The whole saga of ACS Law, the firm of solicitors which pursued thousands of people for allegedly infringing copyright based on information provided by internet service providers (ISPs) is a troubling one.
There's vast amounts of information about Andrew Crossley, the solicitor who ran the firm, out there on the web, including the judgement of a disciplinary hearing back in 2006 which related to his failure to file accounts with the Law Society (as all firms are required to do).
The saga took another turn last week when the Information Commissioner's Office fined Mr Crossley £1000 for his failure to keep confidential information secure. Not only did he not seek any professional advice when setting up and developing the IT system, but he apparently used a web hosting package that was intended for domestic use alone.
In addition to the press release, the full transcript of the ICO's judgement makes for an interesting read. Mr Crossley appears to have convinced the ICO that he has fallen on hard times which accounts for the reduced fine. As the ICO has indicated, a more realistic fine would have been £200,000.
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