Solidworks/CJCH - copyright threat germany

[cmas]

Dam these ambulance chasers.

 

So did you receive a letter addressed to you?

 

Or did your company receive the letter and they are reaching out to you? 

[cmas]

So they have collected your email address from the monitoring software. Used the domain to connect it to your business.

 

You do not use a VPN?

 

Does your company offer a product or service that could theoretically make use of this Ansys software package?  

Edited November 28, 2020 by cmas

[cmas]

yea if u respond to them, you open a can of worms and they wont ever go away.

In responding you verify they have your contact details right.

In responding you also acknowledge you have enough assets to risk loosing that warrant you to reply in an attempt to settle the matter.

 

Replying only gives them more ammunition then they already have.

 

Its unlikely but possible they file a case.

 

Bounced and blocked been 2+ months since they have tried to reach me … 

Edited November 28, 2020 by cmas

[cmas]

damn, what's the software, how much is a license?

 

[cmas]

VPN does create extra plausible deniability. You could have accessed your email from a friends computer. Since all they really have is your email domain name. But if they also have the IP registered to you, then its harder to explain away two coincidences. 

Edited November 28, 2020 by cmas

[cmas]

yea so, in my case they went after my employer. Then stopped going after my employer and started going after me instead as they suspected me.

I did not have the option of not replying as my employer replied and prompted me to reply. 

 

I am not sure what the typical settlement demands are for the software package you being accused of using. 

 

In my case they wanted me to either buy solid works premium with 1 year subscription which is like 11k USD.

Even though I am being accused of using the basic package worth like 4k or 5.8k with subscription taxes etc. 

The other settlement option they offered was for 5k with no software. 

 

You should look up your countries court case filing data base to try and understand how litigious they are. How many case they have filed for similar infringements. The profiles of the accused company's and how those cases ended.  

 

In my case Dassault systems had about 6 similar case filings in the past 3 years for all of the USA. 

 

Based on my estimates it seems they are going after offenders enmasse and that the 6 cases represent a small percentage of total potential infringement cases. As solid works is a wildly popular software used by many. Just about any collage engineering student has a pirated copy of this. 

 

So these were all factors I used in my decision to bounce black ignore. 

 

You are dealing with ANSYS and so it is worth trying to understand thy enemy and try to understand their business model in pursuit of these cases.

 

For example the music industry wasted billions of $ with bit torrent law suits to try and make an example of ppl with the goal of scaring the masses to comply.

 

This was not Dassaults business model. Other then the 6 cases they filed (perhaps to make an example out of ppl) they seem to want to shake ppl down for easy license sales and settlement penalty fees. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cmas]

OO i see Dassault systems as acquired ANSYS.

 

So you are dealing with with same company 

[cmas]

CJCH is the law firm hired by ANSYS to assist with their extortion racket and they work together in these matters.

 

ANSYS wants to settle for the sale of expensive license to close your case.

 

once they're done with you and you still have not bought a license then then turn it over to the lawyers who try to negotiate settlement like a debt collection circus 

 

[cmas]

yea they send alot of letters out threatening law suits hoping to get money.

 

They do have the recourse to file a law suit but chances are they wont.

 

For the USA I know of only 6 relevant cases filed. 

 

6 cases is not that many considering that there is likely many thousands of violators.

 

They likely have no intent to actually sue but are merely threating.

 

If the software is 40k tho,  .... its quite a bit more then what i was accused off and it may be worth trying to find out how they deal with those cases

 

Edited November 28, 2020 by cmas

[cmas]

Since you are in Germany, there would be a different website you need to find to find court case filings.

 

Stopped chasing going on about 11 weeks now 

[cmas]

Yea the second demand letter with deadline and threat of legal action is the typical protocol. 

 

Ignore is still probably what you want to do.

But, you should find out what legal data base your country uses to see how many lawsuits they file. 

 

Dassault systems business model is probably just to intimidate you into paying a settlement with out any expensive legal action.

 

But some company's can be very litigious and file many suits. Its best to know thy enemy and see how many cases the dates of each case the evidence presented and the result in each case. The profile of the defendant is a consideration as well. Deepening on the size of your business etc.

 

CJCH is license in the UK, can they even litigate in germany?

 

if u have no money, u have nothing to worry about, they cant sue you for what you dont have.

If you reply to them you acknowledge that you might have enough money that you need to protect.

if they cant verify your company has any money they wont bother filing suit. 

 

Did they send letter to Germany address?