Notice from law office of Anthony E bell

[rajabhau]

Gang,

I got a notice in my mail from the Law office of Anthony E bell regarding theft of dishnetwork signal and they have threatened to take action.

Has anyone else received such a letter? What's to be done?

[studmonkey76]

scan it, and post it here...lets see this

[rajabhau]

ok. will scan it when I get to the office tomorrow since I dont have a scanner at home.

Apart from other details, the letters says
"you are legally liable for damages in a civil action for your violations of federal and california anti signal theft laws........will be named in a civil lawsuit for satellite piracy under provisions of California penal code 593d(f), 18....blah blah..."

sender:
Law offices of Anthony E Bell, Los angeles, Ca

[Ohms]

hxxp://www.piracyrecovery.com/
Law Offices of Anthony E. Bell
700 South Flower Street Los Angeles , CA
213-892-6340

[spanky macdouga]

the website looks very 'fly-by-night'. I wonder if they're 'fishing' for pirates instead ok actually knowing who is doing what?

[alsouthster]

Well, as Dick the Butcher says to Jack Cade in Henry VI part 11, Act 1V, Scene 11
"The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers"
l

[mr. ringo]

tell them to blow it out there ass for you are a towel head and they can,t do nothing to you.

[MarvinGardens]

Gang,

I got a notice in my mail from the Law office of Anthony E bell regarding theft of dishnetwork signal and they have threatened to take action.

Were you one of those who subbed with Mili or did you purchase something from one of the web sites that got raided?

Do you also sub with dish?

[daittech]

Well that person is in fact an active lawyer based o the Cal bar assc.

hxxp://members.calbar.ca.gov/search/member_detail.aspx?x=135811

The address and numbers also match, however they need to have proof before they do something like this so I would get professional advise before having contact of any kind with this lawyer.
Also was the letter certified mail? or were you served? if not then they are just trying to scare you to fess up.

Any formal demand letters have to be served or certified.

Good luck.
D

PS> I am not lawyer but hang around a few.

[burnt_servo]

i wouldn't even let them know you recieved a letter . also anything that might come by registered letter , avoid at all costs .
also if anyone shows up at your door with a "package " , and they need to see your id in order for you to recieve it , tell them you have left the country for a couple months .

[Biggen1]

Here's what I'd do

1. Open the letter
2. read the contents
3. Remove all return addys and info
4. Drop my pants
5. wipe my ass with the letter
6. Drink a beer and smile
7. Make sure the shit stain is sticky
8. Remove all wrinkles so the letter fits the Envelope
9. Tape the letter shut ( Don't lick the Envelope )
10. Drive 50 miles away and mail the letter ( Postmark )
11. Drive home Don't tell a living Soul about mailing the letter
12. Drink 2 more Beers





























Yes;; I have done this before.............









Notice my Avatar






The dogs tail is waging for a reason, The Light is on, and some -one is at home........












More fun than shitting in a paper bag, and catching it, on fire,, on your boss's, front porch..........















.

[Ohms]

My advice is to follow daittech's advice exactly. He is 100% right on the money here. My other advice is to not follow mr. ringo's advice. His is an idiot.

[tigert422]

Gang,
I got a notice in my mail from the Law office of Anthony E bell regarding theft of dishnetwork signal and they have threatened to take action.
Has anyone else received such a letter? What's to be done? Check the pm I sent you!!

[rajabhau]

Were you one of those who subbed with Mili or did you purchase something from one of the web sites that got raided?

Do you also sub with dish?

Yes, I had subbed with Mili. I was subbed with Dish a year ago and had canceled the subscription.

I am not a Dishnet subscriber anymore.

[MarvinGardens]

Yes, I had subbed with Mili. I was subbed with Dish a year ago and had canceled the subscription. I am not a Dishnet subscriber anymore.

That's the link. It seems as though dishnet is only going after the people they can prove that have the equipment (ird and dish) to receive their signal (along with any other pirate device or discounted service they can prove you purchased).

You should immediately seek the advice of an attorney. Let the attorney respond to the letter, if that is the appropriate course of action.

[rajabhau]

That's the link. It seems as though dishnet is only going after the people they can prove that have the equipment (ird and dish) to receive their signal (along with any other pirate device or discounted service they can prove you purchased).

