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Legal trouble! I received a DMCA notice, what should I do? Do not download movies!!!
- Thread starter SolidGun
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musicpyrite said:What kind of probation?
No internet for a year?
hah no I got 40 hrs community service to be completed in 6 months and had to write an apology letter. My parents tried to take away my computer for 6 months but that didn't last very long
zyuzin4 said:
Thats not bad, it could be worse.
I just hope that this is a wake-up call to stop doing this or face the consequences.
musicpyrite said:
It wasn't for downloading illegal stuff though. It was because I bought a Porsche with my teachers ebay account and using that password he gave me was able to get into his email accounts and more.. What kind of person uses "55555" as their passwords
SolidGun said:
Oh COME ON. You expect us to believe that? A 70 MB trailer? You THOUGHT it was a trailer? Then you say DON'T DOWNLOAD COLUMBIA TRISTAR...." So I shouldn't even go to Apple Quicktime and VEIW it? You don't HAVE to download anything.
Buddy, now you're sweating, and you're a "casual" pirate looking for a way out. Well we don't have it, unless you take my advice: Spend $9 and go see it ($4 matinee). Popcorn extra. Take a date.
You will get no sympathy here (probably) Sheesh.
Les you should read the entire thread before you post. Earlier someone commented that merely possessing, i.e., having downloaded copyrighted material can get one in trouble. However, there is no way for anyone to know that one has the copyrighted material unless one shares the files or broadcasts one's library. Therefore, uploading/displaying a library is the only way one can be caught. In addition, the RIAA went about getting people in trouble by first downloading the file, and then comparing it to the company's records of commonly shared files (viewing the nuances, metadata, etc.). It is important to realize that the RIAA downloaded the files.
Having files on one's hard drive, in a folder where they cannot be seen nor shared, cannot get one in trouble. The BitTorrent protocol gets people in trouble because there is almost no way not to upload. A caveat: some programs come with anti-piracy files that "phone home" to their creator, though the companies claim no personally identifiable information is sent.
Mike LaRiviere
Having files on one's hard drive, in a folder where they cannot be seen nor shared, cannot get one in trouble. The BitTorrent protocol gets people in trouble because there is almost no way not to upload. A caveat: some programs come with anti-piracy files that "phone home" to their creator, though the companies claim no personally identifiable information is sent.
Mike LaRiviere
How many of you have actually gotten one of those letters? My friends played a NASTY trick on me and mocked one up. They went through my computer and made a list of all my files, etc. They even got my mom in on it. I come home one day and she sits me down and explains how I won't be going to college, I'll go to jail, we're gonna lose all of our money, etc. Needless to say, I just about killed myself. It's the scariest thing in the world, and I only had to endure it for five minutes. Do what I did. Stop downloading. Legal really is better.
MikeLaRiviere said:
Some freaky e-mails were apparently sent and were linked to me after 9/11/01. The charge was harassment, but where I live, the former attorney general (and now governor) made it legal for investigators to take your computer without a warrant with only probable cause (they never did get around to doing that though, in spite of my lawyers warnings).
I got a lawyer and the case was thrown out .. but not before a detective scared the crap out of me with threats and such. I was fresh out of high school, I get a call from a detective in a city 120 miles away about some weird crap, the guy started yelling and threatening me. It was thrown out because it had been 3 months and they hadn't sent my lawyer the police report (so I never, to this day, truly knew what I was accused of).
Rabidjade, i realise there's no legal sites to download pirated media form, that's kind of a contradiction.
but there are legal BT sites, well at least one, www.legaltorrents.com. and there are also many other legal uses for BT.
iJon, be a pal, don't turn off you uploads.
zyuzin4, that's pretty serious. you should be really glad that you didn't get in more trouble. and i really hope you don't try that again.
but there are legal BT sites, well at least one, www.legaltorrents.com. and there are also many other legal uses for BT.
iJon, be a pal, don't turn off you uploads.
zyuzin4, that's pretty serious. you should be really glad that you didn't get in more trouble. and i really hope you don't try that again.
Les Kern said:
Just use Apple to protect you, turn on file vault and let the OS encryt the suckers. That way if they take the hard drive they won't be able to recover the contents of your home directory. Just make sure you have a very secure password.
They still have to prove it was you. It's all to easy to spoof an IP and MAC address so just don't admit it and it would be almost impossible for them to prove it in court. I think just having the MAC and IP address is circumstantial at best.
If it did end up in court just make sure your lawyer knows a good hacker they can put up on the stand as an expert. Just let the hacker show the court how easy it is to spoof your identity online and bamm you're out of there.
