30,000 Internet Users to Receive File-Sharing Cash Demands
Written by enigmax on November 25, 2009As many as 25,000 BT and 5,000 customers of other ISPs will be receiving shock letters demanding big payments during the coming weeks. Lawyers in the UK have been granted more court orders which force ISPs to hand over the details of individuals who they say have been monitored sharing hardcore pornography.
For regular readers of TorrentFreak, this fresh news can hardly come as a surprise. The supposed anti-piracy scheme originally pioneered in the UK in conjunction with lawyers Davenport Lyons rolls on, but now in the hands of ACS:Law and their partners DigiProtect.
Although there is an insistence that the project is aimed at reducing piracy, in reality piracy is the scheme’s lifeblood, providing healthy profits for all concerned, except the original rightsholders that is.
On November 19th at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, ACS:Law made NPO (Norwich Pharmacal Order) applications in order to force ISPs to hand over the names and addresses of subscribers the company claims infringed their client’s rights.
The NPO’s related to approximately 25,000 IP addresses harvested from UK ISP BT’s subscriber base and a further 5,000 from various other ISPs, covering approximately 291 movie titles.
Present at the hearing before Chief Master Winegarten (CMW) were Andrew Crossley and Terence Tsang from ACS:Law, representatives from UK ISP BT and three representatives from consumer outfit Which?, who previously made official complaints regarding the conduct of Davenport Lyons. Also present were two individuals previously wrongly accused, who are regulars at the support site BeingThreatened.com.
Before the hearing began, CMW noted that he had received letters of complaint from the public about the scheme. As reported to TorrentFreak by those present, during the hearing Andrew Crossley made some interesting comments.
After CMW expressed interest in what happens to an accused infringer after the court order is granted and a letter sent, Crossley said that his company was not suggesting that the recipient is definitely guilty in all cases, but the Internet account holder who receives the letter could perhaps help them to identify the person who had actually carried out the infringement.
It is worth noting that ISP account holders are not liable for copyright infringement carried out on his/her connection if a) they did not carry it out themselves or b) did not authorize any infringement. If they did neither they can simply write back to ACS:Law explaining that the accusation against them has been made in error.
Furthermore, if the account holder does not know who did carry out the infringement, they should state in their reply that is the case. It is then up to ACS:Law to find the real infringer based on their evidence they hold. This is impossible for them without the account holder pointing the finger.
In justifying his application for the court order, Crossley said that they do it because “businesses are failing, jobs are being lost,” while citing dubious IFPI statistics (95% of all music is pirated) to justify his case.
CMW asked Crossley how long the scheme would continue for, who replied “…for as long as P2P file-sharing continues Master.”
Another NPO was applied for by ACS:Law on behalf of a new-comer to the scheme, a company called Media C.A.T. Ltd.
Little is known about them and their website is currently suspended, but searches reveal that the company is involved in the premium SMS market – one page states “Premium Rate Telephone Riches – How To Make £500 A Week” – quite what they have to do copyright holders and anti-piracy is unclear. It does appear, however, that their Managing Director Lee Bowden has previous links to Andrew Crossley and, just like him, will be in this for the money.
When CMW asked why rightsholders were dealing with Media C.A.T and not directly with DigiProtect, Crossley said that “[Media C.A.T] happen to operate in the UK…dealing with UK companies…”
In referring to the scheme ACS:Law and DigiProtect operate in respect of these hardcore porn titles, Crossley tried to suggest that they were doing a public service by helping to prevent the sharing of restricted movies on P2P.
CMW responded by noting that “[this is] not a moral crusade” and that in his opinion, ACS:Law and DigiProtect were doing this “…because you want the money.”
Recipients of past and future letters are invited to view the excellent BeingThreatened website, whose users provided invaluable help in compiling this report.
Previously: P2P Sites’ Injunctions Overturned, Anti-Piracy Group Fined
Next: AFACT v iiNet: Epic BitTorrent Copyright Case Concludes
147 Responses
This is going to start a fight!
tl;dr
was this just for porn or other stuff too?
i can see it now a big barfight. people getting smashed left and right mostly the maffia because their evil.
adyshor, I wanted to be 1st. :( lol
Thanks again Torrentfreak!
Geez those dudes really want to own the earth..
If I download it ilegaly, it means I will not buy it doh so who cares!!
Advice for all you Brits out there – switch to Be if you can. They don’t really care how you use their lines, I think they’ve only ever taken action against a handful of individuals (and that was more for obscene usage of their lines. I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re talking a few individuals using TBs per day. That or CP), they have no throttling/traffic shaping, and it’s truly unlimited.
You are incredibly unlikely to get sent any demands on them.
this only refers to 291 porn titles? wtf?
Lol.
They got bunch of IPs and they think that they can sent someone over this to court? fail
It’s just not working that way, those letters are nonsence.
They don’t have evidence, IP means shit, so do screenshots, lmao.