You should immediately seek the advice of an attorney. Let the attorney respond to the letter, if that is the appropriate course of action.

meaning that I am going to end up giving money to someone....either dishnet or the attorney.

thanks for the advice Marvin. I think I will need to sleep on this one to decide what to do...

[Ohms]

If you were not served or sent a certified notice, then I would sleep on it for longer than over night. This lawyers web site makes him look like a pretty small time operation who is begging for business. Not very professional IMO. I would wait a bit and see if others surface with the same letter. It may be a last ditch effort to get someone like you to confess when they MAY not have a strong legal case. You can always hire an atty later if you are served or if it goes further.

[N24U]

There was a good offer on the table to put this entire saga to rest. It will get worst before it gets better.

[rg6a]

I just did a WHOIS on this guy's site. Created Jan7/05, updated July25/06 and it expires Jan 7/08.

He is the contact and gives a P.O. Box rather than his office address. The email contact is Not the website or his office but what appears to be his private one.

It is 'westlalaw@earthlink.net', and perhaps someone should visit every porn site, russian brides site, sadism, masochism, beastiality etc., anything that has a mailing list and register the above as well as the info@his site ;-) .;-)

That will give him something to read!! LOL!


PS to any Mods reading this...notice the 'guests' to members is always high for the former. I think everyone should have to register to read anything here!

[burnt_servo]

If you were not served or sent a certified notice, then I would sleep on it for longer than over night. This lawyers web site makes him look like a pretty small time operation who is begging for business. Not very professional IMO. I would wait a bit and see if others surface with the same letter. It may be a last ditch effort to get someone like you to confess when they MAY not have a strong legal case. You can always hire an atty later if you are served or if it goes further.


this is the key thing here , was it certified , or by registered mail , or did someone actually hand deliver the letter directly to you , making sure that you did actually recieve it ? if this is true , talk to lawyer , ........

BUT

if it just showed up in your mail , it is a phising ( fishing ) expedidtion .

completely ignore it , DO NOT RESPOND TO IT .............. EVER !!!!!

[rajabhau]

It just showed up in the mail. was not registered or delivered...

So IGNORE it is!!

[kthor]

Here's that letter..at the bottom it did mention mili vs 1.0 (?)
regular mail so I treat like a junk mail:p

Dear ReCIpIent: 8:

This office represents EchoStar Satellite L.L.C. (DISH Network). You are being contacted about
the satellite piracy/signal theft case resulting from your participation in and/or purchase of illegal
signal theft services; and/or possession, connection and use of devices to illegally gain
unauthorized access to DISH Network's programming.
Your satellite piracy/signal theft case has now been assigned to this office. Any and all
communications regarding your matter are to be directed to this office only. Any prior settlement
offer made to you by DISH Network is hereby revoked.
You are legally liable for statutory damages in a civil action for your violations of Federal and
California anti-signal theft laws.
Violators who do not settle will be named in a civil lawsuit for satellite piracy/signal theft under
the monetary damages provisions of California Penal Code §593d(f), 18, United States Code
§2511 and other Federal anti-piracy statutes as may be applicable. Under these statutes the
Superior Court will enter a money Judgment against all violators involved in this incident.
At this time you have one final opportunity to resolve this matter without a lawsuit by payment of
a compromise settlement. Please call the telephone number above to make arrangements with
the Settlement Department of tJlis office that will avoid further legal action.
Your file will be transferred to the Litigation Department for initiation of a lawsuit unless you
contact the Settlement Department, at the number above within ten (10) days.
Very truly yours,
A~ e. tBJ£
Law Offices of Anthony E. Bell, Inc.
MILi v 1.0

[snaplunt]

you should carefully open the envelope then put letter back in and return to sender. Do not put your own shit smired all over letter. Remember there is DNA evidence. Use Dog Shit instead. LOL

[burnt_servo]

defianatly a phising expedidition . ...... completely made to intimidate and scare people into trying to contact the lawyer and confess their guilt and settle , and make the lawyers mortage payment on his 3rd house .

BUt also be aware of any unexpected registered mail that may show up , DO NOT accept it . and as always play dumb .

( ie what reciever ????? i sold that a long time ago at a garage sale . or it stopped working after i spilled my drink on it , so i threw it out ages ago ) .


i'm actulally surprised they haven't sent anything to the email addys they harvested out of milli's sever when they broke in ......

