UTV Copyright Infringement notice

CivilServant

Dear Mr X,

Recently your broadband connection was reported and identified as
distributing material which is infringing Copyright Law. As a customer of
UTV Internet you have agreed to the terms and conditions of the service
during registration as laid out at the following web address:

http://www.utvinternet.com/Residential/ClicksilverBroadband/legal_informatio
n.asp

We are obliged to inform you of this and to ask that you remove any material
which contravenes copyright law.
We also ask that such activity is stopped and does not continue in future.

In the event that such activity does not stop, your broadband connection may
be suspended by UTV and/or you could face further action by the owner of the
copyrighted material.

Please do not hesitate to contact us should you have any further queries
regarding this.

Regards,

UTV Internet

So what exactly does this mean? I am not sharing anything via torrents. I download the odd torrent but most is done through rapidshare and newsgroups. Can UTV land me in trouble for this? May have to start SSLing the newsgroups. It's very general and not specific at all. I am very careful not to share anything, download yes, share no.

I also play a game called Demigod, which uses p2p routing to connect clients to the game inself (no central server). So it may be possible that whatever sniffing program they have, thinks this game is sharing data to people all over the world.

watty

Downloading copyright material without licence is also a breach of civil law and also the T&C of all ISPs.

alternately they could just be sending this warning to those with high usage. There has been previous posts.

CivilServant

Yes I am well aware of that.

The notice is stating distribution only.

jor el

CivilServant wrote: »

I download the odd torrent

Torrents always upload, so if what ever you were downloading was copyrighted, then you were also "distributing" it. Even if it was only for a short period of time.

Cabaal

CivilServant wrote: »

So what exactly does this mean? I am not sharing anything via torrents.

Are you sure?

I download the odd torrent.......

Fact, If your downloading a torrent then your also uploading, this means you are sharing. As such you are sharing via torrent so your statement that you don't share is factually incorrect .

Can UTV land me in trouble for this?

They would likely terminate your service if you do it again, the copyright holder could also pursue UTV through the courts if they wanted your name and address to serve legal papers against you.

May have to start SSLing the newsgroups. It's very general and not specific at all. I am very careful not to share anything, download yes, share no.

Nobody on boards.ie is here to tell you how to break copyright law.
If you are aware that downloading copyright material is against the law then why continue doing it?

IRCA

You are downloading copyrighted material without paying for it -

Illegal Period. Who cares if you are sharing or not, it is theft pure and simple.

TanG411

It's definately the torrents problem if the sent out the letter. Isn't there a way to stop automatic uploading in the settings?

Also, is it copyright infringement if you download music videos from Youtube?

CivilServant

It was a torrent alright, not my own. The broadband is shared so I'll have to be stricter about the usage patterns.

Not sure about music videos from Youtube.

mehmeh12

I think you should as program such as protowall or peer guardian to increase privacy. How does one ssl all usage over the internet? Or is ssl just for torrents?

I dont know what kind of BB package you are on but in all fairness most people i know use BB to get free music/media etc. Why else would you pay for BB in first place then?

torrents29

I received the same letter today. What's this torrents stuff
I doubt peer guardian will prevent future letters
Screw it, I'm off to newsgroups..

Is anyone that got the letter already using peer guardian?

watty

If you beleive in peer guardian you believe that moonlight cures warts.

TheDriver

Watty, don't you believe in peer guardian? Seems UTV is big into giving out over torrents whereas BT don't seem to care unless its pure obvious

Cabaal

TheDriver wrote: »

Watty, don't you believe in peer guardian? Seems UTV is big into giving out over torrents whereas BT don't seem to care unless its pure obvious

These things go in cycles, I know many a person who received phone calls and letter from BT in the past in relation to their download activity

mehmeh12

what are Newsgroups? how will newsgroups help?

irishpancake

mehmeh12 wrote: »

what are Newsgroups? how will newsgroups help?

Just take a look at this post for starters.

Be sure to sign up for SSL, which is secure from ISP prying eyes.

Small cost to pay for peace of mind.

Also, learn all about sources for NZB files. Just google it, as I think posting link will get me into trouble

Also, you will need a newsreader program, something like this.

Happy hunting:)

Iv been using Newsgroups for a long time now, Steeper learning curve than torrents but boy does it blow BitTorrent out of the water.

I occasionally need a Torrent or 2, but most things i need are on Usenet.

Full 2.2MB Download speeds, SSl Encryption, No uploading.

Hands down in my books.

mehmeh12

Ok i had a look at the links posted up earlier but im still kinda confused

so i pay for a service.. and then what..how do i use the internet while using usenet?

is everything i do online over a ssl encryption then?

I can't help but feel i'm getting a bit ripped off..paying for a landline, BB and now a subscription to a service to hide my online traces...is usenet actually worth the money?

also i know i'm asking a lot but while on the topic are torrents downloaded via utorrent anonymous? Or can a ISP track mi IP address while i'm downloading torrents?

watty

But your Internet payment does not entitle you to infringe copyright.

Spend the money actually buying DVDs, CDs, Games you actually really want. Not on services to hide copyright infringement.

