Anti-Piracy Lawyers Start Protecting Gay ‘Gestapo’ Porn
Written by enigmax on November 18, 2008After going after thousands accused of sharing video games in the UK, lawyers Davenport Lyons are now branching out into other areas. This week sees them start going after those it accuses of sharing the movie “Army Fuckers”, hardcore gay porn featuring ‘farm boys’ and Gestapo officers. Accusing the wrong people this time could prove very costly indeed.
The file-sharing media went crazy recently when UK lawyers Davenport Lyons admitted it wrongly identified married pensioners who, they claim were illegally sharing a video game. The lawyers publicly apologized over the fallibility of their evidence, with highly respected consumer magazine Which? going on record to say that “hundreds” of people may have been incorrectly identified and threatened.
The latest development is one that file-sharing commentators have quietly been expecting. While some 40-60% of those threatened over video game sharing in the UK appear to pay up, there are other ways of increasing this amount substantially via social leverage. Unsurprisingly, Davenport Lyons are now going down this road which is likely maximize compliance rates.
According to recipients of fresh letters this weekend, the lawyers have now expanded into movie ‘protection’ – a gay hardcore porn movie to be precise. Set on a farm in the former Czechoslovakia, Gestapo officers apparently hand out ‘forced’ punishment in ‘Army Fuckers‘, a 2006 movie originally released by Dutch porn outfit Dream Logistics BV, on the ‘Eurocreme‘ label.
Strangely, however, Dream Logistics BV aren’t the rights holder anymore, or the ones that hired Davenport Lyons. It appears the new rights holder is German anti-piracy company DigiProtect, who managed to get this High Court order for disclosure of alleged file-sharer’s identities, based on evidence provided by lesser-known anti-piracy tracking company DigiRights Solution, of Darmstadt, Germany. Indeed, DigiRights Solution GmbH appear to have no obvious Internet presence.
Davenport Lyons are demanding £500 compensation, plus the costs from the ISP for disclosing the alleged infringer’s personal details. Recipients of the letter are given 21 days to pay up and are threatened with huge court costs and damages if they don’t, which is no different to all the other threats made by Davenport on other media they ‘protect’. It is worth noting that of a claimed 25,000 threats of legal action, no more than half a dozen have gone to court and of those, none were contested, meaning that Davenport Lyons won default judgments on them all. There is no evidence to suggest that anyone has ever contested a case with many people simply refusing to pay up.
Those accused and deciding to settle are asked to sign an undertaking that they will never infringe copyright on any media owned by DigiProtect in the future, which might be easier than you think – considering the number of titles they own the rights to. As previously pointed out by P2P-Blog, DigiProtect seem to be acquiring the ‘P2P Rights’ to many titles (including those of US porn company ‘Evil Angel’) and gathering their money via P2P tracking and subsequent legal threats.
However, most worrying is the leaked contract between DigiProtect and Evil Angel, as it contains the following paragraph, which one would believe applies to these UK cases too:
To achieve the purpose outlined in clause 1, LICENSOR grants DIGIPROTECT the exclusive right to make the movies listed in Appendix 1 worldwide available to the public via remote computer networks, so-called peer-2-peer and internet file sharing networks such as e-Donkey, Kazaa, Bitorrent, etc. for the duration of this agreement
This destroys claims that these actions are for strict anti-piracy purposes, this is a clearly a money-making operation, designed from the ground-up.
Since most people will want to avoid lining the pockets of DigiProtect and friends, here is a list of titles that include those that appear to be now owned by DigiProtect and ripe for IP harvesting.
Although not DigiProtect titles, the eagle-eyed reader will notice the inclusion on this list of Dream Pinball 3D, Colin McRae Rally and Call of Juarez – all titles targeted by Davenport Lyons. According to the list, DigiProtect also owns the rights to Atari’s dire ‘Alone in the Dark 5′.
Of course, we live in a world that has become much more liberal in recent years, so the stigma attached to porn of all flavors has diminished significantly. However, the damage that will be done to a family will be considerable if someone is incorrectly accused of sharing porn that doesn’t ‘fit’ the acceptance levels in that household.
