EEP!!! The Feds are after me!!

Jynx980

Senior member
Jan 10, 2001
604
0
0
I was supprised to get this in my mail today (I have edited out any info that does not need to be here):



Dear Customer,

We are writing on behalf of Cox Communications to advise you that we have received a notification that you are using your Cox High Speed Internet service to post or transmit material that infringes the copyrights of a complainant's members. We have included a copy of the complaint letter. Pursuant to the provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (Â"DMCAÂ"), which is codified at 17 U.S.C. § 512, upon receiving such notification, Cox is required to Â"act expeditiously to remove, or disable access toÂ" the infringing material in order to avoid liability for any alleged copyright infringement. Accordingly, Cox will suspend your account and disable your connection to the Internet within 24 hours of your receipt of this email if the offending material is not removed.

Please be aware that the DMCA also provides procedures by which a subscriber accused of copyright violation can respond to the allegations of infringement and, under certain circumstances, cause his or her account to be reinstated. To do so, however, the response must meet certain criteria. Pursuant to section (g) of the DMCA (17 U.S.C. § 512(g)), you have the right to submit to Cox a counter-notification which, to be effective, must include the following elements:

(a) a physical or electronic signature of the subscriber;
(b) identification of the material that has been removed or to which access has been disabled and the location at which the material appeared before it was removed or disabled;
(c) a statement under penalty of perjury that the subscriber has a good faith belief that the material was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification of the material to be removed or disabled;
(d) the subscriberÂ's name, address, and telephone number and a statement that the subscriber consents to the jurisdiction of the Federal District Court for the judicial district in which the address is located.

In the event that you submit to Cox a counter-notification that includes these elements, Cox will forward your counter notification to the complainant and advise them that Cox will cease disabling access to the allegedly infringing material in ten (10) business days. Unless the complainant notifies us that it has filed an action seeking a court order to restrain you from engaging in the allegedly infringing activity prior to the expiration of those ten (10) business days, Cox will reactivate your account.

Sincerely,

The Cox Abuse Team

--- The following material was provided to us as evidence ---


[Part 0 (plain text)]

Interactive Digital Software Association
1211 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20036 USA

Attention: Piracy Enforcement - DMCA Officer
Telephone:
Fax:
E-mail: X

11/11/2002 11:50:56 AM

I am an authorized representative of the Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA), which represents the intellectual property interests of over thirty companies that publish interactive games for video game consoles, personal computers, handheld devices and the Internet.

IDSA is providing this letter of notification pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and 17 USC § 512 (c) to make Cox Communications, Inc aware of material on its network or system that infringes the exclusive copyright rights of one or more IDSA members. This notice is addressed to you as the agent designated by Cox Communications, Inc to receive notifications of claimed infringement, as so reflected in the current records of the U.S. Copyright Office. Under penalty of perjury, we hereby affirm that the IDSA is authorized to act on behalf of the IDSA members whose exclusive copyright rights we believe to be infringed as described herein.

IDSA has a good faith belief that the Internet site found at xxx continues to infringe the rights of one or more IDSA members by offering for download one or more unauthorized copies of one or more game products protected by copyright, including, but not limited to the titles below.

The unauthorized copies of such game product appearing on, or made available through, such site are listed and/or identified on such Internet site by their titles, variations thereof or depictions of associated artwork (any such game titles, copies, listings and/or other depictions of, or references to, any contents of such game product, are hereinafter referred to as (Infringing Material). Based on the information at its disposal on xxx, IDSA believes that the statements in this Notice are accurate and correctly describe the infringing nature and status of the Infringing Material.

Accordingly, IDSA hereby requests Cox Communications, Inc to immediately remove or disable access to the Infringing Material at the URL address identified above.

Should you have questions, please contact the IDSA at the above listed mailing address or by replying to this email. Please also include the above noted Reference Number in the subject line of all email correspondence.

We thank you for your cooperation in this matter. Your prompt response is appreciated.

Regards,


Interactive Digital Software Association

Note: The information transmitted in this Notice is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain confidential and/or privileged material. Any review, reproduction, retransmission, dissemination or other use of, or taking of any action in reliance upon, this information by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited. If you received this in error, please contact the sender and delete the material from all computers.



Filename:
InfringementID:
Infringement Source:
Infringement Timestamp:
Infringer IPAddress: x


Filename: x
InfringementID:
Infringement Source:
Infringement Timestamp:
Infringer IPAddress: x


___________________________________________________


This is some scary sh!t. I didn't know they could do that. How could they know what I am sharing through any program? It seems like a violation to me. Anyone had this happen to them? What should I do?