Spotify is a legal service with free music. Steam sells competively priced legal game downloads. I "download" DVDs from HMV, Tesco, Play.com and fbo.au

mehmeh12

But isn't the whole point of using usenet is so that a ISP can't see what your downloading? Yes i am aware of legal places where you can download media for free or payment but torrents by comparison are soo much better and free as well. Pirate bay alone is the main reason i go online. Does this make me a bad person?

Snaga

Also - just to be clear - its not the local ISP tracking you.

It's one of the agencies monitoring file sharing on behalf of the Studios's that is sending warnings (with logs) to the ISP about a specific IP address at a specific time uploading a particular movie (or part of it).

UTV are actually doing you a favour - they are effectively letting you know that you've been caught filesharing by a third party - and should the Guards ask UTV for the account information attached to that IP at that time - they will have to pass it on. <edit - as clarified later on in the thread - the Garda request has to be on the back of a court order for the ISP to hand over personal data>.

mehmeh wrote:

also i know i'm asking a lot but while on the topic are torrents downloaded via utorrent anonymous? Or can a ISP track mi IP address while i'm downloading torrents?

Discussion of file sharing on this forum is against the rules - well - except for this thread here where you can discuss some things - http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055334444

jor el

OK, discussion of how and where you download copyright material is against the rules, so it stops now. Boasting about it isn't cleaver or smart, it's idiotic.

An ISP doesn't need to monitor what you download, even without SSL, it's very difficult for them to even tell what you're doing anyway. The monitoring is done at the other end, where you're downloading from, and no amount of SSL in the world will protect you from the source knowing what you're doing.

Cabaal

mehmeh12 wrote: »

But isn't the whole point of using usenet is so that a ISP can't see what your downloading? Yes i am aware of legal places where you can download media for free or payment but torrents by comparison are soo much better and free as well. Pirate bay alone is the main reason i go online. Does this make me a bad person?

You know that the internet isn't 100% anonymous right?

watty

mehmeh12 wrote: »

But isn't the whole point of using usenet is so that a ISP can't see what your downloading? Yes i am aware of legal places where you can download media for free or payment but torrents by comparison are soo much better and free as well. Pirate bay alone is the main reason i go online. Does this make me a bad person?

I think this is the Broadband forum, not metaphysics and philosophy. Atheists and all Religions are very much in agreement about what are "good" and "bad" things in a general social/moral sense.

Is Hitler "badder" than someone that maliciously kicks a passing kitten? That's more complicated.

I suggest you pose the question in one of these places if you seriously want an answer:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=443
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=526

There is also the idea that Good People can do Bad Things.
Some Humanists and Some Religions believe people are inherently good. Anarchists and real Communists have to believe this or their philosophy would be pointless.

Some Humanists and Some Religions believe people are inherently bad* and thus need the control of Law and Mores/Peer Pressures of Society. This is not solely the doctrine of "original sin".

For some of us the Original Idea of Usenet/Newsgroups was exactly the same as Boards.ie. To have a chat and exchange News. The clue is in the name.

(*Read "Lord of the Flies" and "Animal Farm")

Seems bizarre to me how i get an infraction for talking about Usenet, not mentioning anything about copyrighted material.

But even here at boards we have a sticky for P2P configuration,

Hit and miss modding at is best.

watty

Like Usenet there are legal, non-copyright-infringing uses to p2p

p2p is widely used to distribute ISOs and VM files of freely available OS such as Linux, OpenSolaris etc.

irishpancake

watty wrote: »

But your Internet payment does not entitle you to infringe copyright.

Spend the money actually buying DVDs, CDs, Games you actually really want. Not on services to hide copyright infringement.

Spotify is a legal service with free music. Steam sells competively priced legal game downloads. I "download" DVDs from HMV, Tesco, Play.com and fbo.au

Sorry to continue the theme, but spotify cannot be accessed from Ireland, that is unless you are using some method of masking your IP address, proxy server or SSL tunnel



Could never happen

watty

OK Spotify not here yet. My bad

Unfortunately, due to licensing restrictions we are not yet available in your country. We understand that you are currently in Ireland (your IP address *********). If you believe we have made a mistake, we apologize and ask that you please contact us at support@spotify.com.

http://www.spotify.com/en/why-not-available/ (Includes sign up to be notified)

(I only read about it on el Reg, have no interest in streaming music generally).

To clarify, I haven't used Steam either, but family members have.


[My Coat is the one bulging with CDs]

Our man in Havana

and should the Guards ask UTV for the account information attached to that IP at that time - they will have to pass it on.

No they do not.

Now if the Gardaí had a court order it would be a different matter.

Just thought I would clear up matters.

blubloblu

Usually these letters are accompanied with "proof" of the name of the file, IP address, time etc... It's a bit odd all that is missing.

token56

Bond-007 wrote: »

No they do not.

Now if the Gardaí had a court order it would be a different matter.

Just thought I would clear up matters.

This is what I thought. Is the data gathered by ISP's not protected under The Data Protection Act. I thought a third party would need high court approval before they are granted rights to view such information?

Our man in Havana

Exactly. No court order, no information released.