UK BitTorrent Users Under More Pressure From Lawyers
Written by enigmax on January 11, 2008Lawyers in the UK representing software developer Reality Pump are lining up more threats against file-sharers. Having previously represented the publishers Zuxxez and CodeMasters, these lawyers like quoting German law to UK citizens to scare them - which appears to have backfired in a big way.
Lawyers Davenport Lyons are fast becoming a thorn in the side of alleged UK file-sharers. Having cut their teeth threatening alleged sharers of ‘Dream Pinball‘, they more recently moved on to those alleged to have shared ‘Colin McRae Dirt’.
Now they have obtained a court order to force ISPs (Be Un, BT, Easynet, Eclipse, Entanet, Eurisp, Fasthosts, Kcom, Opal, Orange, Pipex, Plusnet, Supanet, TalkTalk, Thus and Tiscali) to reveal the names and addresses behind an unspecified number of IP addresses alleged to have shared the game ‘Two Worlds’ from publisher ‘Reality Pump‘. Reality Pump are linked with Zuxxez, publishers of Dream Pinball.
The modus operandi is the same as before: Use an unaudited, untested p2p tracking system to capture IP addresses, use lawyers to imply a criminal offense has been committed (which is not the case) to obtain a court order, which is then used to force ISPs to give up customer data which is never used in a criminal case. At this point the account holder receives a threatening letter demanding around £700 ($1,400) stating “pay up or else we’re going to sue you” - except on track record, they never do.
Legal recommendations from TorrentFreak’s counsel suggested that ignoring such letters is a bad idea, in that if the case actually went to court, the court wouldn’t appreciate the ignoring of paperwork. While this remains true for cases eventually going to court, it seems that cases are not doing so. After hearing of many hundreds of instances of threatening letters being sent, we have not heard of a single case going to court and now there seems to be a building feeling amongst people who have received the letters that the best thing to do with them is to ignore them.
One person who received a letter about his alleged sharing of Colin McRae told us: “I got the letter through the post on a bad day and just panicked. I wrote to them denying their claims and giving them as many facts as I could to show it wasn’t me but they haven’t left me alone since. Other people i’m in touch with who ignored the letters haven’t heard anything back at all so i’m kicking myself for contacting them. They say I have just days to pay the full amount.”
Another person involved in the Colin McRae case says he responded to Davenports using the ‘wireless defense‘ - i.e he had an unsecured router that someone accessed without his permission. After some delay a letter was received from Davenport which states that he is responsible for what is done on his connection. It is noteworthy that they have not stated any relevant UK law to back this up - we are not aware of any precedent under English law that they could state, which probably explains why they didn’t.
Applying German law to English file-sharing cases backfires
In their letters, Davenport Lyons state that under German law, a user is responsible for what happens on his connection. They state: “We believe that a UK court would take the same position.” Oh really?
Ok, just for fun, let’s try applying German law to the UK cases and see what we come up with:
According to a great post on P2P Blog, a fireman who was accused of sharing stuff illegally in Germany claimed that he had nothing to do with this sharing. The record companies used an argument they had success with in past cases (possibly the German cases referred to by Davenport), i.e, as the owner of the connection, he was liable for the infringing actions of others. In this case the ‘others’ were members of his family - children etc.
This time, the courts weren’t so sympathetic. They have just decided that this man CAN’T be held responsible for the infringing actions of others, just because his name was on the bill. The court decided that as the record companies could neither prove that the fireman shared the material nor that he knowingly failed to prevent infringement, he could not be held liable. The decision in Frankfurt stated that adult family members don’t even have to be instructed or controlled by the connection owner unless they are suspected of committing any file-sharing activity. Another court has rejected the liability of a company in case an employee committed copyright infringement using the company’s internet connection.
It is of MY view, Davenport Lyons, that a UK court would take the same position. An IP address alone does not identify an infringing individual, so get used to it.
Stay tuned over the weekend for our interview with a lawyer helping to defend 500 file-sharers.
