACS:LAW screwed up by taking a case to actual Court where their lack of evidence was exposed , and their methods were derided, and it resulted in their collapse.
“Having now studied the case, I’d like to say that there was more chance of the end of the world occurring on Dec. 21 than Golden Eye losing this appeal.”
So you won an appeal. An appeal that was given by default to other applicants in the past.
Such as the following
01 Feb 2007 – Davenport Lyons – Judge Behrens – Topware Interactive
22 Nov 2007 – Davenport Lyons – Chief Master Winegarten – Reality Pump
30 May 2008 – Davenport Lyons – Chief Master Winegarten – Atari
30 Jun 2008 – Davenport Lyons – Chief Master Winegarten – Digiprotect
12 Nov 2008 – Davenport Lyons – Chief Master Winegarten – Digiprotect?
19 Nov 2009 – ACS:Law – Chief Master Winegarten – MediaCAT
19 Nov 2009 – ACS:Law – Chief Master Winegarten – Digiprotect
27 Jan 2010 – Tilly Bailey Irvine – Justice Warren – Media & More GMBH
17 Feb 2010 – ACS:Law – Chief Master Winegarten – MediaCAT
07 Jul 2010 – ACS:Law – Chief Master Winegarten – MediaCAT
“I believe there is always going to be a bias against this genre of film production”
Well no, that is a “non sequitur”, whatever problems that this “genre of film production” has had in the past, has absolutely nothing to do with the material you produce, but the actions you take. When other industries, (games 2 , music 2 etc) took the same actions, they too were derided in the same manner. They had the sense to bail out. It is actions like what you are doing, resurrecting a hated and hurtful legal action that is known to target to many innocent people in its dragnet is what is likely to drag your industry through the mud again.
“So although in legal terms we are actually no further forward than in 2010”
Erm, NO. You are further back than you were in 2010. You have been neutered in Court.
You called the account owner an infringer, the Court said NO!
You wanted a default £700 per letter, the Court said NO!
You wanted the account owners internet to be slowed down, The Court said NO.
You wanted to confuse with reference to the Code of Practice, The court said NO
You wanted to give the recipient only 14 days, the Court made it 28 days
The previous Law firm that represented you, halted their action in 2010, and you then attempted to pursue alleged infringers through the “Money Claim Online system” , when it seems you come up against Judge Birss, the Judge who presided over the ACS:LAW/Media C.A,T cases. You deemed your actions inappropriate and that is what has led us to this ruling.
“Golden Eye has now been successful after the most severe of legal scrutiny, combined with bias and manipulation from some areas of the press and mistruths and lies from faceless keyboard warriors in several Internet forums.”
I would question in light of the restrictions placed on you by the Court how successful you have been, but yes you have been successful in obtaining an NPO in light of what I believed the agreement the ISPs had after the ACS:LAW debacle, in at least challenging these orders. You were greatly helped by O2 NOT challenging you. If they had I don’t think you would have been granted the order.
Your only defence of criticism is to say your critics, be it the press or “faceless keyboard warriors”, are biased or spread “mistruths and lies”. My comment on this is simple. You would say that, wouldn’t you? Is it a shame you use “sound bites” rather than provide actual evidence. This Blog has detailed the number of contradictions you have spoken to different organisations. What are the “lies and Mistruths” that I have spread?
“In some respects Golden Eye finds itself back where it was two years ago, having correctly followed legal procedure after submitting technical evidence that has been accepted by the courts that there is an arguable case that Ben Dover and other rights holders content that we represent has been infringed by Internet users on file sharing networks and obtaining the names and addresses of these alleged infringers,” said Becker, calling Friday’s ruling a “positive judgment [that] is very much a bitter sweet, moment.”
May I provide a quote from your statement in the original Court case (15):
“Originally, the only evidence filed in support of the claim was Mr Becker’s first witness statement. In paragraphs 1-3, headed “Introduction”, he explained that the Claimants sought disclosure by O2 of the names and addresses of the subscribers associated with the IP addresses shown in the CD-ROM attached as Exhibit 1, that the Claimants believed that those IP addresses had been used by the subscribers to make available copyright material for P2P copying and that O2 did not oppose the making of an order in the terms set out in Exhibit 2.”