 

RemyCanad

Golden Member
Sep 28, 2001
1,849
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First of all you probably should not of posted that... Secondly what did you actually do? Where you running kazza or something? Or better yet what did they allege you did. (So that you are not saying you actually did it)

From the letter I could not tell. It just said some general stuff. It could be anything from a demo to a logo!
 

stash

Diamond Member
Jun 22, 2000
5,468
0
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I thought it was pretty clear...they are alleging that he is distributing copywrited material, specifically games. They didn't specify the method of distribtion, but thats irrelvant.

If you are offering up unauthorized, copywritten material for free download on the Internet, you will be caught. It continually amazes me how many people do not realize this, or worse, see nothing wrong with what they are doing. And yes, it is perfectly legal for them to do that...they are NOT invading your privacy, since you (allegedly) made the material freely availabile on the Internet!

For now, your best bet is to remove the material from the public domain. Then I guess you could try pleading ignorance and pray that Cox reinstates your account. But that isn't the big issue here. Cox disables your access to absolve itself of any liability in the matter. That means YOU, the alleged offender has to bear the burden of any liability that IDSA feels is necessary. It could be a fine, or it could be jail time. If you had a lot of say, divx movies that are still in theaters, you would probably be in some serious trouble. But since they are talking about games, and this is your first offense, you will probably get fined. But it may still be a significant fine.

People need to realize that Internet is not intended to be a bastion for illegal activities. You wouldn't buy a book at Barnes and Noble, go across the street to Kinkos, copy the whole book, and then return the book, would you? Or worse, try to sell the copies for pure profit?

Good luck.
 

RemyCanad

Golden Member
Sep 28, 2001
1,849
0
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First of all I am not in any way saying that distributing copywrited info is right. I personally can't stand it. But he never said he was...

Secondly I wanted to know what exactly becuase the fine might vary depending on what he was offering up.

Also Stash I have seen people copy whole book online into a PDF format! I can't beleive they did it, and I can't beleive they haven't been shut down yet. Illegal software is why I have to pay 120+ for my copies of WinXP, and tons more for my office. And why I now have to call microsoft becuase I reinstalled everything on my computer and my copy of Outlook and my copy of Visual Studio .Net needs there keys fixed. (Says that they have already been used....)

 

Jynx980

Senior member
Jan 10, 2001
604
0
0
They alleged that I was sharing the files on a file sharing program. I didnt post anything on a webpage or provide any links what-so-ever. Im not running some sort of warez server or anything. I think its a bit much for some officer to look at my files and assume Im some sort of international pirate. I think its more of a case of De Facto and De Jure. It is illeagle to share copyrighted material, but files in sharing servers in excess of 10TB are not likely to be all cooking recipes.
 

Soybomb

Diamond Member
Jun 30, 2000
9,506
2
81
Originally posted by: Jynx980
They alleged that I was sharing the files on a file sharing program. I didnt post anything on a webpage or provide any links what-so-ever. Im not running some sort of warez server or anything. I think its a bit much for some officer to look at my files and assume Im some sort of international pirate. I think its more of a case of De Facto and De Jure. It is illeagle to share copyrighted material, but files in sharing servers in excess of 10TB are not likely to be all cooking recipes.

But if you were running some file sharing software with copies of copyrighted software available for download you were running a warez server. What piece of software was allegedly shared out though? Just curious what software company is responsible.

I don't know how you could say it seems like a violation to you though if you were the one pirating their stuff. If they do a search or even start downloading the item from you they can get your ip address easily. Try it, go download something on kazaa with nothing else open and go to your command prompt and type in "netstat" and see what you get. You'll probably see the IP address of who you're download from.

I think quite a few people have gotten one so you might read and see what the others have done. I'd be tempted to write a letter saying you removed the material in question, but maybe that would be a bad thing as its an admission of guilt.....
 

Tallgeese

Diamond Member
Feb 26, 2001
5,775
1
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Get a lawyer and quit posting here.
Anything you've posted here could be used as evidence.
 
Aug 27, 2002
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are listed and/or identified on such Internet site by their titles, variations thereof or depictions of associated artwork (any such game titles, copies, listings and/or other depictions of, or references to, any contents of such game product, are hereinafter referred to as (Infringing Material

It looks like it could be as simple as you having a website that has artwork or mentioning of games titles with out the copywrite information acknowledgment to whoms ownership of the information is. But I agree, get a lawyer, show him/her all information that could be seen by the public on any of your websites(including ftp sites if any), filesharing programs (i.e.Kazaa, iMesh, etc.) and get things sorted out with your lawyer. If the lawyer sees that you are guilty, (I'm not saying you are, because I don't know you or all the circumstances) sometimes admition of that guilt, whether you new about what it was you did wrong or not at the time doesn't matter, and retribution can be a lot easier and cheaper than fighting copywrite laws(some companies are even satisfied that you know what you did and rectified the situation by posting acknowledgment of copywrite info on your said websites). This is not little stuff, maximum fines on copywrite infringement are extremely high, and are limited pretty much by what the judge declares, and in severe issues penaltys of life imprissonment can be imposed.

