Anti-Piracy Outfit Threatens ShareConnector Admin at his Front Door
Written by enigmax on November 14, 2007Having failed to encourage massive punishment against the administrator of eDonkey link site ‘ShareConnector’ in a criminal trial, anti-piracy outfit BREIN has once more resorted to traditional bully tactics - by turning up on his doorstep and threatening him, face to face.
Back in 2004, ShareConnector was an eDonkey force to be reckoned with. As purely a link site (like the vast majority of BitTorrent sites), ShareConnector carried no copyright materials. However, this didn’t stop Dutch anti-piracy outfit BREIN from pressurizing the FIOD-ECD - Fiscal Investigation Unit of the Dutch Police - to investigate and eventually shut down ShareConnector.
Initially, ShareConnector’s host had refused to shut down the site stating correctly that offering links is not a crime. However December 2004 saw ShareConnector and another site, Releases4U, raided by the FIOD-ECD, resulting in the seizure of equipment and the arrest of 8 people. At the time, BREIN director Tim Kuik explained they were done waiting: “Our patience was up, after which we went to the authorities” he said.
According to P2PNet, Kuik, going for the jugular, asserted that the ShareConnector admin, Adi, should get up to 4 years in jail as he hid behind ‘false reasoning that illegal files are actually hosted on different servers and that the actual exchange doesn’t take place on their own servers’, which is, of course, a completely and utterly false assertion on Kuik’s part.
Eventually, after taking nearly 2 years to come to court, the result for BREIN and the FIOD-ECD was a disaster. The admin of ShareConnector was found completely innocent and just a couple of small fines of approximately $350 were handed out to the admins of Releases4U for uploading copyright material. The FIOD-ECD failed to provide any evidence to prove ShareConnector was involved in copyright infringement nor enough to prove that either organization was criminal in nature.
December 19th 2006 saw the triumphant return of ShareConnector, around 2 years after it was shuttered by the police but the return was not to be permanent. Not content with accepting that a criminal trial had taken place at which Adi and ShareConnector were found to be completely legal, BREIN resorted to the tactics it knows best and has had most success with - common bullying.
On Monday November 5th 2007, representatives from BREIN knocked on Adi’s door and threatened him face to face with potentially financially punishing civil action. On November 12th 2007, ShareConnector shut down for good.
The sad message on the site’s homepage now reads:
Last Monday the guys from BREIN visited me at home to convince me to close ShareConnector or else they will start a civil proceeding with a claim. Of course, this does not mean I agree with their point of view, it’s just that I can’t afford taking any risks.
As of today, November 12, 2007 I decided to close down. If there is anything new to report, you will be informed.
Thank you for all your support and understanding.
Next on the FIOD-ECD hitlist are OiNK’s seized servers. They’re likely to find that the situation is exactly the same as it was with ShareConnector, i.e no copyright materials were stored on it, so it’s not easy to see where they will succeed against OiNK where they previously failed. There is no offense of ‘facilitation’ under UK copyright law.
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60 Responses
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If I get an address… two words; ROAD TRIP
[quote]but that chickenshit Deimos just caved in for no good reason.[/quote]
Pffft, YOU try running a torrent site and ignoring legal threats with YOURSELF on the line.
The problem with sites like Demonoid, OINK are some of the Admins that ‘Police’ the site, can be tyranical, mad with power handing out warnings kicking people with BS policies. One example: Lots of people were upset with the admins at OINK.
People were forced to dispay a cutsy utsy Avatar of a stuffed animal or be banned from the site. One of their many absurd rules. Being held to a 1 to 1 ratio, which was almost impossible to meet BC you would have seeders, 99% seeding a file and NO leechers. I would have to seed for a month Just for downloading one thing! Or be forced to DL files I didn’t want to make up my ratio. Small gated, backwards, inbred communities like OINK definately had other problems that BREIN. Which is why they must take the heat when its their turn. So maybe they didn’t host any files, but they sure did organize and police their own little inbred community.
TO: -.-
A threat is just a threat. 99.999% of the time, some asshole is just trying to blowing smoke up your ass. Try availing yourself of a brain, asshole.
[quote]TO: -.-
A threat is just a threat. 99.999% of the time, some asshole is just trying to blowing smoke up your ass. Try availing yourself of a brain, asshole.[/quote]
There is a real threat, actually.
Sure, you can dismiss that threat easily now, but you have to be in the situation of a site owner to really know how real the threat is.
Someone provides you a great site and all you can say back to them is call them a chickenshit. Pathetic.
By the way, Deimos’ hoster was the one to take down Demonoid.
TO: -.-
A real threat as opposed to an imaginary threat? A threat is nothing mor tham smoke. I could threaten to find your IP and all sorts of personal information and spam the fuck out of you, but that would just be a threat.(but not necessarily an empty one) I HAVE been in that position, dickweed, that’s why I KNOW threats are threats and nothing more. When some jerk-off slaps me with a writ, then I get pissed off and fight. I have yet to lose. By the way, Deimos is still a chickenshit for the way he cut off Canadians, just because he got a threat. It is you who is pathetic.