Hmmm…..“the Claimants believed that those IP addresses had been used by the subscribers to make available copyright material for P2P copying”. Now you say alleged infringer. This is plainly wrong, the subscriber as the Court has said is not necessarily the Infringer, alleged or not.
”Two years ago these cases were merely procedural and heard on paper without any formal hearings. This judgment has been debated by leading barristers, funded by government organizations and presided over by some of the most eminent judges in the U.K.”
Two years ago, we didn’t have a case that actually went to Court. ACS LAW tried to take people to Court for a default, but screwed up when those people said they would contest. This had a clued up Judge who completely tore apart the “evidence”. Your latest attempt at obtaining an NPO has been scrutinised because of this. This statement from you is showing that what you took for granted two years ago is now not so straight forward. And remember , the only reason this was debated at all was that O2 acquiesced rather than saying “No”.
This was an NPO hearing, that is all, yes you have gained the rights to exploit other Producers work, however as Rt Hon Judge Birss stated in his Court case with ACS:LAW/Media C.A.T who represented many Porn Producers)
“Media CAT don’t know who did it and know that they don’t know who did it,” said Birss.
Birss said Winegarten granted the (NPO) order based on the facts put before him, adding that the chief master did not have to decide whether Media CAT would succeed in its claims.
“I can’t imagine that the court making the Norwich Pharmacal orders in this case did so with a view to setting in train an exercise that was to be conducted in the manner that has subsequently emerged,” Birss said at the time.
Nothing has changed, it is the same. I will believe you are different when you actively take a contested claim to Court, I for one do not believe you ever will.
Julian Beckers quotes are taking from an article that can be viewed here
Court of appeal permits Copyright Trolls to have their friends join the party
On Friday a Judgement was made by the Appeals Court with regard to Golden Eye International(GEIL)
GEIL the Copyright Trolls, who are resurrecting the ACS:LAW “Speculative Invoicing” had originally been denied their chance of using 12 other Porn Companies in their Legal Action. They appealed and now the Court has awarded them what they had wanted.
This was not unexpected however it is VERY disappointing, O2 Subscribers were represented by Open Rights Group (ORG), and they put up a good show according to the Court record.
Although ORG could not stop the appeal, there are some positive points to be had however, GEIL had depended on a high volume of letters being sent out, that is after all the only way this “Alternative revenue scheme” can work.
After being rejected by the initial Court hearing and only having just under 3000 Ip addresses captured by their Software Monitor, they duly sent them off to O2 to have them matched to actual subscribers who would then receive a letter from them asking them to explain why they had infringed their Copyright. GEIL must have been disturbed to see just under a 1000 actual matches. This is a woeful amount, considering the “Software Monitor” is a “Forensic Expert”.
With the disparity in captured IP addresses and the actual matching of them to subscribers one can apply some logic to see that now GEIL have won their appeal, and have the other Producers on board, they can now send the remaining 6000 IP addresses to O2, but based on the low quality of the Monitoring, one can see that it could lead to less than 2000 retuning as being matched. This of course will leave GEIL with around 3000 actual details they can send their letters to.
GEIL had originally planned to charge £700 per letter, that will not happen as the original Court hearing said no, GEIL also wanted to state that the Subscriber was responsible for the Infringement, regardless of whether they knew or not. The Court has also said no to that reasoning.
Also unlike when ACS:LAW were practising a similar Legal action, no one really knew much about it, now they do, and this will be the greatest threat to GEILs plan.
For further reading
Open Rights Group appeals for funds, SO DOES “GOLDEN EYE INTERNATIONAL”!!
Open Rights Group (ORG) have stepped into the fracas of the Golden Eye International Court Case, that is threatening to bring more misery to innocent people in the UK. They have taken over from Consumer Focus and need some funding to continue to oppose the case, that the Pornographers have brought against thousands of O2 Customers.
