Slashdot linked up this little ditty about how DirecTV is engaging in a particularly odious form of shakedown:

The company begins by sending the equipment-purchaser a letter, sometimes through a local law firm, citing a hefty sack of federal statues that outlaw piracy or possession of signal theft equipment. The letter gives the recipient a deadline of a couple of weeks to contact DirecTV, or face litigation and possible damages of $100,000 or more.

If the recipient calls the phone number on the letter, they're given a settlement offer [of $3500]. If they don't pay up, or if they ignore the letter entirely, another letter arrives in the mail as a reminder that settling with the company is the only way to resolve the matter "without either of us incurring significant legal costs." If the recipient still doesn't play ball, the company makes good on its threat and files a lawsuit. At that point, the settlement price tag jumps to $10,000 -- still less than the typical cost of paying a lawyer to go to trial against a corporate powerhouse in federal court.

The slashdot collective commenting on this one included some "people who knew the people", and the consensus seemed to be that as soon as someone actually fights one of these things (and does it properly) then they all go away. That's why we're linking the story up... if anyone out there gets one of these shakedown notes, fight it. Bullies are powerful because hardly anyone challenges them. When the entire neighborhood turns on them the bully is no more.

Personally I'm amazed at how people respond to letters like this. I learned a long, long time ago that the only serious collection letters are the ones that are sent via registered mail. Credit ratings are "nice to haves", and are not on the same level as oxygen or food, which is how most people seem to treat them.

I spent nearly a decade on the receiving end of collection notes so nasty you'd think they were going to take my firstborn child in the night if I didn't pay up. Ellen was forbidden to pick up my mail because she'd flip out every time I got one. People were aghast when I told them my credit rating was completely in the toilet, made me feel like I had a scarlet "C" on my chest. I ignored them all and you know what? From a day-to-day point of view it had zero effect on me.

Oh I'm not proud of it, and, with Ellen's patient help, everything was eventually rehabilitated. But to this day I chuckle a little at how people get the vapors when they get a collection notice from their book club threatening to "ruin their good credit."