Oh, pls seed more those bukkake pronz :D
Just dont hit the midget tranny bukakke pr0n and you will be fine……
Where is the balance in this argument? Porn exploits. If you were one of the ones exploited you would have a different view of this industry. I find it refreshing that finally something anything is being done to stop this cancer. I have seen horror. A young girl with a gaping hole where her anus used to be, young children ruined for life, god the criminal activity is endless. You can’t lump regular file sharers together with this bunch. Hell, if you need to get your rocks off go hentai, it still promotes exploitation but nobody gets hurt. Just tired of all the comments with seemingly no acknowledgment of any consequences.
I feel sorry for any kids who have been downloading porn. They are going to be fecking embarassed when their parents get a letter, not only telling them that their kids are downloading porn, but they have to pay for it. =P
I think it’s gonna explode and get out of hand sooner or later. Customer are starting to really get annoyed by all that. I used to be a big buyer of DVD and CD, after I saw everything that these companies are doing and that artist actually get nothing in return, I decided to boycott the big companies.
More and more people are started to get annoyed. I think it’s time to copy the French from 1789 and have a “world revolution” against these companies and fake governments.
The more the better.
Increases the chance of finally pissing off the wrong people.
“I love the smell of burning lawyer in the morning …”
i want a list of these pr0n movies so i can download them
who cares about file sharers
#13 If filesharers are extinct you wont get free things on the net anymore.
Forthemore, this article is an insult, and if any receive mail from this company, saying “It is come to our attention that you downloaded hot asses and piss over me” should sue their asses for calumny, heck I will if by mistake a receive one!
there are going to be a lot a pissed off horny folks!!
In other news sons all over the UK wait patiently to receive their parents mail each day.
So, if the CMW felt they were using this scheme to line their pockets, why did he grant the NPO?
I agree with the post saying to switch to Be above. I’m using O2, which are partneres with Be and share the same service, but it’s cheaper since I’m already an O2 customer.
I get all my movies / TV from newsgroups and only use bittorrent for obscure albums I can’t find otherwise. I wonder if any of these letters being handed out are for newsgroup users or whether they’re just targeting torrent users?
those 30.000 peoples really should open up an interest group and hire as such a good law firm for freindly talks with the isps before taking further action against such letters!!!
probably, “Which?” might give some support, too…!
Anyone got a list of titles affected? Will have to check my porn collection against it!!! :P
@8
“he said anus huuuhuuh ain-us anus heh heh heh”
these letters are going to cause so many arguments and break-ups it’s untrue!!!! haha
#4 I received an email from Be stating that I had downloaded a film. They sent me the title of the download and sure enough, it was something I had downloaded through a torrent.
They didn’t claim to be taking any action or state that repeat offenses would lead to action. They just gave a list of things to check in order to make sure my wifi was secure etc.
So your claim that peple are very unlikely to hear from them is false. Be are by far the best ISP I have used, they even offer to help people set up web and mail servers for free, where most other ISPs claim running web servers is a breach of their TOS (because they’d rather charge you a stupid amount for a ‘corporate’ account). Be are also owned by o2, so I should imagine o2 customers will get the same treatment.
I’ve never had a letter from any other ISP and in fact I changed my uTorrent settings to force encryption and reject legacy connections (I figured that was how they found the name of the file) and Be never sent me another letter. To be honest, that was in shared house where there were probably 3-4 tv shows and the same number of films being downloaded every day, so overall it was a pretty low rate of detection.
I vote RIOTS IN THE STREETS OF MANCHESTER!
Who is with me!!!
O2 are not all great, they block outgoing SMTP on port 25. While you can understand that this will aid their network in reducing zombie pc’s spamming. If your not an the avarage idiot and can keep your pc clean its very anoying.
..the witch-hunt continues..
@25 TheCareBay
I’m on O2 and they aren’t blocking my port 25. If they were, I would go spare as I use my works SMTP servers!
#4 I received an email from Be stating that I had downloaded a film.
so what??? downloading copyrighted content for your own personal use in england is completely legal people just fail to understand this whole system they have been brainwashed into this “downloading” = wrong its completely false.
what you are being done for if at all is uploading i.e. re-distrobuting copyrighted works without the authors consent it’s file SHARING not file downloading.
Call your isp up and ask them the same question they will tell you if its downloading without uploading re-distributing then fill your boots!
why else would they be selling you high speed internet if they didn’t expect you to use it for what it was intended for.
@29 dont rock the boat im on be i dont want lawyers coming after me
actually its not legal you are still breaking the law no matter what you think but we all do it so what doesnt kill us can only make us stronger
Guys, it’s time to move on from bittorrent if you are in the UK. Your IP is displayed as clear as day. It is only a matter of rights holds willingness to expend resources tracking you down.
I recommend USENET, you can get a premium service for under 11 dollars. Lots of sites host NZB files just like torrent sites (Merlin’s Portal, NZB Matrix), so the needed technical knowledge is next to nothing. Better yet, the network is completely unregulated and offers SSL encrypted connections (in which even your ISP can’t figure out the data being sent).
