Copyright Infringement Notice! :(

[Furtwangler]

Asking this is on behalf of a friend of mine IRL that called me all flipped out today... I'm not really sure what to tell him.

He received some kind of copyright infringement letter from a law firm in the mail regarding downloading a movie called Far Cry. Apparently he did so Feb. of 2010. The letter just came in the mail today. Apparently a bunch of people have gotten these, you can google it for a few news articles that have picked up the story.

In the letter, it states that they subpoena'd his ISP for his information regarding the download. Says he used "æTorrent" which I'm assume is a font type error for uTorrent, the file name, the exact time of day, and some other stuff. It also mentions that he will be sued etc, he didn't tell me how much or what but it seemed to have cash values on it from what i got out of him, I can call him back for some more information if someone thinks it is relevant. It wasn't just a cease and desist though, it looks remotely serious.

He also doesn't recall downloading it, however it's likely he could have. The other odd thing is he called his ISP and the tech guy he talked to said there's no way he could've had that specific IP based on where he lives.

Regardless, I told him to call them again to try to get in touch with their legal department to actually get them to say "yes we gave out your information" etc, because he was never notified, or had any idea of this happening until the letter came in the mail today. It was over a year ago, and due to computer reformatting and just time I doubt there is any evidence of that movie being on his or anyone elses computer. (He has other music and movies and such still there, but is that relevant if they ever decided to take his hdd?)

His mom is flipping out because they probably can't afford lawyer fees, and I'm not sure what to tell him to do besides trying to get a hold of his ISP for more information.

Any good ideas? inb4 "go to the hospital you idiot".

[Dimmauk]

That email smells fishier than an Asian prostitute. Did an African prince send it?

[Senoska]

Its a scam to try to get him to pay so they dont "take him to court." This type of scam is old.

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/n...for-profit.ars

[Vandole]

uwe boll strikes again

[Furtwangler]

I think this may actually be remotely legit. It was a physical letter, with some details that could potentially line up to be true, so either way I don't think he should just sit on it.

here's a link from the same site you conveniently supplied Seno. http://arstechnica.com/media/news/20...s-incoming.ars

[Dranio]

Asking this is on behalf of a friend of mine IRL that called me all flipped out today... I'm not really sure what to tell him.

He received some kind of copyright infringement letter from a law firm in the mail regarding downloading a movie called Far Cry. Apparently he did so Feb. of 2010. The letter just came in the mail today. Apparently a bunch of people have gotten these, you can google it for a few news articles that have picked up the story.

In the letter, it states that they subpoena'd his ISP for his information regarding the download. Says he used "æTorrent" which I'm assume is a font type error for uTorrent, the file name, the exact time of day, and some other stuff. It also mentions that he will be sued etc, he didn't tell me how much or what but it seemed to have cash values on it from what i got out of him, I can call him back for some more information if someone thinks it is relevant. It wasn't just a cease and desist though, it looks remotely serious.

He also doesn't recall downloading it, however it's likely he could have. The other odd thing is he called his ISP and the tech guy he talked to said there's no way he could've had that specific IP based on where he lives.

Regardless, I told him to call them again to try to get in touch with their legal department to actually get them to say "yes we gave out your information" etc, because he was never notified, or had any idea of this happening until the letter came in the mail today. It was over a year ago, and due to computer reformatting and just time I doubt there is any evidence of that movie being on his or anyone elses computer. (He has other music and movies and such still there, but is that relevant if they ever decided to take his hdd?)

His mom is flipping out because they probably can't afford lawyer fees, and I'm not sure what to tell him to do besides trying to get a hold of his ISP for more information.

Any good ideas? inb4 "go to the hospital you idiot".

Because of the bolded line I'd question it's authenticity, as well I doubt I law firm would misspell something as simple as uTorrent(assuming that's what they meant). I'd go to a lawyer and get it checked out first thing. Not saying it's not legit, I'm just saying it sounds off to me, especially for that specific movie.

[Furtwangler]

Therein lies the problem because i don't think they can afford going to a lawyer. I don't think they're going to have much choice though :/

[archibaldcrane]

Can't you always just say "I don't have a password on my router, that could've been anyone" defense, assuming they haven't seized your computer with the file on it?

[Dranio]

could always call around and see if any are willing to look into it pro-bono (is that how you spell it? I forget). worth a shot at the very least.

[aduidarnenye]

It sounds like a scam. Ignore it until a second notice. Even if it is real it, which I doubt, it will take ages for it to get through the system.

You could call your local media to see if they know anything about it. They'll look into it for free if they think it's interesting, especially if they think there's a big company going after a poor, defenseless kid.

[Sonomaa]

I got one of these for shrek 3, I deleted the movie (it was shit) then didnt worry about it

THIS IS WHY YOU DONT USE PUBLIC TORRENT SITES

also probably a scam, unless its from your ISP its pretty much a bunch of bullshit

[hey]

Honestly, even if it is legit, it's safe to ignore it anyway. 99.9% of the time, nothing comes of these things unless you call the laywer and say OMG TAKE MONEY, JUST DON'T SUE ME FOR ELEVENTY BILLION DOLLARS, EVEN THOUGH YOU WOULDN'T ANYWAY.

Unless they contact him again, it is nothing to worry about.

[Furtwangler]

Good to know. He uses Demonoid as well, just for the record.

[Esvedium]

<armchair legal advice>Until a certified letter comes, something that he has to sign for, he should ignore it. Until someone has proof that it was signed for by him and that he was notified, it doesn't mean shit.

Almost as pathetic as the cease and desist email I got one time.

[Cephius]

Like others have said, even if it's legit, it's nothing to worry about. You can get a bunch of these letters before anyone would take any kind of action against you.. and usually the worst that could happen is your ISP telling you they'll shut off your internet access if you do it again.

[Furtwangler]

See that's the weird thing is it isn't from the ISP, they say the ISP supplied them with shit, but that's about all. I'll tell him to just forget he ever got it, should go away I hope.

[Sonomaa]

Good to know. He uses Demonoid as well, just for the record.

a "private" torrent site like demonoid isnt private when they allow off site linking, if its not hosted on demonoid and demonoid alone, its like putting up a giant sign that says you are a pirate

[Qalbert]

YAR HAR FIDDLE DEE DEE

[Cephius]

See that's the weird thing is it isn't from the ISP, they say the ISP supplied them with shit, but that's about all. I'll tell him to just forget he ever got it, should go away I hope.

Yeah that specific letter is probably a scam, lawyers or companies don't send anything to the consumer directly (how could they? The ISP is the only one who can match names to IP addresses) they just send the incriminating information to the ISP and leave it up to them what to do. Usually you get a letter that just says [media company] provided evidence you were illegally sharing [movie/game/whatever] cut that shit out or we'll be forced to take action. Again, they're just scare tactics most of the time, you have to be a repeat offender before anything serious happens.

[Furtwangler]

They mention that they subpena'd the ISP for the information already, which I agree, is flakey