[scott_w]

A similar situation occurred in the UK, with a legal firm sending out extortion letters threatening to take people to court for copyright infringement.

A number replied demanding their day in court and, in the same way, the complainant withdrew the case.

However, the judge in the case refused the application and demanded they come to court, so he could enforce judgement, and punish the complainant for filing a frivolous lawsuit.

If i remember correctly, the complainant went bankrupt, dispanding his company, in an attempt to avoid going to trial.

[grabeh]

ACS:Law was the firm in question which as you say subsequently disbanded although not before getting a verbal hiding from the judge (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ACS:Law).

[scott_w]

Thanks for the link. I remember the details were about accusing customers of downloading copyrighted pornography, which I was reluctant to search for from my work machine.

[Xylakant]

It's a similar tactic to the one often employed by banks and insurances in germany. They pretend that they are not liable, and every time someone sues and things start looking bad, they settle out of court to prevent a lost case. Keeps the stats clean.