Cheers
Making pr0n available without age controls is a criminal offence, why is this issue not being investigated (at all) prior to civil action being taken?
wonder who will win? Media corporations or 30,000 pissed off people. They cant stop us all.
“Royal Courts of Justice in London”
Royal pain in the ass
@30, 100% lawyers: It is not illegal under UK law. There is nothing stating it is illegal to _receive_ copyrighted material without the blessing of the rights holder.
@23, Tomas: Be didn’t detect anything – it’s illegal to eavesdrop on internet connections in the UK without a warrant. They merely forwarded that letter on behalf of a copyright group that was on the same torrent, noting-down IP addresses. It’s a bluff template-letter straight from a copyright group and nothing more. Be aren’t going to ‘take action’ against their own customers.
Carry on.
look i’m going to lay this out plain and simple.
they know under uk law downloading is legal for personal use it’s just uploading (filesharing) of copyrighted content which falls under the civil action against the user.
it’s like the kid at school hides something in a desk and does his best to lie and cheat making sure no-body knowns or looks into that desk to see whats been hidden.
same goes for our government and the anti-piracy groups and the ifpi and other mafiaa cartels
They are doing their best their up most best to make you forget the REAL truth to copyright in the UK hoping you wouldn’t research it and just take every word they said as gospel until they have clouded the complete public’s mind then once that’s done they will then start to slowly sneakily remove and re-form the REAL copyright laws on Downloading copyrighted content for personal use to something completely different..
no-body will fight it as by this time everyone would of been brainwashed into already that the changes they are going to sneak into the law was already there.
i will say it again under uk law DOWNLOADING is legal call your isp they will tell you exactly the same thing it’s uploading sharing which is the problem… the government and the industry is trying to make you believe single DOWNLOADING is illegal it’s not true its all lies
Trying to give you false information to brainwash you into believing its wrong and illegal
Two words for these assholes: dynamic IPs.
Can anyone confirm that what GrX said in post 36 is true?
they start with the taboo porn industry, but once they’ve left their prints there, they’re gonna move onto heavier beasts.
@16 Lol
@36
Its not downloading they are doing you for, its the making available.
so all someone has to say is they are looking for hardcore porn downloaders and the ISP(s) hand over user data/details without a problem?
loophole?
No, the 36 is no longer true. There is a new copyright treaty in EU that prohibits even downloading for personal use.
This just shows that if you like filesharing and are still actually buying products from mayor music/movie/porn labels then you are shooting yourself in the foot.
F’ the labels and distributors! And F’ artists that support the harrassment of fans!
F’ my corrupt goverment!
F’ corrupt judges!
F’ corrupt police!
PIRACY FTW!
these parasites are not in the least bit interested in copyright, or what the artists are supposed to be losing. they are only interested in the amount of money they can make for themselves. this is an exercise whereby the individual is going to be taken to court simply because he/she can be taken to court and in 99.9% of cases cant afford to defend him/her self, even when innocent. it is extortion on a grand scale, done intentionally often using false accusations. unfortunately, as this involves those that have a bottomless pit of money it will continue. perhaps the best thing would simply be to give everything to them in the first place. that way, no one else would ever have anything, and what you dont have, cant be taken away. of course, those that already have everything couldn’t get any more because no one would be able to give them anything
This reminds me of the bit in Lock Stock, where the guy is explaining his get rich quick scheme. Sell them an imaginary product [vibraator] but dont deliver it, see how many people try to cash the refund check from a company called big sex toys plc.
Have these guys seen the film, go after porn downloaders, see who challenges it in court and wants to get their name in the local press for downloading porn.
Way to go you fcking robbing parasites.
ALL lawayers are scumbags [getting rich off peoples misery], we already know that, so are premium rate phoneline operaters, so it seems a match made in heaven. ;)
just imagine if even half of those people took them to court… it would over load the system :X
@43 eu laws are nothing to do with English laws right now they are completely separate especially when it comes to copyright.
take it from me the law STILL is the law downloading copyrighted content is not against the law it’s not even a civil matter as long as its 1 way and only for personal use.
if you don’t think what i’m saying is true then your one of the ones they have brainwashed phone your isp up and ask them.
Virgin for one will explain its filesharing making available re-distrobuting and until the law pysically changes and i quote!
“Fill your boots isn’t that why you wanted broadband in the first place”
as long as its download not upload or sharing the isp will tell you, you are perfectly within your rights.
it’s upto your own personal morals they will explain but law wise fill your boots if you like.
hell why do they think people have broadband if not for “Downloading” why would anyone have fast speed broadband before itunes popped up or youtube???
use your brains.
I swear,i have never,never,never,downloaded hardore porn in my life
never
I was given 2 warnings on charter in the US, I added Peerblocker and a vpn service although this is another $7 monthley I haven’t gotten any more letters in the last year. I would at least recomend Peerblocker to help keep a low profile.
