The Internet Service Providers' Association (ISPA) has named lawyer, Andrew Crossley, as its Internet Villain for 2011. It was a tough competition this year as there were some real bastards out there.
Crossley however won the award for the "speculative invoicing" antics of his law firm ACS:Law. ACS:Law targeted suspected illegal filesharers and threatened that if they did not pay up it would take them to court and expose their porn flick fetish.
However after a short but loud battle, it all ended when the firm dropped the charges and ceased operation. He was particularly criticised for bringing the legal profession into disrepute which is something that takes some doing. Crossley's antics were blown out of the water when he was hacked and all his cunning plans were bought into daylight.
Last year's Internet Villain award was Lord Mandelson for "ignoring principles of better regulation to amend an open consultation following lobbying from an interest group". The Internet Hero award went to Professor Ian Hargreaves, who wrote a report on how to make intellectual property more suitable for the digital age.
ACS:Law speculatively invoiced victims
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