For all those caught up in the Davenport Lyons/Acs:Law/Tilly Baily Irvine/Gallant Macmillan cases will now, there was NO talking to these people, it was a case of PAY UP OR ELSE.
Although Golden Eye International have been somewhat neutered by the High Court, they still use the SAME Software Monitor, that was shown to be corrupt and also the same “Expert Witness” that even ACS:LAW said was “Problematic”
To read what Open Rights want to do and to donate to their cause, please see here. http://www.openrightsgroup.org/blog/2012/org-goldeneye-intervene
In an amazing example of what can only be described as “Shameless Audacity” Golden Eye International are attempting the same thing.
GEILs Head Julian Becker who trades under the Optime Strategies moniker and whose business interests seem to cover a Security role at a London Synagogue and it is also the Parent company of Ben Dover Productions, has taken the Open Rights Group appeal for money as an insult.
Becker writes
“It would appear once again we have a difference of opinion on what constitutes a consumer — mine being someone who purchases goods or services theirs being someone who just takes them,” Becker told XBIZ. “I’d like to think I have a decent grasp of the English language and my term to describe such a person would be thief rather than consumer.”
Once again as is shown Becker is saying that anyone caught by his Software Monitor, is guilty of theft, now we already know that file sharing copyrighted material is “Copyright Infringement” NOT THEFT, however, Becker goes on
“They are appealing for funding for their court costs, which having checked our bank balance recently has given me the idea to do the same,” he said. “The perception of pornographers outside the industry may well be filthy rich; however as anyone with an ability for rational thinking will appreciate any business who’s core product has been decimated by piracy is experiencing a massive downturn in turnover and profitability.”
Considering the material that Ben Dover Productions produce I would imagine the fanbase is dying off due to lack of quality material rather than “Copyright Infringement”, it is very easy to say that it is because it is being copied and not brought, but I see it rather that even if it WAS being copied, those who copied it would never have bought it in the first place. I am NOT defending the downloading of copyright material here either, I just wonder if Golden Eye actually pay a license fee for ripping off other peoples titles, (XXX Factor complete with similar logo)
Regarding the “Outside perception of pornographers being “Filthy Rich””, I wonder if they might get that impression from Mr Beckers partner Mr Honey, AKA “Ben Dover” seen here in a BBC Interview. And here in a magazine article “I still have a very nice lifestyle. When I say I’m skint, people say, “No, you’re not skint mate, it’s just now you’ve only got three cars instead of five.” So I wonder where these perceptions from people “outside the industry” come from? Note in the BBC interview there was NO talk about file sharing stealing business.
“Therefore any financial support, however small, that can be given will help the cause massively. If you can’t give then supportive messages also are appreciated if not lost in the deluge of personal abuse and threats from the faceless keyboard warriors.”
I wonder what he means? A man whose partner is a multi-millionaire is asking people of lesser means to contribute to a case of his own making, and that is RIGHT?
Whereby a Consumer group that KNOWS what happened with previous Legal actions, that were declared as “Legal Blackmail” in the “House of Lords”, wants to raise money from those people affected BY those legal practices, and that is WRONG?
I think I have a pretty good grasp of the English language to, and I wouldn’t like to say what I think about people like this, Pornographers attempting to squeeze the last pennies out of a dying beast, oh I better stop, I may being giving them a new film idea!
Golden Eye Interactive are due back in Court in December, to attempt to get 7000+names that they were declined at an earlier hearing.
I would urge anyone who feels the need to defend innocent people to contribute to the Open Rights appeal, at least that way there can be justice, Golden Eye are not interested in the justice, merely money to fill their coffers. £5000, is nothing to these people it is EVERYTHING to Open Rights Group (ORG)
Source for the quotes: http://newswire.xbiz.com/view.php?id=156690
Golden Eye International: The “EXPERT WITNESS” UPDATE 1
Clem Vogler requested his image removed by DMCA
By Bpaw/Hickster
Here on this blog, much justified attention has been assigned to the “Speculative Invoice” participants. Although these rogue characters (Which we all know!) justify their acknowledgement here, they owe their unsuccessful efforts to their “legitimate” seal of approval by an “Expert Witness”. This “Expert Witness” has effectively swayed every Judge in the High Court to grant every Norwich Pharmacal Order (NPO) that has appeared before them.