Nobody Pay! Nobody pay! No body pay!
We should start by machine gunning all these porn parasites and their lawyers.
This is war they want this is war they will get.
use the gonewalkabouts reply copy and cut and paste
Dear Sir/Madam
I am writing in reply to your letter of claim dated ——- stating that my connection was Used in an infringement of copyright, using peer to peer networks which allegedly. Occurred on the date ——- and concerns the work “———-” (“the work”).
You assert in your letter that the infringement was apparently traced to my internet connection. I note that I am not personally being accused of the infringement, as you have no evidence to this effect.
Nevertheless, I categorically deny any offence under sections 16(1) (d) and 20 of the CDPA 1988. I have never possessed a copy of the work in any form, nor have I distributed it, nor have I authorized anyone else to distribute it using my internet connection. I note that section 16(2) of the act requires a person to either directly infringe copyright, or authorize someone else to do so. I have done neither, and you have not provided any evidence of my doing so. As such I cannot and will not sign the undertakings as provided by you.
As you seem to be perfectly aware, it is impossible to link an IP address to a particular person or computer without further detailed analysis, which requires a level of expertise I do not possess. Furthermore the delay in your sending of a letter of claim precludes any such analysis. In your letter you state that “it is unlikely that a simple denial (without further explanation) will change our view of the circumstances”, unfortunately I do not have the expertise to provide a detailed explanation. As such I can only conclude that I have been a victim of foul play
As far as I am aware, there is no law in the UK under which you could properly hold me responsible for an infringement occurring via my internet connection, without either my knowledge or permission. I would be interested to hear you legal basis for attempting to do so. As on Thursday November 19th 2009 at the Royal Courts of Justice in London before Chief Master Winegarten at it was stated by Andrew Crossley for ACS: Law. “That ACS law was not suggesting that the recipient is definitely guilty in all cases, but the Internet account holder who receives the letter could perhaps help them to identify the person who had actually carried out the infringement”.
Please inform your clients that if they wish to pursue this matter, I will seek to recover all my costs to the maximum permitted by the Civil Procedure Rules
The signature of the undersigned confirms the statement provided to be accurate and legally binding under the terms required by pre-action protocol in civil law.
Yours Faithfully
[Name]
This lot went after an old guy in his 70s saying he downloaded gay porn. After a while they simply admitted this wasnt the case
They will buy the rights to old films, spread them on the net and then harvest the ips and threaten anyone who downloaded it.
If anyone gets a letter, deny it and say you have an open wifi. They will only go after people who offer to settle or dont reply at all. The leaked documents from them prove this, they only go after people with the money and who want to hand over the cash.
http://torrentfreak.com/leaked-documents-reveal-anti-piracy-cash-operation-091115/
Where to start?
Right. I, father of two beautiful kids aged 14 and 11, will tell MAFIAA that my kids love sharing stuff over p2p. FAIL.
I’ll also point my finger at myself telling I share stuff instead of saying some1 hacked my wireless router. FAIL.
I will point a finger at my room mate that downloaded that movie so we could use our poor student earnings wisely in movies that are actually worth it. FAIL.
Massive fail. Why don’t you broaden the search and add other movies and a few thousand songs, then you go and sue over 5M people…. FAIL.
LOL .. I work at a @edu .. and I’ve started getting these (we don’t forward them btw, and we don’t store log info long enough to be of use by the time they roll around to a lawsuit .. but in case you’re curious, here’s the format :
—–BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE—–
Hash: SHA1
***NOTE TO ISP: PLEASE FORWARD THE ENTIRE NOTICE***
Re: Unauthorized Use of Copyrights Owned by (porno company)
Reference#: (redacted) (M)
(date) (time) PST
Dear Sir or Madam:
This notice is intended solely for the primary (our ASN name) internet service account holder. Someone using this
account has engaged in illegal copying or distribution (downloading or
uploading) of pornographic movies. This notice may contain the titles of
those movies, and therefore and may contain text that is offensive to some
readers.
Video Protection Alliance Services, LLC (‘We’) represent and are agents for
the following copyright owner(s) (porno company) are the exclusive owners of copyrights for the videos and/or other
content listed below.
Evidence:
Infringement Source: BitTorrent
Infringement Timestamp: (time)
Infringers IP Address: (ip)
Infringers Port: (port)
Infringement Title: (lame porn title)
Infringement Filename: (lame porn file)
Infringement Hash: (bt_hash)
The information in this notification is accurate. We have a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of herein is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or by operation of law. We swear under penalty of perjury, that we are authorized to act on behalf of
(porn company)
This unauthorized copying and/or distribution infringes the copyrights of
(porn company) under the U.S. Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. 106. By
engaging in this infringement, you may face significant liability for
monetary damages, the rights owners’ attorneys fees, court costs for this
infringement.
You and everyone using this computer must immediately and permanently cease
and desist the unauthorized copying and/or distribution (including, but not limited to, downloading, uploading, file sharing, file ‘swapping’ or other similar activities) of the videos and/or other content owned by (porn company), including, but is not limited to, the copyrighted material listed above.
