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Brits accused of illegal file-sharing forking out £500
Up to 50,000 penalty letters have already been issued
Carrie-Ann Skinner

Hundreds of Brits are being forced to fork out £500 after wrongfully being accused of illegally downloading digital audio and pornography files.

According to Which? around 50,000 web users in the UK have received letters from legal firms such as ACS Law.

The letters claim the recipient has illegally shared files and is subsequently required to pay a £500 fine and sign a legal undertaking agreeing not to illegally file-share in the future.

They also detail the date and time the offence occurred along with the file name.

Which? said that rights holders are identifying IP addresses that are illegally file-sharing and then getting courts to order ISPs to hand over the account identities for the IP addresses.

They are then commissioning legal firms to produce and issue the letters.

The letters, some of which are 30 pages long, are being issued even though the Digital Economy Bill, which sets out measures by the government to tackle internet piracy, has not come into force in the UK yet.

The measures suggest a 'three strikes' rule under which potential offenders will receive warning letters and emails designed to educate them on their wrong-doing. Should they continue to offend, web users will then face disconnection from the web.