So who is this “Expert Witness”????? Step forward Mr Clement Charles Vogler.
Clem Vogler has in the past provided “Expert Witness” reports for Law Firms practising what is commonly known as “Speculative Invoicing”, what has been declared in the House of Lords as “Legal Blackmail”. The Law firms, Davenport Lyons and ACS:LAW are listed on his website, but now so are Golden Eye International (GEIL). GEIL however are NOT a law firm, they were however represented by one of the Law Firms that practiced “Speculative Invoicing”.
Vogler gives the “ok” to the monitoring software that is used to identify the IP addresses of alleged copyright Infringers. The problem is the software has never been scrutinised by a Court of Law and its inner workings are not public knowledge.
In this post we will look at Clem Vogler in more detail. He is after all the man who puts the seal of approval on the software that has identified tens of thousands of alleged infringers. Of course the fact that all the Law Firms involved have had their fingers burnt with heavy fines or Solicitors being suspended (one Law Practice actually went bankrupt and its head was suspended for TWO years), has not stopped Mr Vogler from continuing doing what he does.
Clement Charles Vogler could be regarded as a Walter Mitty character. The self-declared computer expert, expert witness, Chartered Physicist, Technical Partner in Ad Litem, Database writer, Runner, Local Councillor……the list goes on.
For reference, see http://www.adlitem.co.uk
So what can be said about him that’s true?
Well NOT that he is a Computer Expert!
A Computer Expert: (The following statements link to the individual posts)
I can’t really see the computer expert in the above. Of course he could have become a computer expert in recent years but he says on his website that he published articles on technical aspects of computing in magazines between 1990 and 1996 (Maybe he took a break from being a computer expert for a little while!). To not be able to prevent a PC connecting to his own host PC seems laughable, for a man of his supposed qualifications.
Now let’s look at what we do know………..
From his own website:
So where is Clem or Ad Litem when you do a search here:
Still declaring yourself as a certified expert witness on your website whilst you’re not listed on the legal hub website is wrong.
Email from Adam Glen to Andrew Crossley dated 20/08/2010 15:29:
Whilst I have been unable to establish or find a standard for the protection of evidence in civil cases I am concerned that I have not seen any statement from an expert witness that the evidence cannot be altered or modified in any manner.
Clem Vogler was the “Expert Witness” for Davenport Lyons AND ACS:Law, and it must be that his test on the software was clearly inadequate.
Adam Glen didn’t seem to like Clem Vogler really, including getting his surname wrong with this email to Andrew Crossley dated 24/08/2010 09:15:
You know my view on the quality of Clem Vogeler’s expert witness statement and what I perceive as the opportunity it provides to serious challenge.
This all points to some major concerns by Adam Glen that Clem Vogler is not a good “Expert Wiitness”.
From the GEIL Court case http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Ch/2012/723.html
Both Mr Vogler and Mr Torabi have qualifications in information technology, and both give evidence about the operation of software used to monitor P2P filesharing, which is clearly a field requiring technical expertise.
Remember the above statement, it will be important later!
Mr Vogler explains he did not have Xtrack installed on his computer, and did not concern himself with how it worked, but treated it as a “black box”. He simply presented it with inputs, namely his test files, and examined the outputs to see if they corresponded to his inputs. He was satisfied that they did correspond.
What on earth does that statement say about how you perform your duty as an expert witness? You do not install the software. You do not concern yourself with how it works. Could that be considered enough of a test to show that a true test has been done to verify that the software does what it should do?