Good luck.
 

rayster

Member
Oct 29, 2002
47
0
0
Originally posted by: Jynx980This is some scary sh!t. I didn't know they could do that. How could they know what I am sharing through any program? It seems like a violation to me. Anyone had this happen to them? What should I do?

They alleged that I was sharing the files on a file sharing program. I didnt post anything on a webpage or provide any links what-so-ever. Im not running some sort of warez server or anything. I think its a bit much for some officer to look at my files and assume Im some sort of international pirate. I think its more of a case of De Facto and De Jure. It is illeagle to share copyrighted material, but files in sharing servers in excess of 10TB are not likely to be all cooking recipes.
Why you got the letter: The record companies and some game manufacturers have started hiring "digital detective" companies to track down and provide proof of copyright infringement. This is part of a new policy on their part to go after individual users, now that Napster and their ilk have been beaten down and P2P networks offer no such easy, centralized target. The detective companies use spider apps, similiar to a search engine, to browse files being shared across the Net, mostly looking for name matches. As most here know, since most P2P applications broadcast your IP, it's not that hard, once a match is made, to do a reverse lookup and figure out who your ISP is.

The problem is, the match could be completely coincidental. You're in a band and perform and record a song called "Paradise". Assume you share this file as paradise.mp3. This song will generate a hit and a letter because the spider only cares that it's an audio files that shares a name with a copyrighted work. No one verifies the match before the letter is dispatched to your ISP.

What's truly scary is there was a bill before Congress a couple of weeks ago that would have given the record company the right to hack into your machine and 'disable' it, for such a violation.

Be extremely careful if you are sharing files, even legitimate ones. Get a lawyer and if this is a mistake, fight it, and fight it hard.
 

Oaf357

Senior member
Sep 2, 2001
956
0
0
That's why you only share stuff that's yours (meaning you made it).

I made my MP3 collection (a legally obtained ~13 GB collection) available in a directory tree structure hosted from my home PC. Eventually, word spread and people from France, Italy, Germany, countries in Africa and even Pakistan were traversing my web server. Needless to say a "few friends" turned into a whole lot more and I shut the damn thing down before things got real hairy.

I'm curious if you were using something as simple a Kazaa and you got nailed for that (which would suck).

Needless to say you should comply with them unless you feel like spending a lot of money on lawyers.
 

stash

Diamond Member
Jun 22, 2000
5,468
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I dont see how it does that...they didn't swoop down and whisk him off to jail, or send him a large bill. He has a chance to prove his case. They think they have the evidence to show wrongdoing, so they inform the ISP. The ISP then covers its ass, and shuts off the account. No guilt or innocence has been assigned.

The termination of the account by the ISP because of a alleged violation of the DMCA does not mean he is guilty until proven innocent. The ISP just doesn't want to be involved.
 

Oaf357

Senior member
Sep 2, 2001
956
0
0
Originally posted by: STaSh
I dont see how it does that...they didn't swoop down and whisk him off to jail, or send him a large bill. He has a chance to prove his case. They think they have the evidence to show wrongdoing, so they inform the ISP. The ISP then covers its ass, and shuts off the account. No guilt or innocence has been assigned.

The termination of the account by the ISP because of a alleged violation of the DMCA does not mean he is guilty until proven innocent. The ISP just doesn't want to be involved.

DING DING DING... We have a winner.
 

Buddha Bart

Diamond Member
Oct 11, 1999
3,064
0
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The termination of the account by the ISP because of a alleged violation of the DMCA does not mean he is guilty until proven innocent. The ISP just doesn't want to be involved.

Oh I'm sorry. You're not allowed to buy food at a supermarket, use or buy a car, purchase a home, rent an appartment, buy clothing, etc. You're not guilty or anything.. the companies just don't want to be involved with you.

bart
 

stash

Diamond Member
Jun 22, 2000
5,468
0
0
Oh I'm sorry. You're not allowed to buy food at a supermarket, use or buy a car, purchase a home, rent an appartment, buy clothing, etc. You're not guilty or anything.. the companies just don't want to be involved with you

What?
 