(porn company) is prepared to pursue every available remedy
including damages, recovery of attorney’s fees, costs and any and all other claims that may be available to it in a lawsuit filed against you.
While (porn company) is entitled to monetary damages, attorneys’
fees and court costs from the infringing party under 17 U.S.C. 504, (porn company) believes that it may be beneficial to settle this matter without the need of costly and time-consuming litigation. We have been authorized to offer a reasonable settlement to resolve the infringement of the works listed above. To access this settlement offer, please follow the
directions below.
To access your settlement offer please copy and paste the address below
into a browser and follow the instructions:
https://www.videoprotectionalliance.com/?n_id=(redacted)
Password: (redacted)
Regards,
Bonnie Gadsby
Copyright Enforcement Agent
Video Protection Alliance Services, LLC
PO Box 322
Cream Ridge, NJ 08514-0322
United States
+1-866-251-2631
https://www.videoprotectionalliance.com
*pgp public key is available on the key server at http://keyserver2.pgp.com
** For any correspondence regarding this case, please send your emails to
info@videoprotectionalliance.com and refer to Notice ID: (redacted). If you
need immediate assistance or if you have general questions please call the
number listed above.
what the fuck is wrong with porn? its a natural human act! so people like to look at it, big fucking deal.
hopefully no one is dumb enough to fall for their scheme, but most likely there will be enough people who will pay up to keep these assholes in business.
Why would you even waste your time responding to this garbage?
ROFL not this again.
I once got a letter from davenport lyons or whatever they were back then. The funny thing is I didn’t download what they claimed I did, and I download a lot of stuff.
They didn’t send the letter recorded delivery so I didn’t reply to it, and the letter was full of errors like variables names from a VB script of something guessing an MS word macro letter or something that went a bit wrong.
They have never sent me anything again, and it’s been two years so this crap is obviously a scam, if only 1% of people paid they are laughing.
Now extorting people saying they downloaded hardcore porn videos, that’s the funniest thing ever.
Thinking about it I should have taken the letter in the toilet with me and wiped my arse on it and sent it back to them…
Knock on consequence of this bullshit: More rape attempts !
If everyone would stop downloading copy righted content, then these lawyers would have to start working for the income.
Just wondering if there is anybody out there reading all these comments who works in the legal system in Britain.And how do you feel about the tactics used by these so called lawyers.
@60 most will be innocent, seriously with cloned modems roaming about, not a lot will be guilty of the offence.
deny deny deny
When are these retards going to learn…
#60 (Bob Smith)
Is it not true that all content created is to naturally fall under the protections of copyright law, Bob?
Do you mean that people should stop downloading copyrighted content that hasn’t been properly authorised for duplication and distribution by the legal copyright owner? If you do, then would I be right in my thinking that the party responsible for infringement of copyright here would be they who would duplicate and distribute the content without the proper legal authorisation to do so? It strikes me as being somewhat nonsensical that a downloader may be held legally responsible for the unauthorised duplication, and further, distribution of content to themself, as as much would appear to suggest that the infringer would necessarily have already had to have held a copy of the copyrighted works in their possession prior to the act of unauthorised duplication and distribution of said work.
If you would be so kind as to help to clarify my thoughts on this situation, that would be much appreciated. Thanks.
They are targeting porn to hopefully get some dumb ass guy whos wife doesn’t know he looks at porn.Easy meat for them i guess,i couldn’t give a flying fuck if my wife knows but i’m sure plenty of guys would care and pay up.
Here is what you should do
1.do not support any MPAA & big film studios ever again.
2.if you have to own a film just find a copy used
3.never support any RIAA & their stooge labels/artists
4.buy indie films and music
I do wish we could have millions of folks doing this.soon with ACTA the IT Wars will start and then we will see some krap happening.
most hardcore porn addicts are very private so they will just pay up to keep it quiet.
holy sh1t, don’t these people know theres redtube?
Haha!
There has been a lot about peerblocking software,as someone mentioned,it’s no good really as they use any ip and are part of the swarm,so there is no way of telling if they’re monitoring u.They are obviously not going to use ip’s that are on a blocklist.They might be moneygrabbers,but i don’t think they’re that stupid.A ssl encrypted connection is much better.
I would think that the fact that they stood by and did nothing while the infringement was carried out would lay some of the blame at the feet of the ISP.. And honestly? Why porn? How much money does porn bring in? Isn’t the potential audience for porn much smaller than something like.. a mainstream movie?
So if all 30k users respond with a “I didn’t do it.”, how is this going to make ACS:Law look?
Tell them to go fuck themselves and dont admit anything.
I am sure that they cant do anything unless you give them something to work with.
Does encrypted SSL hide your IP from the swarm?
A definition that applies here.
And from the uTorrent EULA.
I believe the other clients say something likewise.