There is a firestorm coming, there can be little doubt, and a simple apology from Davenport Lyons following an incorrect accusation won’t be enough.
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78 Responses
Now this is just too low.. They insult your sexuality as well as your bank account.
DPL= Bastards.
Whatever the case, it is heinous and arrogant for them to claim this exorbitant ncorrect “compensation.” However, we already know that, right? There is no need to re-articulate the fact that they are ridiculous – but I do think there is a need for me to say this: that there ought to be retribution, to send those anti-pirates to hell. Should it matter what the “content” is? Even if we do not like something, the more important principle is that anti-pirates are in the wrong–always.
Roze
http://www.10ch.org/
Well, seeing as I’m starting to use Usenet more and more I have less and less to worry about.
What I’m wondering is if one went to court to contest an accusation like this could the plaintiff potentially have my computer hardware seized to be forensically examined?
Who’d WANT to share that anyway, well, unless you’re gay maybe…
@3 I believe that is possible. However, since PC hardware is so quickly out of date and doesn’t last as long as it used to, many people have gotten rid or replaced hard drives by the time they receive any threats. You can’t produce what you don’t have.
Davenport have told several people that they may seek to have their PC inspected but nothing has come of it to my knowledge.
Besides, it’s quite ridiculous since most ppl claim the ‘wireless defense’ so naturally there won’t be anything on any computer in the household, since the infringement would have come from outside the house. Any PC could be presented to them, it wouldn’t mean anything.
“Please hand over the PC that didn’t commit the infringement”
confusing…..
I bet they’re going after porn, particuarly gay porn, for at least three reasons:
1. It’s cheap to purchase the rights.
2. It could lend more weight to a defendants decision to settle out or court because there is a fear of being publicly shamed.
3. It may be construed as less morally “wrong” by a majority of people if filesharers are accused of sharing porn rather than music or films. Some parties may have the view of “well, they shouldn’t have been looking at porn anyhow – which I find mildly offensive – so it adds weight in my mind that accusing them is “right” “.
first DigiProtect and the following “high court” link are switched
[enigmax] – thanks!
The mainstream music, movie and games industries must be horrified by this. On the assumption that, if a work has a pornographic title, it is a work of pornography, 99% of that list is porn. Colin McRae Rally is undoubtedly more popular than Army Fuckers. But, compared to everything else in life, the Internet is hugely bias towards pornography. In the future, I can easily see half of all extortion letters from the likes of Davenport Lyons being related to porn.
If anything’s going to make the EU clamp down on this invasion of Internet users’ privacy, it’s going to be tens of thousands of legal letters sent out accusing those users of downloading porn, gay or otherwise. I say ‘EU.’ Such protections won’t automatically be forthcoming in France, with it’s very right-wing government. And, it won’t automatically happen in England. Westminster has shown no interest in similar extortion rackets, such as reverse-charge text messages and the private clamping and towing of motor vehicles. The Labour government views these as fine examples of capitalism in action.
As well as shaming people into quietly paying up, clearly the “anti piracy” camp wants to stigmatize media sharing in any way they can. If they can give it a mainstream air of sleaze (note I personally don’t care what people get their jollies watching, but many people are more judgemental) by association, then they will. They can consider it a win win.
holy crap could this bad for families.
Now instead of just ruining lives, they are going to ruin marriages.
You can argue all you want, but there WILL be some small percent of families that cant take this last straw..
you know it to be true, somewhere, somehow, some way.. this will cause nightmares for families already on the brink of collapse, even if its true or not.
Although the only saving thing is that its ‘gay porn’ which will drop alot of suspicion in most families..
Yes engimax, you cant produce what you dont have.
Thats why if anyone gets a letter, you take out your hard drive, and smack the bottom center (The middle of the platter) one time very hard with a hammer and you will hear the platter SHATTER. Forget shocking it and water and all that, a shattered platter is completely gone, and only the FBI could repair it costing thousands apon thousands. You then drive down to a random dumpster and deposit it.