ProviaFan

Lifer
Mar 17, 2001
14,993
1
0
Originally posted by: STaSh
Oh I'm sorry. You're not allowed to buy food at a supermarket, use or buy a car, purchase a home, rent an appartment, buy clothing, etc. You're not guilty or anything.. the companies just don't want to be involved with you
What?
I think he's making an analogy (whether it's a good one or not I will not discuss), but the point is that you are in fact being declared guilty, since they are taking action against you (shutting off your account) based on some presumed violation of the DMCA, which may or may not have actually happened.

On the topic of that bill before the US Congress, I thought that no-responsibility-hacking-for-the-RIAA bill was actually a tag-along on the "Patriot Act" or whatever that bill was that took away many freedoms in the name of protecting us from terrorism. If it (a separate hacking bill for the RIAA) hasn't passed yet, and if it doesn't, I'll be very glad, but I thought it had gotten through already. :confused:
 

spidey07

No Lifer
Aug 4, 2000
65,469
5
76
Oh please...you whiney little beatches.

ISPs network. ISP chooses to cut off your account. end of story.

If you've got illegal stuff on your computer then face the consequences.

whiney little beatches.
 

stash

Diamond Member
Jun 22, 2000
5,468
0
0
I guess I see the point, but I could draw an analogy of my own (it may or may not be a good one :) ). That is, when someone is accused of a ("normal"? "more severe?") crime, such as an assault, or a murder, they are put in jail. They have not be declared guilty yet. The accused is then allowed to present his case, and afterwards, he is declared guilty or not guilty.

Criminals are usually put in jail when they are suspected of a crime so that they cannot do it again before their trial. When the ISP shuts off your account, it is protecting itself in the event that you continue the activity, regardless of the warnings. To me, that doesn't in any way mean the ISP sees you as guilty, and if they do, it's irrelevant. Thats why they have an acceptable use policy. They are perfectly within their rights to turn off the account, because if they don't, and the activity persists, then *they* will be a defendant in a copyright case. An ISP is a much bigger fish for the government to go after, which they will if they are viewed to be aiding and abetting the activity.

I guess to sum it up, I would say this...now that the DC sniper suspects are arrested and in jail, do you honestly view them as being innocent? Most of you probably think they are guilty as hell (largely due to the media informing everyone of every little detail of the case), and would like to see them get the needle. But does public opinion and actions=a verdict? I certainly hope not. Does an ISPs actions=a verdict? No.
 

RemyCanad

Golden Member
Sep 28, 2001
1,849
0
0
Originally posted by: spidey07
Oh please...you whiney little beatches.

ISPs network. ISP chooses to cut off your account. end of story.

If you've got illegal stuff on your computer then face the consequences.

whiney little beatches.

Why the hell are you calling him a whiney little bitch? He has never said he was offering illegal stuff has he? (If he has never mind. ;) )

If they cut off my account becuase someone told them I was offering up illegal stuff and I wasn't I would be pissed. But then I would go and check my contract to see if they can do that. I would bet they can...
 

Jynx980

Senior member
Jan 10, 2001
604
0
0
I called the abuse team today and it went very well. I informed them of the email sent and they told me to unshare the file, which I already did, and that was pretty much it. Much ado about nothing. Im suprised there was not more warning before hand. Many file sharing progs are available on cnet - direct connect, morpheus, kazaa, gnutella, etc. I didn't see any huge warnings about this kind of thing. Anyways, thanks for your input. Ill be more careful in the future.
 

RemyCanad

Golden Member
Sep 28, 2001
1,849
0
0
Well its not the filesharing program that is at fault. The user knows they are sharing illegal software/music/other stuff. And I don't think they should give any warning.
 

Soybomb

Diamond Member
Jun 30, 2000
9,506
2
81
Originally posted by: RemyCanad
Originally posted by: spidey07
Oh please...you whiney little beatches.

ISPs network. ISP chooses to cut off your account. end of story.

If you've got illegal stuff on your computer then face the consequences.

whiney little beatches.

Why the hell are you calling him a whiney little bitch? He has never said he was offering illegal stuff has he? (If he has never mind. ;) )

If they cut off my account becuase someone told them I was offering up illegal stuff and I wasn't I would be pissed. But then I would go and check my contract to see if they can do that. I would bet they can...

The innocent don't "unshare the file" and begin reading about copyright law ;)

I'm just shocked he thinks there should be a warning on download sites. I thikn 99% of people that use such software know exactly what they're doing. Perhaps they're just downloading open source software and project guttenberg e-books, but I have doubts.

WARNING: This product may cause loss of control and rampant intellectual property theft. :D