If they are uploading the files in question onto BT sites, and they have the copywrong privileges transfered to them by the client, then they have made available those files freely. If all they have is an IP address, how can they prove that you actually uploaded the file?
I’m no lawyer, but it seems to me you could fight this obvious attempt at extortion.
Idiot – anyone who pays anything to these muppets.
Perhaps it’s time for some counter-terr0rism measures to corporate terr0r of these ‘companies’. Letter b0mbs anyone?
I found a HOTTEST interracial club ========”MixedConnect—C om”========for black Women and white Men, or black Men and white Women, to interact with each other. Interracial is not a problem here, but a great merit to cherish!
This is disgusting.
The money they will gain from this wont even go to the original authors of the files being shared, they just want to take money from people who downloaded mp3′s off the internet.
This is just ridiculous. But it bugs the HELL out of me to know that its only a matter of time before this kinda shit spreads to the USA.
In fact, I’m surprised this is happening in the UK instead of here!
It is disgusting what the Big 4 will do to [s]extort[/s]make a profit! However this nonsense is not by them, its the lowest form of life on earth(lawyers) that are doing this. All in the name of making a profit! The actual client does not make much money out of these [s]rackets[/s]lawsuits.
And Turbis this particular article is about pr0n and not music. Just thought I would clear that up, no offense.
Damn, guess that code doesn’t work!
Doh!
This would be more interesting if you could name the sites that they are monitoring. What sites are these donwloads coming from please ?
Hm, what kind of movies are the ones in question? If memory serves right, the MPAA watched closely at the experience the RIAA made with their campaign (suing thousands or wrestling them into a settlement) and the bad rep they got out of it. Hence they decided to not go down that road. What happened in between? Or is the PR mess not going to happen, ’cause it’s overseas?
Someone needs to shutdown these Goonsquads. The 30,000 people that receive these letters need to disconnect their ISP and get another one. See how the ISP likes losing money paying attention to these aholes. Back on the day when you had a telephone line people didn’t listen in and say hey this person might do something BAD, Lets cut off their phoneline. Whaaatttevverrr…
Princeton Prof Reports Bogus Infringement Notices
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.printFriendly&art_aid=117924
Last year, computer scientists at the University of Washington who were studying peer-to-peer networks reported that they received more than 400 bogus takedown notices in two months.
Their paper, subtitled “Why My Printer Received a DMCA Takedown Notice,” concluded that nearly all Web users risk receiving notices alleging copyright infringement for reasons ranging from “buggy software” to deliberate efforts to frame innocent users.
Now, Mike Freedman, an assistant professor of computer science at Princeton, reports that a research system he runs, CoralCDN, recently received around 100 letters alleging copyright infringement.
Freedman says that the infringement allegations were “demonstrably false,” because the IP addresses referenced in the letters weren’t running BitTorrent clients.
get a vpn such http://www.swissvpn.net
set connections auto reconnect 9999999 times every second under properties in case vpn goes down, it will choke connections till reconnected to vpn
then will be anon on web :) meow
Does anyone know this 291 movie titles ?
This is a complete joke and anyone who pays up is an idiot. Everybody who is worried about being spied on on torrents needs to get a VPN and make sure they set their client to stop seeding immediately on completion of torrents.
” 91 Nov 26, 2009 at 11:24 by Joke
This is a complete joke and anyone who pays up is an idiot. Everybody who is worried about being spied on on torrents needs to get a VPN and make sure they set their client to stop seeding immediately on completion of torrents.
”
no just have your vpn autoconnect on line drop@ 1sec 9999999 times under properties, and do share/seed
How come so many are BT customers? I doubt that their subscriber base is such a concentrated hotbed of illegal activity compared to any other ISP.
Are BT getting some form of kickback from dobbing in their own higher bandwidth using customers?
I read the word “FAIL” seven times in the article. Stop it.
Also being caught for hardcore pornography? This is going to be embarrassing for those who were caught.
#94
Exactly, me thinks perhaps a large majority would be shamed into paying up, something probably not lost on ACS Law don’t you think…
Has the list of 291 films been confirmed to be pornography only?
Well eventually they’ll beat up so many of the public for profit that those people will all unite to stop it.
It’ll prob be a political battle on the right to download copywrong material. I can understand wanting profit but at the expense of every day people it’s out of line.
I hope the ISP’s can do something but realistically the government over there seems f*cked. Un elected people getting into office and making laws on the backs of briefcases.
If they could replicate food would corporate farmers be outraged because they lost business or happy they hepled solve poverty.
I hate those Intelictual Poverty laws.
(leave it to me to spell intawhatever wrong. :P)
Who needs a VPN when you can just hijack another individual’s computers remotely, bypass their security and make them act as a proxy for you (unwillingly and despite their reasonable efforts to protect themselves) and then delete all traces of your activity from their system when you’ve got what you want.
I can file-share without personal consequence whilst innocent people are found guilty for my actions.