Now for a real look at real evidence that Clem Vogler is no “expert witness”. The following paragraphs and snippets are taken from a Google-translated German website that relates to Clem Vogler providing an expert witness statement for Guardaley GmbH (Yep the very people that ACS:LAWs Terence Tsang was setting up to replace…Ali Torabi) (The translation is not perfect, but is easily understood):
“I’m not an expert in this field”
The questions put to him were answered only partially. Much remains open.
To paraphrase a quote attributed to Clem Vogler by a Judge, I like the way this article put it!
We have found ONE directory that lists Vogler as an “Expert Witness”, however it is for “Construction Issues”, specifically, “Electrical and electronic engineering” Hmmmm,
Mr Vogler is a diverse character, although we have found no evidence of him being a “Sweet and Maxwell” certified “Expert Witness” as he claims, he most certainly is a long distance runner, he seems to also specialise in books with regard to “Fine Printing, Intaglio And Relief Engraving, Non-Photographic Illustration, Private Press” in the guise of an online bookshop, through newsgroups and even contributing to the merits of nuclear risks of contaminating sea water, with sodium coolant (Not kidding) and vivisection…. As well as reviewing Microphones! Phew!
A Chartered Physicist:
Now I am no Chartered Physicist, but Clem questioned their story and the reply was enough for me to think that it was a silly question to ask!
Technical Partner at Ad Litem:
Technically speaking, you can’t be Technical Partner of a dissolved company.
Database Writer:
(See A Computer Expert above)
Runner:
http://reephamrunners.webs.com/apps/profile/81869688/
http://www.derehamrunners.co.uk/news/archive/the-year-to-date
We also had John Richardson in the V55 class placed 6th 25:37, in V60 an excellent run by Clem Vogler to finish 3rd in class 21:00, Tony Bastard 7th 23:28 and Ernie Bradshaw 8th 24:33
Too easy!!!!!
Expert Witness:
It would be difficult to verify all consultancies that are listed simply because of the number of years that have passed. But finding any that can be verified is all too difficult!
GQS Solicitors (Birmingham) Dec 2006 Vehicle Fraud
Google “GQS Solicitors” “Vehicle Fraud” and you get one website, adlitem.co.uk. Not one website anywhere that suggest that GQS has ever been involved in a vehicle fraud case.
David Phillips Solicitors (Manchester) Jun 2005 Immigration Fraud
Google “David Phillips Solicitors” “Immigration Fraud” and you get one relevant website, adlitem.co.uk. Not one website anywhere that suggest that DPS has ever been involved in an immigration fraud case.
Rigby & Co Solicitors (Middlewich) Sept 2007 Software
Now what that means I don’t know and is meaningless to try and find anything about that case!
All of the above is questionable until evidence can back it up.
This rounds up what we know so far, It will be updated whenever it can be.
UPDATE 1: Clem Vogler requested that the image of himself taken from a WordPress.com Blog should be removed from this one using a DMCA takedown. we did not fight the decision, on the grounds that we believe his request has visually improved this particular post, and we thank him!
EDIT: If YOU receive a letter from Golden Eye International, then contact your local Citizens Advice Center. Citizens Advice Consumer Service (08454 04 05 06) or your local Citizens Advice Bureau And of course post comments here or on the Slyck forums!
Consumer Watchdog slams O2 in advice to ISPs on protecting customer details
In a damning briefing Consumer Focus the Consumer Watchdog who represented O2 Customers accused of copyright infringement by Pornographers Golden Eye International/Ben Dover Productions(GEIL/BDP), have lashed the ISP as irresponsible towards those very customers.
The briefing is advice to ISPs who are targeted by “Copyright Trolls”, and how to balance the need for redress to those who believe their work has truly been infringed and the privacy of those they accuse. It is well worth reading, and can be found here.
After the past debacles involving the law firms, Davenport Lyons, ACS:LAW, Tilly Bailey Irvine ended in fines, suspensions and regulatory settlement agreements, most people thought the “Speculative Invoicing” schemes, or the “Pay up or else” letters were a thing of the past. With GEIL/BDP launching their attempt at an “Alternate revenue scheme” for their failing business, O2 should have stood in their way. They didn’t.
