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Sued for Movie Download?

M

Music_Producer

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Sep 25, 2004
1,633
18
My brother in law is one of those typical losers who downloads music all the time, and that makes me seriously mad. Of course, he ignores all my 'downloading music is a crime' warnings, and honestly I've given up on him.

Today though, he told me that he downloaded X3 (X-men) and he was watching it.. and I was quite pissed off. The point here is, I pay for the DSL, and its a wireless connection, so he uses it as well, would I get sued if caught? I mean, i have no downloads or anything on my macbook, but I pay the DSL bill.. So if someone did sue us, would the notice come to me, in my name?
 
Great. I just told him that, and apparently 'You don't get sued for downloading.. only for sharing' Whatever :mad:
 
Music_Producer said:
Great. I just told him that, and apparently 'You don't get sued for downloading.. only for sharing' Whatever :mad:
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Tell him to get a job and pay for his own godamn connection. Let him get sued for it. Pleading "but it wasn't me" won't do anything in the courts. They look at you like "wtf mate" and then proceed to send you to a federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison. anyone know that reference besides mactastic?
 
Don't get too worried. At this point the MPAA is mainly going after BitTorrent 'tracker' sites, which distribute the Torrent files. It's possible, but not simple, for them to go after individuals. Anyway, it's a more effective strategy to cut it off at the source...
 
Onizuka said:
Tell him to get a job and pay for his own godamn connection. Let him get sued for it. Pleading "but it wasn't me" won't do anything in the courts. They look at you like "wtf mate" and then proceed to send you to a federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison. anyone know that reference besides mactastic?
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The likes of the RIAA don't truly care who is doing the downloading. Nor do they care if they get the wrong person. If your name is on the account, then you are the one they go after.

OutThere said:
Don't get too worried. At this point the MPAA is mainly going after BitTorrent 'tracker' sites, which distribute the Torrent files. It's possible, but not simple, for them to go after individuals. Anyway, it's a more effective strategy to cut it off at the source...
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You are right so far, but how soon do the goons at the MPAA start acting like the goons at the RIAA?
 
Onizuka said:
Tell him to get a job and pay for his own godamn connection. Let him get sued for it. Pleading "but it wasn't me" won't do anything in the courts. They look at you like "wtf mate" and then proceed to send you to a federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison. anyone know that reference besides mactastic?
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This would be my advice as well. Don't allow yourself to be liable for his wrongdoings.
 
If your WiFi is open you could claim it was a neighbor. It's a poor defense but it might put more pressure on the prosecutors to actually prove you downloaded it.

...just a thought.
 
Onizuka said:
Tell him to get a job and pay for his own godamn connection. Let him get sued for it. Pleading "but it wasn't me" won't do anything in the courts. They look at you like "wtf mate" and then proceed to send you to a federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison. anyone know that reference besides mactastic?
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Yeah, he's 32 and he works in a supermarket.. comes home drunk every night.. basically a freeloader and everyone's given up on him. But he won't get sued.. I will, hence I'm just cancelling the dsl.
 
Why don't you just change the wireless password? Then you can continue to use the DSL without having him on the network.
 
WildCowboy said:
Why don't you just change the wireless password? Then you can continue to use the DSL without having him on the network.
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Yeah man, don't hurt yourself because of this guy. If I didn't have cable connection, I'd go insane. I'd freak out like the chick in the exorcist. *head spins backwards*

Either change the password or kick him out. He'll get the point.
 
Onizuka said:
Yeah man, don't hurt yourself because of this guy. If I didn't have cable connection, I'd go insane. I'd freak out like the chick in the exorcist. *head spins backwards*

Either change the password or kick him out. He'll get the point.
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my thoughts exactly. I would hate loosing my cable modem...
 