Its just pathetic how many people try to destroy there computer and forget everything but proper hard drive disposal.
Seinfeld meets real life:
“No your honour I’m not gay … not that there’s anything wrong with that”
Was this porn initially released on Blu-gay discs?
All i can say is… Are they serious?
Visit P2P Tech Time
http://www.p2ptechtime.com
“Thats why if anyone gets a letter, you take out your hard drive, and smack the bottom center (The middle of the platter) one time very hard with a hammer and you will hear the platter SHATTER. ”
Err… Or instead of physically annihilating your own hard drive with a hammer, just take it out and stash it somewhere mildly clever.
Anyway, I find it really amusing that an anti-piracy company decided to buy up the rights for a Dutch hardcore gay Nazi porno.
If they think they can extort money from people by threatening to shame them with this, they must be high, becuase VERY few people are going to just sit there and let Davinport Lyons accuse them of whacking off to Nazis, gay or not.
All that’s left to do now is count the days until Davinport Lyons and DigiProtect get their asses handed to them on a platter, really.
…
Well, okay, they’re anti-piracy companies, so they already get their asses handed to them on a day-by-day basis. All that’s left to do is wait until they get their asses handed to them MORESO THAN USUAL, I mean.
Ironic that the main reason for the internet being is becoming a target for court action.
@3 of course nothing is impossible but seizing a PC for simple file sharing? dunno where you’re from but i read (where i live at) D.A.s won’t do anything towards that unless you’re sharing 1000+ files.
but i don’t really get the gist of this article. so gay pr0n is no save haven for piracy … well … duh …
most interesting thing is probably how digiprotect is acting in GB now since they got a hard time in their motherland :P (new law requires “commercial case” for prosecution :>)
Looking at the list of titles that DigiProtect have acquired “P2P rights” for there is a column with dates labelled “First Comply” (at least that is the Google translation). Is that the date when DigiProtect acquired the rights? If so then presumably any claims by DL on behalf of DigiProtect about alleged sharing of those titles before that date are totally without substance?
Heterosexuals are the largest percentage of consumers of gay porn. You don’t have to be gay to watch/download/share gay porn. Think of it like this…lots of guys watch lesbian sex. That’s gay porn. Lot’s straight people watch guy on guy stuff too. Has nothing to do with sexuality, just whatever it takes to whack off.
There are several other movies that they’re going after as well. It appears that they’ve focused on evidence gather in mid-April of this year. At least one private torrent community specializing in such content has begun advising members how to set up VPN connections to prevent future occurrences.
Interestingly, members of the site were quick to take the matter to lawyers and were quickly informed that it amounts to little more than a scam.
No doubt Davenport Lyons was relying on the taboo of possessing gay porn to shame individuals into paying without putting up a fight, but thus far no one’s made any indication of paying the “settlement fee.”
At least one member reported that his parents gave him the letter, which may very well have been disastrous except that he was out to his parents and they didn’t react negatively. I suspect there will be other cases which do not end quite so well.
I just got one of these letters for a porn title I have absolutely no knowledge of.
Not sure what to do about it yet.
I’m totally innocent but I’m not sure how I’m going to prove that in court being single and tech literate.
The last thing I want to to give these asswipes any of my money but if it’s the choice between £500 and £16000 then I need some bloody good advice before making any decision.
It’s all very well, saying F**K em but things aren’t that easy when you’re on the receiving end of one of these extortion notices.
Are there any good solid resources or help groups for this?
I’ve read a hell of a lot of forum posts on this and whilst I respect a lot of what people say, I need real advice from real experts to help me make a decision on whether to roll over and pay up or whether I have enough ammunition to fight like a dog over this.
Like I say, I’m no little old lady and I do know a thing about IT so what are my chances?
Well hmmm..
I wouldnt pay up, apparently when you say I didnt have anything to do with it and tell them your going to f*ck them up with hard evidence showing you had nothing to do with it, they will suddenly dissapear.
They dont want a fight, they want to scare you and take your money.
sucks to be gay
Sucks to be a homophobe too I guess, since people are getting the letters and haven’t heard of the film.
I would think you could counter-sue and make a boat load of money off these idiots..
Its sad we live in a world where companies can try and ruin your life with such accusations.
When will someone with authority grow a pair and put them in jail?
Oh thats right that will never happen as long as O.J is free..
Am sure there was a lawyer a while back that was offering free help to people like your self who had smeg heads sending them letters.
I think it’s pretty obvious what they are doing. Looks to like they are using a sister company to buy up game titles going cheap, that they can then wait for file sharers to download, so they can them prosecute them.
http://www.aquariumfish.me
Hmmm?
Got no hard evidence that I didn’t, that’s the big problem. It’s going to be their word and their ‘evidence’ against my word (and the lack of any porn on any device in my house).
In any case, if they ‘released’ the files to be shared themselves, then surely they’re allowing them to be shared and therefore how can anyone be guilty of copyright infringment?
There just using a money making scam, which makes them worse than file sharers.
I’ll remember than solicitors name to avoid using, seeing as I live in the UK
Germans and their porn, jesus. Hitler is going to control the worlds porn now. Regulate it and create scarcity and make millions.
sohbet chat sevgi asktube hollanda almanya chat gel gör sohbeti
Actually i think this is great. The more outrageous they behave, they faster they will fall. Now we just have to wait for people to countersue them for defamation and emotional distress.
Ohh man, don’t you just love companies who can only make money by buying copyrights and suing others. They really help out the economy by putting something into it.
On another note though, if you can prove that their evidence is false (can’t be too hard) then you can sue them so bad for defamation.
Holly Maricone’s.Torrents For Gay’s I Love America!
I wonder if Daffyd Thomas got a notice?
quote: Got no hard evidence that I didn’t, that’s the big problem. It’s going to be their word and their ‘evidence’ against my word (and the lack of any porn on any device in my house).
In any case, if they ‘released’ the files to be shared themselves, then surely they’re allowing them to be shared and therefore how can anyone be guilty of copyright infringment?
———-
No, because like most companies who run this type of buisness scam, they have no ties to the sister company buying the game titles, so it can never be linked to them.
They know porn gets downloaded, gay or not gay. And the titles are probabley cheap to buy. Most likely they will flood torrent with it themselves, then just sit and wait for fools to download it.
Well do you have file sharing software on your computer? Can you use the wireless defense? Is your IP static or dynamic?
You may have alot more evidence then you think.
“Got no hard evidence that I didn’t, that’s the big problem. It’s going to be their word and their ‘evidence’ against my word (and the lack of any porn on any device in my house).”
Seek legal advice my friend. If it makes you feel any better – depending on which juisdiction you are in – the burden of proof in civil court is non-existent. You must show rather that a pre-ponderance of evidence supports your position and situation.
I would seek legal advice though certainly.
@28 ( aquariumfish )
who’s to say they arn’t the ones seeding the titles?
worm on a hook waiting for a bite!
They certainly aren’t messing around as far as purchasing rights goes. That’s a pretty good stash of copyrights they can prosecute on. The BT world will have to be more careful with its porn downloads I guess.
If the copyright holder is freely distributing the files, they lose all right to sue anyone doing the same.
Although it wouldnt surprise me if these ambulance chasers did that sort of thing.
Haha! I totally torrented this video a long time ago.
This is gonna turn out like a lot of child porn cases. A guys credit card info gets hacked, guy uses the info for child porn. Owner gets acused of buying child porn. Wife leaves him /loses job. Proved innocent. Hes still fuked.
I can’t wait till innocent kids /old grannies get acused of downloading gay porn. Mabye then the courts will relize these guys are idiots.
Thats really gross.
Hmmm: “I just got one of these letters for a porn title I have absolutely no knowledge of.”
Well, let’s see now.
Since fans of Nazi porn have a pretty negative social stigma…
I’d tell Davinport Lyons and Digiprotect “I’ll see you in court”, then sue them into oblivion for defamation & slander as they try fruitlessly to prove I’ve got a stiffy for Gestapo.