Previously: Swedish Politicians Strike Blows at Copyright Lobby
Next: Anti-Piracy Voice-Overs to Prevent CDs from Leaking
98 Responses (Add yours or TrackBack)
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So its illegal to use someones unsecured wireless connection without their knowledge, but anything else you do is held accountable by the owner of the connection.
haha
lol, come get me..what a joke..pitiful……pmsl
this is why I use peerguardian. although i’m not sure how well it works… :/
troy anderson - the jig is up. geek credentials at the door.
@3 It doesn’t work, all they have to use is a proxy.
zultrax p2p is a good alternative, is a p2p anonymous in settings only network zeep and proxy on, and no more leetters of fuckers.
I’m glad I don’t live in the UGAY
So acording with the lawyers, if someone stole my car because I left the doors unlocked and then commited an supposed/yet-to-be-actual crime with the car then I’m responsible.
Fan-o-Tastic!
@3 it won’t stop them, they get a list of peers and seeds and from that they don’t even need to connect to you
@ 8
A very good analogy and perfect example of why they cant use that argument.
Even if you do secure your internet connection they could find a way in, a Microsoft security flaw. Would it then become Microsoft’s responsibility?
they need to bug off with this surveilance thing. IP addresses are a poor way to track someone seeing as there are ways to change it and/or mask it.
germany has the worst laws in entire europe!
Since the radical government of Angela Merkel put Wolfgang Schaeuble on the roll for interior minister a lot changed.
examples?
1.the government and its institution have access to ALL BANK ACCOUNTS of all citizens. (now mostly used to search for fraud in the social system)
2.ANY(!) connection a german ever makes using phone,mobile,internet or whatever you can think of, HAS to be stored for 6 months. (fighting terror is the reason why…and they are not even joking!)
3.police is allowed to wiretap attorneys, journalists …well, ANYBODY.
this list could go on for hours… ppl outside germany just to recognize what is happening there, since none dares to tell an ugly old women the way.
People in germany are scared of their own government! Let’s just hope this is not getting to where germany already has been once.
No 3 & No 5 I would consider using a product like “Mute” rather then peer guardian or both. There is no way to trace your IP with Mute. The fact that Peer guardian may block a good percentage of outsiders probes just gives me a feeling of satisfaction that it’s not always working for them.
Also this excerpt from an earlier article here :
“Some of America’s greatest innovators were thought of as pirates. When Thomas Edison invented the phonographic record player, musicians branded him a pirate out to steal their work and destroy the live music business, until a system was established so everyone could be paid royalties, which we today call the record industry. Edison, in turn, went on to invent filmmaking, and demanded a licensing fee from those making movies with his technology. This caused a band of filmmaking pirates, including a man named William, to flee New York for the then still wild West, where they thrived, unlicensed, until Edison’s patents expired. These pirates continue to operate there, albeit legally now, in the town they founded: Hollywood. William’s last name? Fox.”
Can anyone still sue Fox for Patent infringment? Movie Pirating? This is way to ironic - the original filmaker was a pirate!!!!
And they pick on little people?
@11 yes… thats the best idea… lets put the blame on microsoft for creating an exploitable OS and selling it to the public and claiming it to be safe. Im sure that bill gates has enough money to satisfy the hunger of the wolves for a short period.
Mute’s anonymity is actually easy to compromise. It’s mostly security by obscurity. Only I2P and Tor are reasonable alternatives albeit these aren’t perfect either. It’s pretty useless to recommend them anyway because anonymity and security can never be achieved by a couple of clicks. These are concepts and you’ll to keep them in mind all the time or you’ll compromise all of it yourself by using it incorrectly making man-in-the-middle attacks possible or by exposing information that can be tracked back to you regardless of the hidden IP address.
DO NOT REPLY TO THESE LETTERS!!
The evidence they’ve obtained won’t stand up in a British court so they use empty threats to try to scare people into paying up.
Anything you reply with could be used against you and could be seen as an admission of guilt. It also shows you’re scared and they will pursue you further. Once you’ve paid up what guarantee do you have it will stop there and they won’t seek further damages?
Just put the damn letter in the bin and forget about it.
Does that mean they are finding only the users that are sharing with the listed ISPs?
Or everyone that shares CMR?
[quote comment="260798"]DO NOT REPLY TO THESE LETTERS!!
The evidence they’ve obtained won’t stand up in a British court so they use empty threats to try to scare people into paying up.