[Kenboy]

i'm actulally surprised they haven't sent anything to the email addys they harvested out of milli's sever when they broke in ......

This is the first time I have heard anything about this. Can some one direct me to a thread so I can read more about it?
Thanks.

[tjperry]

Everyone that subbed thru mili got a email from them... But the main question is how they got kthor's address since mili said the only info that Camkid had was the ird & card info along with email addresses, so how did they get the mailing address?????

[Ohms]

I would guess that the IRD# that was subbed through Mili, was previously subbed with Dish Network by that same subscriber, or that the email address that was used on the Mili sub, was the same email address that the subscriber used with Dish Network.

[kthor]

Box was bought from Milli, Card from Ebay...then all things via Milli (the $180)
didn't subsribe to Dish except the one from Milli..

anyway it's not the first letter I got from any jackass that i've tottaly ignored eh shredded.

but who knows heard jail, it's all free cable!! and boarding

[tigert422]

It just showed up in the mail. was not registered or delivered...

So IGNORE it is!! Ignore the letter. Enjoy your day and do not respond in any way shape or form.. Treat it like a spame of junk mail. Have a Great Day!!

[MacyGirl]

For Rajahau......

I am in agreement here with MarvinGardens......

1. It will not go away even if you ignore it. It doesn't matter if the initial letter came by regular or registered mail....
They will send a second and possibly a third letter before starting the legal process.
2. The process will go forward and eventually you will receive a summons. Based on the law, they have 12 months to serve you from the date of discovery...Otherwise, you home free.....
3. You will need a lawyer either way, sooner or later.
4. Your case will probably settle and not go to court....otherwise it is going to cost you 3 to 5 times the $$ amount to fight it in court compared if you were to settle.. (Plus, you really do not want to go forward and perjure yourself during the discovery phase....)
5. In the end, it will cost you several thousand dollars
6. Of course, you still have the option of doing nothing and calling this attorney's bluff by waiting it out for the next 12 months and hope it goes away.

Somehow, they connected the dots to find you...I think you showed that in your emails.
They are going to do exactly what DTV did.........
It's really about the money...
They really don't want to go to court....but have the deep pockets to do so...
An attorney can go into more detail than this forum and present you with the "What if's" and suggest your best course of action..

You may get a break on the settlement amount if you have your attorney contact them before they serve you....

You have some limited options, but your are in a tight spot regardless of what anyone says.....

If they were able to find you, they are going to find others....The Milli breach was more serious than anyone realized..

Lastly, Go to WUMarkus.c*m......This is a website covering legal issues related to both DTV and Dish..

Good Luck..

MGirl

[golk75]

The letter is for real, i had a friend with this problem.same lawyer,
he had to settle for 4k out od the 12k they where asking.

[Jeet]

For those of you laugh at these letters, I would recommend that you check out this file.

This is from a guy who used to work for Dave's End User Group. He outlines exactly how the group worked, they hired ex-cops, ex-military, gave them the title of "investigator" when actually all they did was sit on the phone, field incoming calls and use high pressure tactics telling people it was better to pay $3,500 then have this thing drag out.

Also attached as exhibit are financial reports, which shows how much they were able to pull in. Each quarter they were pulling in $5 million dollars from people.

Go to this website http://www.overhauser.com/DTV/ and click on link "Declaration of David Bautista"

Read it and you will fully understand how this all really does work.

[Darkbob]

It costs nothing to wait and see what happens. Dave sent out thousands and thousands of letters. He only nailed a fraction of those people. Still, when you get $4K for everyone you nail it pays great and like others said, it's all about the $$$.

I'd just mark "moved - return to sender" on the envelope and toss it back in the mail (minus any feces but that was funny). Make a photo-copy first. As the guys say, if you can avoid them for a year you are home free but you need proof as to when the year started and that's where the photocopy comes in.

It's just like putting a lock on your door. It won't stop a highly determined criminal BUT if your house has a lock and your neighbor doesn't, he will move next door. Tons of houses and only so many crooks to go around.

Likewise, if you make it hard to track you down... don't sign anything, etc... you will be harder to deal with than the guy who phones up and says "who should I make the payment to?"