That isn’t taking any financial considerations into account, though. Taking them into acccount, I’d consult a lawyer about the above scenario. If it was gauranteed you could counter-sue them for a small fortune and win(I’d say your chances are fairly reasonable), then I wouldn’t think twice about letting them take me to court even if the costs would run me upwards of $10,000, because the returns would be greater than the expense.
Either way, one thing’s for sure. These crooks have no legal legs to stand on.
“DigiRights Solution, of Darmstadt, Germany”
Did you realize that Darmstadt translates into Colon City? Quite apt for an outfit hunting gay porn!
Hardcore gay porn video games is the solution. C’mon U.K. do your part.
If you do get sued, use the BT Openzone sites at the High Court to upload it. That way DL will try to sue the court. Could be fun…
Oh, and details of this passed to various news organisations along with details of the Scottish couple falsely accused of game piracy.
Are you sure they OWN the rights to these works? There are some relatively new games on that list. GRAW 2, Warhammer: Mark Of Chaos, Stardock’s Sins Of A Solar Empire (I’m especially surprised with SoaSE because of their stance on DRM and piracy),Test Drive Unlimited and on and on.
I somehow doubt that these companies (not including Atari) would sell the rights to recent and some even quite successful games, just to be whored by the anti-piracy industries.
Great idea.. Make a product, encourage it to be distributed by an agent/s on the internet, send empty threats to everyone partaking in the distribution to settle out of court to generate more revenue. Then after all the negative publicity, interested people who would otherwise not care about your product have peeked interest in what your product is about “Further increasing your sales”.
This is a model every software developer and media distributor should follow.
Besides, most people are too complacent to follow the basic principal:
“If you don’t like what an industry does – DON”T ENDORSE THEM!”
By means of endorsing I mean buying, publishing or distributing (Legally or otherwise).
“Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” (1 Cor 6:9-10)
These ‘anti-piracy’ guys don’t do themselves any favours do they?
The terms of the agreement in the article are damning to the producers and the law firm and it’ll simply serve to undermine any further claims of copyright infringement.
i downloaded all those games except the pinball one.. and i wouldnt of bought a one of them..
thats the beauty of piracy.. i get to try games and not get scammed.
I just downloaded CoD5 and i liked it so im gonna buy it when it comes out on Steam so i can play multiplayer.
Support good games, dont buy crap ones.
So Digiprotect is a company that does nothing else than buy right to some cheap material and use it to extort money from people? Is that even legal? They thought that if MPAA and RIAA can get easy money by suing people then they can do it too.
Looks like the game pirate suing didnt work too well so they got material that people dont want others to know they download and think that will work better? That might be true but after they fail(send letters to innocent people) the people arent just going to sit down and take it. If someone accused me of sharing some nazi gay porno id countersue them in a heartbeat and i hope other people think the same. Maybe a classaction suit agains davenport and digiprotect for their intimitation and extortion of innocent people.
Again offtopic, it sounds like digiprotect is a company formed only to extort money from people. How is that legal? Sounds like the mob… If that kind of tackics gets people easy money then people in other countries and especially in the us are going to do the same to get easy money. Somenone should stop this kind of crap before it spreads.
Well, “exclusive” and “P2P” doesn’t mix. Every retard knows that. The problem with the lowest retards is that they think they are actually smart. What a bunch of brainless pigs! There’s no hell but as long as you’re alive we can make your life hell on Earth.
@ 54.
Looks like it could be pretty lonely there. I’ll just live a bit and take my chances on the other side..
William Shakespeare Henry VI “The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers”. – (Act IV, Scene II).
dont shock me at all there as low as snakes bolloxs,wish someone could assertain wether logistep or other ip snoops are correctly regulated in the uk as this would make dl dissapear if they arnt
this reminded me of this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7CpHVyY6Rs
This adds a lot of weight to the argument why TPB are, or intend to overstep the mark when they announce that they add random IP addresses
@54: So Digiprotect is a company that does nothing else than buy right to some cheap material and use it to extort money from people? Is that even legal?