Anything you reply with could be used against you and could be seen as an admission of guilt. It also shows you’re scared and they will pursue you further. Once you’ve paid up what guarantee do you have it will stop there and they won’t seek further damages?
Just put the damn letter in the bin and forget about it.[/quote]
Yep, that always works: ignore the problem. “La La La La! I can’t hear you! La La La La!”
The bible is the most pervasive thing, it is written by corrupt men who sought to corrupt the mindsofmany and they have done a splendid job
I’m the savior you guysorgals have been looking for since ancient time
I’m a virgin, i am aloner, i am in touch with nature, and have done much to help everyone since my birth.
I know all, see all, hear all, and a perfectionist. I am never satisfied until perfect.
believing is seeing
I am here to offer my help to humanity who are on the path to destruction
I am the the solution to world peace
I will bring world peace through love, co-operation, and understanding of the world we live in.
[quote comment="260645"]@3 It doesn’t work, all they have to use is a proxy.[/quote]
Bullshit. Anyone surfing without PG installed is just asking for trouble. Peer Guardian works just fine, thank you very much. Like the American Express ads say, “Don’t leave home without it”.
Yes, there is a learning curve to PG as far as how you set it up and use it, but it’s well worth the time. As for anti-p2p groups using proxies, they tend not to. Why should they? There’s already plenty of fish in the barrel who go on the net unprotected.
And in such a case, so what? Nothing is ever going to be 100%. But you also don’t have to make yourself an easy target. Especially for people who aren’t technically proficient in more advanced methods of anonymity or don’t want the hassle of such, Peer Guardian is simply a must have. Set it and forget it.
Telling someone it doesn’t work when it clearly does do exactly what it’s intended to is just irresponsible. So, which anti-piracy group do you work for? :P
@RockEmSockEm: they havent taken a single person to court even though many ignored the first letters they sent. The ones who replied got the most trouble.
Although if bending over for people is your game then be my guest, just remember the lube first, it’s going to be a rough ride.
[quote comment="260695"]germany has the worst laws in entire europe!
Since the radical government of Angela Merkel put Wolfgang Schaeuble on the roll for interior minister a lot changed.
examples?
1.the government and its institution have access to ALL BANK ACCOUNTS of all citizens. (now mostly used to search for fraud in the social system)
2.ANY(!) connection a german ever makes using phone,mobile,internet or whatever you can think of, HAS to be stored for 6 months. (fighting terror is the reason why…and they are not even joking!)
3.police is allowed to wiretap attorneys, journalists …well, ANYBODY.
this list could go on for hours… ppl outside germany just to recognize what is happening there, since none dares to tell an ugly old women the way.
People in germany are scared of their own government! Let’s just hope this is not getting to where germany already has been once.[/quote]
uh, Reality Check, the U.S Government is already doing that s**t.
They wanted to spy on all ISPs to stop child pornography, and child molesters, and Terrorism too.
It’s stupid to worry about Terr-or-ris-ism. I am so scared, just fear fear fear as usual.
Also Bush can check any Bank accounts to stop the funding of Al-Quesadilla, why would Bush wanna stop us from eating Al-Quesadilla from Taco Bell, I guess Taco Bell is a terrorist.
and Police are allowed to break into your home without a warrant, they can tap anyones line, in fact Bushco can spy on any text messages (even ones from my horny girlfriend), and can spy on every phone call.
I say f*ck Bushco, I never molested any child, whats illegal about getting good messages from my girlfriend, Bushco is a snotbag.
Stupid Al-Quesadilla, and their Racism suicide bombers using tomato bombs, with beef grenades, lettuce Razors, and mouth-stuffing tacos,
Yeah, thats a weapon allright, a weapon upp myy ass.
Bush is a stupid secret society disgusting dirtbag, who doesn’t care about children, adults, or seniors.
If he really cared about stopping terror, why does he keep the bloodshed in Iraq, all he cares about is his Moo-la In his pocket.
Join Al-Quesadilla Today, and save Iraq from destruction, and also get a soft taco, with Cujan Rice, and you get Tomato Bombs, diet pepsi acid, beef weapon, and more.
Join Taco Bell today Woohoo
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