Online illegal file-sharing is always a hot topic and the big media companies are doing their best to keep it in the spotlight. But for all their talk of protecting their business and the artists' rights, their anti-piracy fight boils down to what can only be described as a form of extortion. And after the practice proved rather profitable in the US, if not actually making a noticeable dent in illegal file-sharing, it was time to conquer new markets so they're moving to the UK.

Some 15,000 'pirates' are about to be sent letters informing them of the legal consequences of their alleged wrong-doing. Hard times await the recipients of these letters with lengthy lawsuits and hefty fines. Fortunately the media companies have a softer side and are offering a simple solution to all of the problems, just pay a few hundred pounds and the whole issue is resolved. Unsurprisingly, most people choose to settle rather than go through the whole painful process.

The BBC has a lengthy piece on the subject and does a good job at explaining how the whole system works. In this particular case two German companies DigiProtect and MediaCat, which represent various copyright holders including adult content publishers, hired ACS: Law to make sure illegal file sharers get what's coming to them. The law firm won a major victory recently by getting two court orders forcing ISPs to disclose the name and addresses of the people behind roughly 30,000 IP addresses which the two licensing companies determined were involved in illegal file sharing.

ACS: Law will send settlement letters to about 15,000 of those offering peace of mind in exchange for about 300 to 500 pounds. Assuming that most of those people pay up it all adds up to at least 5 million pounds to be split between the law firm, the licensees and the copyright holders. The entire practice may be a bit sleazy but it's definitely not illegal so you can't argue too much against it. The big problem, though, is that among the 15,000 there are likely quite a few who haven't done anything illegal but which will choose to pay up all the same to avoid the hassle or potential embarrassment.