I don’t think so. IANAL, but DigiProtect and Davenport Lyons appear to be committing fraud and conspiracy to defraud.
Their new nickname is DavenPORN Lyons. Someone on Slyck.com called them by that name, and the register.co.uk story on them also uses it.
If they are offering porn for download, there is a chance that minors might be exposed to it, and DL could run afoul of UK child protection laws.
I would like to requote Hmmm:
“I’ve read a hell of a lot of forum posts on this and whilst I respect a lot of what people say, I need real advice from real experts to help me make a decision on whether to roll over and pay up or whether I have enough ammunition to fight like a dog over this.”
My household (4 of us living together) has received one of those letters too. It was a bit of a shock and it has polarised the conversations in the last few days. Apart from the fact that then you naturally freak out and fall into the trap of trying to identify who of the four is the actual culprit, which really isn’t the problem!
Can anyone with real expertise on the matter suggest what to do?
Please not opinion, only matter-of-factual advices, possibly substantiated with well defined cases?
Also, I have to say that while I am disgusted by this pricks asking £500 for no reason and distressing the lives of many households like they did with ours, I would be more than happy to chip in £500 with other victims, get a bloody good lawyer and counter-sue them once and for all, create a landmark case which makes this idiots go out of business, something like that!
I read a lot of disgust from all of you and it seems this issue isn’t very new at all. I wonder, how come NO ONE has done anything about it yet????
To the moderators, can we open a debate/section where there are tangible/factual contributions to the cause instead of mere comments or suggestions (although they are highly valued and trust me they make us feel less scared and lonely :)
Please someone help!
My my, 53# you got me and I my opinion is 99% same but I try to download all those bastards work and share them, so they can sue me…
http://torrentfreak.com/anti-piracy-lawyers-start-protecting-gay-gestapo-porn-081118/all-comments/#comment-513971
Poor me. Only downloader of hardcore gay pornography in the village.
is this only going on in the uk or are they going after people in the states as well?
yeah so they are justifying their actions.
One guy said he had copied two films does this mean they are coming after him twice?
considering its all showing hard core gay action which can result in getting std’s I am surprised they are condoniung it.the actors are all bisexual east european, don t care who thewy f*** as long as they get a few dollars
my boyfriend received a letter from DL for a gay porn film he is accused of taking he’s worried now about another one from the same studio.
The guy is shitting himself wondering if he will get another letter too.
any advice guyz?
Am I understanding that clause and the tactic correctly here?
1: They buy the rights to some or other software/music/movie.
2: They share this software/music/movie they acquired rights for on P2P networks.
3: They sue anyone who downloads the stuff they share.
Didn’t they used to be only able to attack people that shared copyrighted works and no the ones that downloaded copyrighted works?
So shouldn’t they sue themselves too?
And isn’t the action of buying, sharing, sueing, the purest form of wrongfull entrapment?
Dumping bags of weed all over the streets and then arresting whoever smokes it?
WEED? WHERE! WHO!! WHAT!!???
did someone say weed? i like weed
LOL Alone in the dark 5 is marked as video porn :DD
I can’t believe Ubisoft and Eidos signed up for this as well… I always considered them fair publishers.
I think some little company wants a client base. (DigiProtect)
Had the title of the movie been some obscure copyrighted video. Let’s say some instructional video from the 1990’s called “Introduction to Accounting Volume 2″.
Would such a video even be mentioned on this site? Much less have 78 responses? But a gay porn movie with farmboys and Nazis, everyone is going to look to see what this is about….
DigiProtect knows that many “movie security” folks read sites like these.
They could give two shits less about this particular movie or who copies it.
They simply figured out (correctly) that buying the movie rights and then going after the pirates would put their name in lights.
Congrats people! We fell for it!
@Oscar(#79):
Yet, at the same time, they have made their name “big” by distributing hardcore pornography in such a manner as to make it available to minors! This, quite probably, is illegal in itself.
Ooops!
Looking at that list of titles reminds me, I must download Abnormal 11 – attack on grandma’s holes
i love nazi cock
gay nzi pothead
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