Onizuka said:
Either change the password or kick him out. He'll get the point.
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I'm just posting to agree with the sentiment other have shared. And when he gets all pissy, just claim you can't figure out why his machine won't pick up the signal. It works for you, so it isn't worth it for you to replace the router....:)

And, I think everybody here has to have seen Office Space. Many Times. (did I ever tell you all I actually had a co-worker named Milton who had a Red Swingline? he bought it b/c of the movie, but still....I didn't think there was actually anybody named Milton under the age of 40)
 
EricNau said:
If your WiFi is open you could claim it was a neighbor. It's a poor defense but it might put more pressure on the prosecutors to actually prove you downloaded it.

...just a thought.
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the mpaa sues they don't get prosecutor involved. if the prosecutor got involved they would build a case before they arrested you. i.e. they would get a search warrant and seizes you computer and your wifi router. then extract the logs from the router and the contents of the hard drive. that is the formula for FELONY. :D and if they caught your neighor stealing wifi and pressure from the phone company the prosecutor could probably make a case for wire fraud which i believe is a felony as well. i don't think anybody has been prosecuted for wire fraud, but I am sure a prosecutor could be creative in his ways.

either way the mpaa is going after websites like bit torrent after a supreme courting ruling basically saying the web sites can be held liable for priacy.
 
This is a no-brainer. Change the password on your router and give the guy 30 days notice to move out. In the meantime, the chance of being prosecuted or sued for downloading is slim to none.
 
THX1139 said:
This is a no-brainer. Change the password on your router and give the guy 30 days notice to move out. In the meantime, the chance of being prosecuted or sued for downloading is slim to none.
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Amusingly appropriate nick, THX1139 :D
 
there must be a way to block all torrent traffic from your router

slow that creep down to 1-2k and he will give up after a while
 
^
If you can change your router settings so that he can only access the MPAA or RIAA websites, that'd be pretty funny.

If you need the DSL, you shouldn't have to cancel it... there are plenty of ways that you can restrict his access with the right settings, or just change the password to the connection.
 
liketom said:
there must be a way to block all torrent traffic from your router
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Block TCP ports 6881-6889 & TCP 6346, both directions. He'll lose the ability to contact other P2P hosts.
 
dynamicv said:
Block TCP ports 6881-6889 & TCP 6346, both directions. He'll lose the ability to contact other P2P hosts.
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Most torrent sites have moved away from these specific ports for the simple fact that they're blocked by many ISP's now... not that I'd know or anything... So this is futile and will only slow him down for a little bit.

Anyway, you may be able to limit his connection speed on the router, however blocking him from specific sites would be much harder to do unless you're admin on his computer.

Just tell him to get out of your house. If he throws a fit, call the cops and tell them why. 'Course if he attacks you please use every means to defend yourself. You're #1 here, man, not him.
 
Get his IP address off your router table and block it. Tell him until he agrees to your stipulations for using the internet you are paying for, he can't get back on it.
 
Onizuka said:
Most torrent sites have moved away from these specific ports for the simple fact that they're blocked by many ISP's now... not that I'd know or anything... So this is futile and will only slow him down for a little bit.
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Only one option left then. Kick him and his computer out into the street, preferably in the middle of the night....whilst it's raining. He has to learn that he either follows your rules in your house or he hits the road.

jakochampolska said:
I've been downloading illegally music since 1999 and have never gotten sued!
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If you or anyone else wants to take the risk on their own DSL line, I have no problem. But if the person paying the bill objects to you doing it, you should stop. It's their arse on the line, not yours.
 
Heb1228 said:
Get his IP address off your router table and block it. Tell him until he agrees to your stipulations for using the internet you are paying for, he can't get back on it.
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Or, if your router supports this, enable MAC filtering.

Then when he tries to connect the router will not let him.

Sure he can spoof the MAC address, but if he does not know a valid MAC address on your Router's list, he will not be able to connect.

Or, if your router supports this, filter web sites that you can go to. It's a pain to set up but limits access to URLs.

But don't give up your DSL connection.
 
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