Like someone else said DO NOT SEND BACK THE FORM. I think the form is their only piece of real evidence agaist you.
les kern said:
It'd certainly be faster
zoetropeuk said:
If it's a federal law that was broken, and if they care enough, they will get in anyway. Tossing the HD is the best, Zeroing 8 times is the next best, and filevault is merely a speed bump (and nobody should think otherwise).
zoetropeuk said:
IP has been used to convict a few times in the past, but not with the DMCA. The DMCA prohibits ISPs from being prosecuted for the actions of their users.
If someone downloaded something through the proxy you set up, technically YOU downloaded it too. Under the DMCA, however, you're sitting pretty...
However, you would still have to PROOVE that this is what happened, and how are you going to do that if they recover the file on your hard drive, or you just threw your HD away?
"Reasonable Doubt" is a pipe dream, my brother and I have been on jury's several times, and all the nay-sayers get silenced pretty quick. My brother actually had to hang a jury once all by himself (on a not-guilty verdict).
zoetropeuk said:
That's a lot more dangerous than people think. If the guy is discredited or something like that, his presence can easily work against you.
Mostly that's something limited to crimes like murder or decade-long sentencing crimes. The longest sentence I ever saw for a DMCA violation was 48 months (4 years).
Every time you do a stunt like that, it costs you thousands of dollars. My case didn't even go to trial and it was $6,000. Not only that but theatrics don't work very well in real life.
zoetropeuk said:
I don't know about "real", maybe "solid" is a better word.
It's kind of like an apology, you NEVER EVER send apologies to the supposed "victim".. It WILL be used against you.
Isn't it legal to download a movie you already own (for instance on DVD)?
I'm not talking about file sharing. I'm talking about downloading.
Were you perhaps given a copy of Spiderman 2 which you lost?
Did someone else perhaps give you that copy for your birthday?
Maybe that person, if you can recall who it was, still has a receipt...
In the future, Blockbuster or Netflicks might be a good option.
Good luck!
I'm not talking about file sharing. I'm talking about downloading.
Were you perhaps given a copy of Spiderman 2 which you lost?
Did someone else perhaps give you that copy for your birthday?
Maybe that person, if you can recall who it was, still has a receipt...
In the future, Blockbuster or Netflicks might be a good option.
Good luck!
saabmp3 said:
i've downloaded **** loads of dodgy **** with my isp demon and haven't had a problem, BT is bad though my freind got an email from symantec as he was downloading antivirus software useing bit torrent. he has now switched to demon (and there cheaper £25 a month).
Les Kern said:
wipeing it and filling it with dv fotage from a dv camera is allot cheaper and easyer, if i was really paranoid and i wanted to keep the data i'd take my HD to my attic and put it in a very hidden place (i can rip out some expanding foam that surrounds my boiler and put the HD in the middle of foam in a sealed bag
, it's the best place ever for hideing evidence)
512ke said:
not really. you will not get in trouble for it because if you own a legal copy, then for you to have a backup copy (however obtained - they can't track the source, i don't think) is fine. so they won't be able to prosecute you for having it. (having a receipt is not a proof - you could have sold it, no?)
the whole problem is that the person who make the download available doesn't have the distribution rights. so you may not be breaking the law for downloading it but you are (arguably knowingly) helping someone else break the law.
it's like buying stolen goods on the street. you know it's stolen. (unless you are terribly naive.) and i don't think there's anything wrong with buying from a thief - in a strictly legal sense - but you know something is "wrong." don't you think?
iJon said:
If you do, though, BitTorrent will cut down your download speeds to the point that you'd be getting Gnutella/FastTrack speeds.
MikeLaRiviere said:
mike- after a quick im conversation with a lawyer friend of mine- the defendant can request a jury trial after suit has been filed. the plaintiff can not stop this.
jxyama said:(directed at no one in particular...) if you are so worried about getting caught or it is such a big trouble to keep yourself "anonymous," why not go buy them? legally.
p.s. sorry for a redundant post with an "attitude," but thought it had to be said.
There are those of us that "innocentlY' download things. In my case I got caught up with the F-911 film download hype. I have since deleted the file once it became clearer as the legal aspects.
To answer the question of "why not go buy them? legally"; that goes very deep. It depends on whether you are talking of music and videos, verses software.
For myself I have done without software, because the "value" of that software out weighed the " dollar value" of the software. For myself, some of the prices charged are not in the real world,
idkew said:
They can only offer a settlement (in a civil trial I believe, that such a settlement does not have to be public).
When this thread started, Spiderman 2 was in it's first week of theatric release. Anyway, if he lost it he lost it. That wouldn't entitle him to download a copy. He could buy another one and back it up. Yes, I see the problem with this--but that's my understanding of the law. Of course it's a sketchy understanding of a sketchy law.512ke said: