According to The Consumers Association, publishers of Which? magazine, one of the law firms - Tilly, Bailey & Irvine Solicitors (TBI) - has announced plans to stop sending letters accusing people of illegally sharing copyrighted material because it fears the adverse publicity.
Which? says it received a number of complaints earlier this year from people who had received letters from TBI accusing them of illegally sharing adult files via he internet.
The recipients, says the magazine, were threatened with legal action unless they agreed to pay £700 in compensation.
As reported previously by Infosecurity, after reviewing the letters, Which? asked the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) to investigate the conduct of a number of law firms, which the consumer champion considered was in breach of the Solicitors' code of conduct.
In early March, Which? said that one of the law firms - Davenport Lyons - was being investigated by the SRA - with Deborah Prince, head of legal affairs with Which? saying: "We now want to see some decisive action to stop these bully-boy tactics."
"We hope the SRA's decision sends a message to other law firms that they cannot make a quick buck by accusing people of copyright infringements they haven't committed", she said.
At the time, Which? said it was continuing to hear - on an almost weekly basis - from distressed people who have received letters wrongly accusing them of illegal file sharing and demanding payment for their alleged crime.
Commenting on TBI's plans to cease its letter writing and legal actions, Prince said that the publisher is pleased to hear that the law firm has seen sense and decided to move out of the volume litigation business.
"Hopefully, other law firms thinking of going down a similar route will refrain as we believe the practice is inherently unfair and unethical", Prince said.
"In relation to any alleged illegal file sharing activity, Which? favours the proportionate and graduated response advocated by the Digital Economy Bill", she added.
"We are totally against the practice of scaring people, many of whom are innocent, into making out of court settlements because they fear huge legal bills if the case goes to court."