--DB

[bols2dawaLL]

i don't know DB - i kinda like the feces idea - LOL

[JT]

I edited out all that blank space cojones, that's all. No reason to have six pages of nothingness taking up bandwith.

[benleo]

For Rajahau......

I am in agreement here with MarvinGardens......

1. It will not go away even if you ignore it. It doesn't matter if the initial letter came by regular or registered mail....
They will send a second and possibly a third letter before starting the legal process.
2. The process will go forward and eventually you will receive a summons. Based on the law, they have 12 months to serve you from the date of discovery...Otherwise, you home free.....
3. You will need a lawyer either way, sooner or later.
4. Your case will probably settle and not go to court....otherwise it is going to cost you 3 to 5 times the $$ amount to fight it in court compared if you were to settle.. (Plus, you really do not want to go forward and perjure yourself during the discovery phase....)
5. In the end, it will cost you several thousand dollars
6. Of course, you still have the option of doing nothing and calling this attorney's bluff by waiting it out for the next 12 months and hope it goes away.

Somehow, they connected the dots to find you...I think you showed that in your emails.
They are going to do exactly what DTV did.........
It's really about the money...
They really don't want to go to court....but have the deep pockets to do so...
An attorney can go into more detail than this forum and present you with the "What if's" and suggest your best course of action..


If they were able to find you, they are going to find others....The Milli breach was more serious than anyone realized..

Lastly, Go to WUMarkus.c*m......This is a website covering legal issues related to both DTV and Dish..

Good Luck..

MGirl

1. A collection agency type "demand" letter ( even from a law office ) is NOT a guarantee that you will receive a court summons.

2. In some states they have 2 years from discovery to file suit. A " demand " letter is not the same thing as being served with a suit.

3. He could call EFF in San Francisco for a referral to the type of lawyer in his area that handles these types of suits. At this point he has not been served. A lawyer is not absolutely necessary until you have been served with an actual lawsuit.

4. It's always cheaper to settle out of court, but he has not yet been served with an actual lawsuit. If he wanted to settle prior to to getting a summons ( if it ever comes to that ), a lawyer would certainly offer less in settlement than Charlie's lawyer is demanding. Of course, he would still have to pay the lawyer to negotiate the settlement.

5. If sued , it will cost several thousand dollars.

6. What is wrong with waiting to see if this is just a " scare " letter?

If they had a way of finding everybody who ever bought a device that *could* be used for signal theft, there would be a LOT, LOT more stories like this. He said he bought a card on E Bay. The security breach ( in this case ) might not even be related to Mili. I think E Bay is OK for an ex-sub unit since it would not be possible to prove you had any intention of hacking it. I would not buy or sell cards there. I've even seen some advertised as " open." That could certainly arouse suspision and might even be enough for " preponderance of evidence " in civil court.

[burnt_servo]

one thing people have to keep in mind , this letter is the result of a electronic break and enter . as long as a person doesn't incrimanate themselves any further , it would be a tough case for dish to prove .
the result is this "scare letter " to see what shakes out .

[MarvinGardens]

This is a simple case to prove. Dish can easily connect the dots. Any lay person on a jury will do the same.

I agree, a demand letter is not the same as being served with a law suit. It is an invitation for you, at a very early stage, to weigh the facts of the case and determine whether you have a likelihood of winning.

If you find that the facts are very much against you, you have the best opportunity to settle your impending case for the least amount of money. If you roll the dice and wait until they serve you with a law suit, Dish's settlement demand will increase dramatically.

That is why you should immediately get the advice of an attorney to look at the evidence against you and to determine if it is in your interests to cut your losses at the earliest stage.

[benleo]

I re-read the thread. It appears that he was a former Dishnet subscriber. He does not say if the E Mail addy he used with Mili was the same one he used when he was a Dishnet subscriber. He does not say if it was a real ISP E Mail or some " throwaway " Hotmail type account opened up with all false information.

It is a good idea to consult with an attorney if there is a lot of evidence to " connect the dots." Based on what was posted, I'm not so sure if Charlie can easily connect all the dots. In a " demand " letter, Charlie's attorney is NOT required to tell him what evidence they may or may not have. You can only find that out after being served with a suit. That is when you go through actual discovery. Only he knows for sure what information Charlie is likely to have against him.