this is so funny. i received a letter like that once about downloading The Kite Runner. called them and told to shuv it. Nothing ever came of it at all.
--Previous Message--
: Every year, the major movie studios and record labels send out
: tens of thousands of warnings to Internet users who are
: suspected of sharing their content using BitTorrent. These
: infringement notices are meant to inform users of their
: wrongdoings, and to convince the recipients to never download
: anything again.
:
: The process works as follows. The copyright holders hire
: companies such as BayTSP and MediaSentry to track down people
: who share certain titles on BitTorrent and other file-sharing
: networks. These companies then join the swarm and request files
: from others. When someone shares a piece of the file with them,
: they log the IP-address, look up the ISP and send out an
: infringement notice automatically.
:
: Most of the notices are sent out to the larger ISPs who are then
: asked to forward them to the customers in question, but search
: giant Google has also been receiving quite a few. A search on
: ChillingEffects - a site that collects some of the DMCA notices
: that are sent to Google - reveals that more than 100 of these
: automated warnings were sent to Google in the past several
: months.
:
: Since Google also offers Wi-Fi hotspots in some cities, most of
: the infringers are not actually sharing material directly from
: Google headquarters. However, in some cases these warnings do
: appear to be aimed at Google employees. This is an awkward
: situation for a company that is trying to help out the
: entertainment industry, and has even revealed a censorship
: policy towards certain BitTorrent-related terms.
:
: But there is more. If we believe some of the notices sent to
: Google, the company is at risk of losing its connection to the
: Internet.
:
: "Copyright infringement also violates your ISP's terms of
: service and could lead to limitation or suspension of your
: Internet service. You should take immediate action to prevent
: your Internet account from being used for illegal
: activities," the movie companies write in various letters.
:
: The above text is of course intended for average consumers, but
: in this case it appears to be directed at Google. Not that we
: (or Google) have to worry about it much. Although the copyright
: holders use strong language, these kind of notices are nothing
: more than a warning, and they never lead to legal action.
:
: At the bottom of each notice there is generally some info about
: the alleged infringer, in the following format.
:
: Infringing Work: The Green Hornet
: First Found: 2 Feb 2011 16:57:21 EST (GMT -0500)
: Last Found: 2 Feb 2011 16:57:21 EST (GMT -0500)
: IP Address: 216.239.XXX.XXX
: IP Port: 14077
: Protocol: BitTorrent
: Torrent InfoHash: 42708AA384CF93EC6B67E6CEFB6E27B32362F689
: Containing file(s): The Green Hornet TS(iPod.Zune.PSP).torrent
: (442,480,008 bytes)
:
: Of the 100 latest infringement notices received by Google for
: sharing copyright works, most of them are associated with
: IP-addresses used by Wi-Fi customers while a few point to
: Google's headquarters. Even though they are posted on
: ChillingEffects (some redacted, some with full IPs) it is
: impossible to tell whether the company has forwarded them to
: employees, if these are traceable at all.
:
: The movie companies, however, do have some advice for Google.
:
: "An MPAA website, www.respectcopyrights.org, offers
: step-by-step instructions to ensure that your Internet account
: is not being used to violate the copyright laws. Also, the site
: can point you to an array of legal choices for enjoying movies
: and TV shows online. You can also learn there how theft of
: motion pictures and TV shows damages our economy and costs
: thousands of Americans their jobs," they write.
:
: The most recent notices received by Google were sent on behalf
: of Paramount Pictures and Columbia Pictures for the illicit
: sharing of The Fighter and The Green Hornet respectively. In
: total, Google has published 20+ of these warning letters in the
: last 30 days.
:
:
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