Are ACS:Law still using DigiProtect’s evidence (evidence obtained through spying on individuals without a court order.) and is it really admissable in a UK court?
to number 9 if we were talking about child porn then yes by all means go after them and jail for life we are not talking about child porn but adult porn so your agument is errelevent
What’s the difference between downloading and recording off the tele or the radio? Nothing, so as far as downloading goes they don’t have a case.
Uploading is where they’ll catch you out and is why i’ve already seen a change in how quickly files are coming online.
3 weeks ago I was able to download Sons of Anarchy and The Ultimate Fighter within 7 or 8 hours of them airing; it’s been nealy 36 hours and I still haven’t seen a good copy of Sons of Anarchy, this sucks.
All they actually made me do is download a little program called iplist/ipblock for Linux and set it up to use the peerguardian block lists and blanket block the entire ip range of Switzerland (where Logistep is located).
Might seem a bit harsh but I would rather not have Logistep seeing my IP somewhere on a tracker and connecting to me (probably for an unrelated torrent) and using it get court order against my ISP and send me junk mail.
@93
BT may be charging less for each IP address they have to look into, thereby making the scheme more profitable for them.
So how come they are only going after those who shared PORN?
Because they are less likely to kick up a fuss about it, but quietly pay up… or what?
As of 2008, the broadcasting of R18 material is prohibited, even on encrypted digital channels.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R18_certificate#cite_note-hansard-2
On another matter, can DigiProtect have claim a copyright on something which is prohibited entirely, I think not, in which case they have no case.
so has anyone here already received one of those letters from the justice department? I’d like to know what I have to look out for.
I am 16 and sometimes download porn.I live with my parents.If i got a letter sent to mr about downloading porn it would be the single most embarassing thing that could happen to me.Glad I dont live in the UK!
only wnakers download pr0n ;-)
I love porn. I have porn everywhere. I love sharing porn, but I love making porn much better.
http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=5430343841227974645#
“. . .and the bad rep they got out of it.”
And the bad rep spread to the MPAA because these morons instead of officially opposing the move declared themselves in favor of it. Not only that but they demonstrated to the world how big corporations using our money can easily corrupt the government and the justice system.
This will have repercussions for many years to come that will not just affect corporations but also “Democratic heum! heum!” governments.
The damage they caused to the society the justice system and the economy is incalculable.
The consensus that use to keep the society together has been dangerously weakened. Citizens no longer trust their governments and the occidental justice systems has lost credibility.
Good luke to enforce anything now!
Good job I’m attached to a ‘well known cable company’ without them even knowing.
Everything I do is invisible to everyone hahaha!
its like… these companies that make sex movies should be the ones going directly to jail without trial… for indecent conduct, lowering, robbing women futures…
i mean.. LULZ… its like making a nuclear bomb and giving it to terrorists.. and then sue the terrorists for nuclear attacks…
But even if you was subject to copyright law which the freeman can clearly tell you , you are not, you still havent broken copyright law by watching porn, you need to steal the content, the republish it for a profit, or knowingly redistribute it somehow but just downloading porn is not breaking copyright, maybe those who you download from have.
You could challenge if prn could even be copyrighted as
“The concept of copyright originates with the Statute of Anne (1710) in Great Britain. An example of the intent of copyright, as expressed in the United States Constitution, is “To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.”
Does a producer of prn promote the progress of science and useful arts by securing exclusive rights? obviously No
Also a work must meet minimal standards of originality in order to qualify for copyright, is showing people fcking really that original? and when you think of it with just common sense that someone can film people having sx then fine anyone who watches that film its just stupid why would humanity make that an enforceable law?
@”110 Nov 26, 2009 at 21:07 by Anonymous
http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=5430343841227974645#
”
Thanks, I have been thinking about this for while and while I seen this before, the powers that be are try to take away our porn on the net. If the net was built on porn, then why the hell try to take it away? Backstabbers is what I say they are. We build the net (porn) then they abuse our system and try to take us away. Ever heard of if you build it its yours? I guess not. don’t trust the gov or the poliece or the cartels/porn poliece.
People are sharing files and nothing seems to stop them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QI7N3cHHbMI
Virgin Broadbad will be sending letters out.
http://www.virgin.com/music
We have many beautiful down jacket and boots, I hope you will be happy to shopping http://www.uggnetshop.com
http://iblocklist.com/list.php?list=gb
Hmmm i had wondered where Acs had gone to…i guess after squeezing the sponge for games and music they are now delving into the mass market of hardcore porn, something for the weekend sir ? ;)
One things for sure i don’t do porn and if i get any letters accusing me of doing so then i think i will be physically knock on their door demanding an apology, tossers [parden the pun]
So has anyone actually received a letter or know anyone who has?
What if, you have opted for BT’s “open” wireless conection..
which allows the “community” to use your “wireless hot spot” hub?
if joe blogs is outside your home taking advantage of your “hot spot” and downloads porn..my IP is used surely?
what then?