Not only did O2 show complete disdain by capitulating to the pornographers at the expense of their customers, Consumer Focus highlights even more disgraceful behaviour on O2s part.
The High Court found the draft order and the draft letters to O2 customers which Golden Eye submitted as part of its application, and which O2 chose not to challenge, objectionable in a number of ways.
It is not feasible for a consumer watchdog to intervene in every single NorwichPharmacal order application, however we expect ISPs and online hosts to take responsibility for protecting their customers‟ rights. The draft order and draft letter before action proposed by Golden Eye were plainly problematic, yet O2 essentially only intervened to ensure that Golden Eye pays for the cost to O2 of matching the IP addresses with its customers‟ personal data.
O2‟s refusal to ensure that its customers‟ rights are respected appears particularly odd in the light of the fact that Telefónica de España acted to defend its customers‟ data protection rights in Productores de Musica v Telefonica, which related to an application for a disclosure order.
Particularly odd indeed, one wonders why O2 capitulated to Pornographers when they didn’t to the Music Producers. So why didn’t O2 protect it’s customers against predatory businesses like GEIL/BDP?
Why did they ignore the obvious problems with GEIL/BDPs approach?
Why did they not even turn up for the hearing?
Why did they only insist on their OWN protection and not of that of their customers?
Why indeed have they hung so many of their customers out to dry and left them vulnerable to a failing Pornography business desperate for cash?
Maybe because it is easy to take their customers for granted, maybe they feel they are so stupid they will stay with them rather than move ISP, one thing is for sure, when their customers start receiving GEIL/BDP letters maybe they will realise to late when their reputation suffers as it surely will.
O2 CANNOT simply use the tired excuse of “We have to abide by the rulings of a UK Court”, THAT is NOT what happened here, O2 simply looked out for their OWN interests and betrayed their duty of care to their customers.
Golden Eye International /Ben Dover (GEIL) Neutered in the High Court
Golden Eye International/Ben Dover the latest group to try their hand at the Speculative Invoicing Scam, have been given permission to send their Court Approved letters out to O2 Customers.
The Letter, it would seem has been very much scrutinised and has been ordered by the Court to be toned down, after GEIL attempted to overstep their mark by using a letter that made some wild claims, regarding the amount they wanted and also what the ISP would do on their say so.
It remains to be seen the actual content of the letter, however early indications point to the fact that it is NOT allowed to contain a cash demand as GEIL’s forerunners, Davenport Lyons, ACS:LAW, Tilly Baily Irvine, or Gallant Macmillan had done.
GEIL initially wanted to demand £700 per letter, this was quashed by the Judge overseeing the case.
More background on this can be found on this Blog or the always excellent Torrentfreak website.
What I wanted to highlight here, is some observations
Golden Eye International/Ben Dover may claim to have no connection with ACS:LAW but there is one, and one Julian Becker has already admitted to, the data gatherer, the person who will harvest the IP addresses of those suspected of uploading/downloading, is a man called Alireza Torabi of ng3 systems, Mr Torabi is the guy who got things spectacularly wrong with the IP addresses that led to ACS:LAW targeting innocent people. He is using the same software, so one can presume the same results.
Golden Eye International are also using the same “Expert Witness” Clem Vogler. Alireza Torabi was shown in the leaked emails to have a somewhat troublesome relationship with Andrew Crossley to the point that Crossleys cohort Terence Tsang, consulted and arranged for the monitoring to be done by Guardaley. One would have thought Torabi at least would have learnt his lesson!
Ben Dover aka Lindsay Honey, was interviewed in January 2009, with regard to the same action taken in the USA by Larry Flynt, The interview can be viewed here. as can be seen, Honey claims he KNEW that his sales were already going down the pan and that he had “Seen it coming” and had diversified into other areas, even attempting to become a serious actor…
The problem with this kind of “Legal Blackmail”, as it was decribed in the House of Lords, is that it is VERY difficult to defend against. A person may have strong evidence that he has NOT downloaded one of their films, however to go to Court and have his name cleared costs a LOT of money. A person would more than likely pay up even if they are innocent through fear of not having the money to go to court to clear their name, and that is EXACTLY what people like GEIL are banking on. Of course being pornographers they have no shame, no understanding and no concern of what their actions have on the average person.