The problem here seems to be that legal process is so slow. The article states that the legal process for the criminal law took 2 years to go to court - in the meantime, he was probably pretty nervous and didn’t feel too well.
And if they proceed with a civil suit the suit may take YEARS, no matter how good your case is. During this time he has to stand in court personally, wasting his valuable time and money at saying stuff over and over again. I understand well that he didn’t want this.
The fix here is necessary in the legal system: It needs to deliver justice much, much quicker. Currently it favours those who can afford to send endless amounts of minions (lawyers) at their opponents, not he who has the best case.
If I was in charge, I would change the legal system so that money didn’t have an effect on the outcome of a trial. Like for example, the state could choose lawyers for the people involved. Without the people involved having to pay anything. If this was the case then the threat of being sued wouldn’t hit nearly as hard as it does today.
TO: -.-
regarding: Only he was in the position to judge the validity of that threat.
All that jackass had to do was to publically post it and let the whole world laugh. That would have been the end of it. Take ThePirateBay’s responses, for example. Deimos caved, because he has something to hide. I repeat, deimos is a chickenshit. Your last paragraph is just blowing more smoke mr. -.- . Try using a cogent argument, rather than psychology, which you are woefully inadequate at.
eDonkey links… interesting. I didn’t know a website like this existed. Are similar sites still around?
[quote comment="213484"]TO: -.-
regarding: Only he was in the position to judge the validity of that threat.
All that jackass had to do was to publically post it and let the whole world laugh. That would have been the end of it. Take ThePirateBay’s responses, for example. Deimos caved, because he has something to hide. I repeat, deimos is a chickenshit. Your last paragraph is just blowing more smoke mr. -.- . Try using a cogent argument, rather than psychology, which you are woefully inadequate at.[/quote]
Easy to call someone chicken shit when It’s not your arse on the line.
Why does everyone believe it’s their god given right to download material people worked to create, for free?
I give everyone the right to freely download and share all matter of expression.
We need a lynch mod and a hit list, updated daily.
If they threaten us, they go on the list to be threatened back.
they do it because they know 99% of the people will pay up or shut down automatically. They actually hate going to court.
Dear Copyright Defenders,
I have just dicovered the cure for a major form of cancer! I have applied copyright for this cure and wish to keep it with me for some time.
If someone wants this cure, they MUST pay me $500,000 U.S.
I wish to have this copyright kept in my possesion to each cure from then on I am paid my right of $500,000.
This is how America should be run.
Thank you
TO #, regarding: Easy to call someone chicken shit when It’s not your arse on the line.
If you had read earlier posts, you wouldn’t have made that inane comment. My ass has been and IS on the line. I am not a chickenshit quiter like deimos. I’ll fight. And even if I am going to lose, I’m not going down alone. I got sick and tired of being pushed around. So, if someone cyber slaps me, they get a damned good bootfucking.
Who’s Next?
[quote comment="213323"]When can we get a European wide law to stop this bullying? It seems that any organisation with loads of cash can do this.
Perhaps BREIN can be taken to court and charged with intimidation? Any Dutch lawyers prepared to offer their services for free?[/quote]
Currently , the euro parliament is working on a law wich will abolish p2p.
And criminalize all participants in the complete chain.
There is only one solution, fight for your rights, and join your national Pirate Party.
For BREIN (as it is for so many other groups), the means have become their entire game, they don’t care about copyright anymore, surely not as much as they enjoy “the hunt” and the ever elusive need “to win”. Like always, BREIN illustrates the metaphor of “the Cops” having become just as corrupt and counterproductive as “the criminals”. I commend Adi’s courage and wisdom for opting out of their game and recognizing it for the tic tac toe that it is. Adi can find peace now, while Kuik and his miserable grubs can waste precious life in a frustratingly hopeless, soul-corrupting time-sink. It’s always easier to run around knocking other peoples buildings down than it is to invent and create better solutions. Small, unintelligent people always go for the former, and lead miserable lives because of it. As an artist myself, I understand the evolution of the game and I know if I want to play, I’d better embrace ideas in advancing the monetization and distribution of artistic media instead of joining some thuggery organization under the delusion that they can actually stop technological progress. File sharing is a symptom of the industries complacency and overall laziness. Now they’re just lazy and morally bankrupt.
Well said Kelly.
Although, This Mob is so intrenched into the political system, the criminal Recording industry and Movie industry are pulling the strings.
These guys are the modern day Mafia.
I’m not big on histroy, but how did the days of chicago run by the mob end? ’cause I think the RIAA etc. are just a newer version of this mob.
lol their losing more money raiding than p2p is “causing”
[quote comment="213565"]lol their losing more money raiding than p2p is “causing”[/quote]
p2p is makeing more money for them.
They should be happy :S
bastards. i hope the domain gets sold to and another p2p site starts up in its place.
I would of had a no trespassing sign out front, and waited patiently with a shotgun. >;]
BREIN the fukin lowlife. Can someone hire an assassin and kill everyone at BREIN plz.
c’mon, we’ve got some smart geeks in the p2p world, find these people. Out in the street they are no-bodies and on equal ground.
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