First surprise: that actual enforcement on bittorent happend. In HK, where infringement is rampant and unenforced, of all places. Made me laugh: of all the things to be caught for, sharing Daredevil, Red Planet, and Miss Congeniality have to be the worse. A: What are you in for? B: I shared copies of Miss Congeniality A: Oh, is that why you can't sit down? _________________________________ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/07/AR2005110700267.html Man Jailed in 1st Copyright Violation Case By HELEN LUK The Associated Press Monday, November 7, 2005; 6:01 AM HONG KONG -- A Hong Kong man on Monday was sentenced to three months in prison in what local officials say is the world's first successful prosecution of copyright violation using the popular file-sharing software BitTorrent. Chan Nai-ming, 38, who called himself "Big Crook" on the Internet, was earlier convicted of illegally uploading three Hollywood films, "Daredevil," "Red Planet" and "Miss Congeniality," onto a Web site so that others could obtain them. Chan is the first person in the world to be convicted and jailed for illegal online sharing of copyrighted material using the BitTorrent software, said customs spokeswoman Glenis Liong. The software allows computer users share large chunks of data in a speedy way. But movie and music industries say the illegal online sharing of files causes them losses of millions of dollars a year. Chan was found guilty last month of three counts of attempting to distribute copyrighted material without authorization. Chan filed for an appeal following his sentencing and was granted bail of 5,000 Hong Kong dollars (US$641; euro546), said Judiciary spokeswoman Jaime Or. Magistrate Colin Mackintosh said Chan's act greatly hurt the interest of the copyrighted material's owner although he did not make any profit from uploading the movies onto the Internet. "The message has to be sent out by courts that the distribution of infringing copies, to the prejudice of copyright owners, particularly by seeding films onto the Internet, will not be treated leniently," Mackintosh wrote in his judgment. "A sentence of imprisonment is imperative. There is no basis for suspending such a sentence," he said. Because of its speed, BitTorrent steadily gained in popularity after the recording industry began cracking down on users of Kazaa, Morpheus, Grokster and other established file-sharing software.
One of my friends told me that his coworker at Caltech was fired for downloading movies via bit torrent.
My buddy got a warning from Cox Media Cable. They said if he continues to use his connection to download anything illegal, his connection will be suspended. And fines may occur (legal actions).
they have been cracking down on bittorrent downloaders/uploaders for awhile, since I started using it 2 years ago.
They are cracking down on all the programs used to download music, movies, etc. The law firm I work for handles alot of the music cases, and the settlements aren't cheap either.
Bittorrent is totally transparent. Your best bet is to download files that many other people are getting as well.
I imagine they will track their IP address, and if its at an office, you are more than likely screwed, unless by some chance they believe you if you say "someone came and d-loaded this on my computer"....but i doubt that would work
if you are at your office, you're an idiot. More likely you'd be downloading at home. So when they send you a nasty letter, just reply, "I didn't download it, maybe someone did, but it wasn't me. Stop threatening me or I'll sue. If you wish to continue threatening me, please provide evidence that "I" was the one downloading the material in question."
What exactly would you sue them for? If they have records of you d-loading music from your computer at home, someone obviously in the household was d-loading stuff, so someone in the house is responsible for it. I dont think going into court saying "It wasnt me, prove it was me" they will say well lets bring everyone else that lives in the household to the stand.
You have a better chance at getting struck by lightning and hit by a pink ferrari on sunday than being caught sharing files. Don't leave your p2p on or mass BT client open for weeks at a time.. the people getting caught are usually the givers (uploaders/hosters) or one that downloads gigs a day and continues to share gigs a day... They are going after the Peter Panss not the peasants..
I have heard that you can get in trouble for uploading /sharing but downloading is fine because you are only taking what is available for everyone. Is that true?
Would I be wrong to suggest that you counld say someone was using your wireless connection to make these downloads?
No. You can't download on bit torrent without also uploading. It's inherrent in the system - everyone shares with everyone. You can upload without downloading, but that wouldn't help your case much. I've always tried to stay away from popular media that they want to protect, but I'm tempted to download Surface so I can catch up and watch the rest of the season.
All these excuses don't mean jack. For all they care, Rover outside ran into the house, downloaded Who Let the Dogs out, and ran back outside before you got home. If the cable/DSL account is under you're name, you're f'd. Not that it's stopping me.
Whoevers name is on the account is responsible regardless. Whether its your grandson, your mother, your child or and open wireless network that is flagged for piracy, its the subscribers responsibility to ensure their connection is being used within the companys Terms Of Service.
If I use a laptop provided to me by my company, but never use Bittorrent or anything else that could violate my company's policies within the company's network or when connected to my company's VPN, can I get in much trouble? I think they use some special program that sometimes says something like "integrity policy enforced when not connected to server" or something like that. Do they track what I do on the Internet with this computer even when I am not within their network?
I'm telling you folks, I see these cases and deal with them everyday. It does not matter whether you download or someone else does, it all comes back to you. They will track your IP address and get access to get proof that the files are on your computer. I see screen shots everyday of people's library on the various programs. The evidence is there before you are even contacted by an attorney, and trust me they will get to the bottom of it. It's not just people with alot of files either. I have seen cases anywhere between 300 and 8000 files. Most of the newer(within the last couple of months) cases are from people downloading stuff in 2003-2004, they just haven't caught up to everyone yet. Keep it up and your time will come.
No that's what they want you to believe. Are you saying if I came into your house and stole your gun and shot someone, it'd be your fault because you are the owner of the gun? Cuz it sounds like you do. If some hacker hijacks your connection or your computer for malicious purposes, it's not your fault.