They want you to be frightened, they want you to fear going to Court, the reason being of course is that they have NO evidence whatsoever, against ANYONE. Don’t believe me? See this quote from the ruling of Media C.A.T (ACS:LAW) by Judge Colin Birss
All the IP address identifies is an internet connection, which is likely today to be a wireless home broadband router. All Media CAT’s monitoring can identify is the person who has the contract with their ISP to have internet access. Assuming a case in Media CAT’s favour that the IP address is indeed linked to wholesale infringements of the copyright in question… Media CAT do not know who did it and know that they do not know who did it.
Julian Becker claims that GEIL are different, they all did, every Law Firm that has tried this, claimed to be different from the others, but they were not.
Becker says “In our first letter we seek to find out more information regarding evidence of an infringement of our copyright”
Andrew Crossley of ACS:LAW said “I make an enquiry of the recipient of my initial letter following receipt of evidence that their internet connection was utilized for the purposes of infringing copyright of our clients”
GEIL are not of course Lawyers, so it will be interesting to see what they will do when a letter comes through the door of some innocent subscriber of O2 and they say “Screw you, con merchants”
We will see.
One final point is that I wonder what O2 meant when they talk about their “Unique” position in this case?, the only unique position as I see it, is that they are the only ISP to have acquiesced to this form of racket since ACS:LAWs spectacular disintegration.
I am angry, pornography accusations can wreck lives and marriages, that is why I will fight for those wrongly accused.
I will leave the last word to Mr Honey…
“Fuck! Aren’t I just the luckiest bastard in the World?
Not only do I get to film all of these fantasic looking girls stripping off for my camera, but I also get to slide my fingers knuckle-deep into their hot, wet snatches, then get my knob sucked into the bargain!! Have I got some awesome little jizz-junkies for you!”
And the comment:
“At the end of the day, if I can’t make money out of porn, the only way I can make money is to get to the people who are not buying it”
O2 CENSORS “Golden Eye International” Debate from its Forums
This link is the only fragment left of a thread that was started on The O2 Forums. I joined the thread and posted a total of 5 posts (31/03_2012), engaging with the board users “Perksie” “Brownie” and “O2MACH”
I don’t believe I was rude in any way. I pointed out that I believed that O2 did NOT fight for their customers and I used the published Judgement to prove the points that I made.
In a covering letter dated 20 September 2011 Golden Eye stated:
“We are the First Applicant and act for the Second – Fourteenth Applicants in this application.
…
It may be somewhat unusual for the Applicants to apply on their account. However, there has recently been a certain amount of publicity associated with this type of claim (ACS Law; Davenport Lyons). We therefore believe that we will be best served acting for ourselves.”
The letter went on to request that the claim be considered on paper, and enclosed a copy of the skeleton argument which had prepared by counsel instructed on its behalf on the application against BT.
On 7 October 2011 Baker & McKenzie filed an acknowledgement of service on behalf of O2 stating that O2 did not intend to contest the claim.
I pointed out that it was strange that O2 were the only ISPs targeted by “Golden eye International” and further pointed out that PlusNet have been very robust since their experience with ACS:LAW and have come out on their own forums and said, they will resist a Norwich Pharmacal Hearing that would allow a company to have access to their Customers private information.
It seems O2 did not like this dose of truth. I have tried to contact O2 but have had NO REPLY
Their seems to be a media output on their behalf of “O2 had no choice” and “O2 FORCED to hand over customer details. Both of these IMHO are false.
O2 DID have a choice, they could have said NO.
This was blown out of the water at a previous hearing by Judge Birss who presiding over the ACS:LAW/Media C.A.T debacle (That used the same software to monitor) he stated.