Holy shit…. Alot of ppls are serious troubles now :) do they write the name of the movies also in that letter ?? I know it’s not funny but I cant stop to rofl when I imagine how many parents will be confused what sicko stuff their kids downloaded ;)
The list here is massive –
http://88.80.16.63/leak/davenport-lyons-and-kornmeier-monetary-and-working-correspondence(DOT)pdf
I wonder if blocklists would have helped at at all?!
any point in posting?
moderated post…
great job
Return to sender. ;)
http://www.plentyoftorrents.com
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://abmahnwahn.homeip.net/Gesamtliste%2520abgemahnte%2520Werke.pdf&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=1&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3D%2522digiprotect%2522%2B%2522army%2Bfuckers%2522%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG
tiny and pathetic England = fail
When something like this happens in Nepal, I’ll start to worry.
YAWN…
Switch to Virgin!
Been using them for 7 yrs now, downloaded 1000′s of GBs of Movies, TV, Software, Music & Games and never heard a peep out of them.
@124
Notice how old that pdf is. 19 March 2008
do torrented games sort of phone home and give away your ip address when you play them?
How are they getting these ip addresses….is it by connecting in the swarm? So using IP filters should help?
Banned for sharing porn, I’m sorry and where are the whining Hollywood officials?
@130 – I don’t know what you are on about. No, once you have the ISO, if you play it, your ip address isnt on the game???? If thas what you’re asking????
@129 – Yes it is old, but it could be the same title rights for this set of letters (although I hope not, some of them are recognisable lol)
@131 – Yeah they harvest all the ips from the swarm. Blocklists may help, but only if they are in the blocklist, which is difficult to know
@132 – I don’t know what you are getting at here. A company has made a deal with a hollywood porn company to have rights to distribute their porn via p2p. So they put it up, when people download, you are stealing it as you have not paid. Really sneaky, disgusting tactic by a slimey company. It is also illegal to distribute R18 porn via p2p in the UK, so they would be commiting an offence themselves.
hey for all your brits if u get a letter. write back saying it wasnt you but u believe a certain lord mandleface (Mandleson) has been leeching your internet and downloading porn.
@133 re: 130 …what I mean is when you play some *cough* downloaded games when you start them for the first time you have to allow them through your firewall suggesting that they are making some outgoing connection….just wondering if they are reporting back as not genuine with your IP address.
what isp do the other 5000 belong to?
On past form, I would suggest that the films involved will be the most embarrassing possible:
http://www.moneysupermarket.com/community/forums/t/acs-law-letter-of-claim-35813.aspx
I believe this is the list of films that are ‘protected’ by these particular scam artists. NSFW, natch:
http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://abmahnwahn.homeip.net/Web%2520Kornmeier%2520und%2520KollegenSeite43.html&ei=QEswStB0lpGMB4OD0JIL&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=5&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3Ddigiprotect%2Brocco%26hl%3Den
One thing that doesn’t seem to add up to me is that if they have obtained the IP addresses by harvesting from a swarm why are those users from BT so disproportionately represented?
ACS must have approached many ISP’s prior to going to court…did BT perhaps just roll over and agree not to contest in a prior agreement? ACS must have only pursued those ISP’s that agreed not to contest through the official court procedure to legitimize it. Otherwise we would have seen many more ISP’s involved in the court hearing and presummably ordered to give IP address holder detail also.
Seems to me that they are only after a quick profit and aren’t interested in extended court battles. That is also why they have concentrated on copyrighted porn titles….they are hoping that the shame factor will make more people pay up without contesting…like I said…they are just after quick profits.
If my dad finds out… im dead :(((((
Right, I’ve come up with this scheme to get rich quick AND protect myself from all attemts to catch me downloading stuff.
I just need to set up a company that will join a swarm and log the ip address of the other people who are in it. Then I can sell the list to anyone who wants to take action. That way, if I get my own ip logged for stealing stuff I can just say it was my little program joining the swarm to harvest ips, then show the proof.
Plus I can sell the ip addresses and get money. Then all you need to do is deny it was you (since they can’t prove it anyway) and everyone wins. Lawyers wasted their time, I got free stuff and free money, you got free toilet paper.
I’m off to register my company now. I’ll be sailing around the bahamas before christmas.
Before I get flamed, that last comment was a joke.
i propose not buying any music, or movie, DVD, BR-disk, cd during the comming season. in this way we the users can to tstop the AFAC people.
I wouldn’t worry about public/private tracker, forced encryption or blocking IPs, it’s the trackers that have identified the sharers. Of course the trackers are not to blame, they’re only doing as the downloaders requested. Thats how bitorrent works.
@ im dead
Same here, not dead, but will have some shame hanging over me, and awkwardness haha. Fingers crossed.
soon we will be paying to use FREE air by mother nature. how much more to goverments want, more money for nothing.
not so long ago they proved that file sharing isnt illegal, only damages movie\ music producers pockets.
tough shit!!!!
we AINT millionaires and nor do we rob them of their dignities. its the other way around.
i say make the most of while u can.
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