“Assuming a case in MediaCATs favour that the IP Address is indeed limited to wholesale infringements of the copyright in question… MediaCAT do not know who did it, and know that they do not know who did it”
Further to my point of O2 HAVING a choice to say NO, I include the communication between O2 and ACS:LAW that quite clearly shows, they could have said no then, but merely asked ACS:LAW to change some of the legal arguments to suit them better.
If “Perksie”, “Browni” or “O2MACH2” would like to continue our discussion, they are more than welcome to do so here..
For a look at how a TRUE ISP runs a forum see here…
UPDATE 1: From O2 ..
@acs_law_illegal Hi there, we’ve just moved to a new forum and only moved over the busiest topics
Hmmmm oh Reeeeaaaalllly
O2 sells out it’s customers to Pornographer WITHOUT a fight
Telefonica Spanish owner of O2, were approached by Golden Eye International with a request to disclose 9124 (NINE THOUSAND ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY FOUR) of its customers details. “Golden Eye International” (GEIL) is a trading name for “Ben Dover”, the Pornographers.
It is astonishing to think that this request came on the 20th September 2011, a FULL year after the ACS:LAW debacle unravelled. At a time when all other ISPs have stated they would not work with the “Speculative Invoicing” scheme, O2 alone has bucked the trend.
They did NOT fight for their customers, rather they SOLD them out
From the Judgement posted online:
5: On 7 October 2011 Baker & McKenzie filed an acknowledgement of service on behalf of O2 stating that O2 did not intend to contest the claim.
6: On 18 November 2011 the parties were given notice of a disposal hearing before Chief Master Winegarten on 6 December 2011. On 28 November 2011 Baker & McKenzie wrote to the Chief Master to confirm that O2 did not oppose the making of an order in the terms submitted by Golden Eye, and therefore did not intend to attend the hearing. At the hearing on 6 December 2011 Mr Becker attended on behalf of the Claimants. The Chief Master raised a number of questions about the proposed order, which he asked Mr Becker to relay to Baker & McKenzie. Mr Becker duly did so, and on 14 December 2011 Baker & McKenzie wrote to the Chief Master answering his questions. In the letter Baker & McKenzie stated that, prior to issuing the Claim Form, Golden Eye had provided O2 with a draft of the proposed order and that Baker & McKenzie had made amendments to the draft. A number of amendments were identified and explained. The letter reiterated that O2 did not oppose the making of an order in that form. Having considered the letter, the Chief Master decided to refer the claim to a judge.
120: In consider the proportionality of the order sought, it seems to me that it is important to have regard to the precise terms of that order. The terms of the draft order having been negotiated between Golden Eye and Baker & McKenzie, it is in a form that O2 is content with. Thus it may be regarded as proportionate as between the Claimants and O2
32:1: 4(b) Within 7 days of the date of this Order, the First Applicant, on behalf of all the Applicants, shall pay into an escrow account to be held by the Respondent’s solicitors, Baker & McKenzie LLP, (the ‘Escrow Account’) a sum equal to £2.20 per IP address requested within the initial Batch together with £2500 costs to be held as security for the costs specified in paragraph 5 below.
They COULD have contested it, but CHOSE not to.
If YOU are a subscriber of O2, I think maybe you should consider moving to an ISP who values you as a customer more than the needs of a Pornographer who after all is merely following the example of ACS:LAW. Golden Eye International after all were first represented by Tilly Baily Irvine. It was only when TBI reacted to the negative publicity including being named in the House of Lords that they withdrew and GEIL continued.
O2 did not fight for it’s subscribers when it could have done, their have be to many disingenuous articles published so far that claim they did 1 2. Read the Judgement and decide for yourself.
Their will be another hearing after Easter regarding the GEIL hearing and how the letters will be composed, one thing is for sure GEIL did NOT get what they wanted.
This is not a new direction more an attempted refinement of the scheme that Davenport Lyons, ACS:LAW, Tilly Baily Irvine and Gallant Macmillan/Ministry of Sound have attempted and failed. It should be treated with the same contempt.
The contempt indeed that O2 have shown it’s customers.
Logo supplied by a now EX Customer of O2
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