The Big DebateIf you feel the need to get your teeth stuck right into a heavy debate on a subject you feel really passionate about, then this is the place to do so. Post about religion, politics, laws and all things juicy like that here.
ok please go easy on the `you shouldn't do that` comments (although i probably deserve it)
Should people download illegal content, games, music, movies? What happens if/when you get caught? Can you be traced? Does it go to court? Do solicitors get involved, etc, etc, etc.
*just gonna have a little rant*
Last edited by Detomah; 20-08-2008 at 17:04..
Reason: Edited by request from thread starter.
900 quid, that's ridiculous. I suppose it's because they have logs of you playing your part in uploading small bits of it to about 30 other people.
Which game was it? If for some reason you don't want to say, then which company is it?
When you say 'you have to', do you really? Have you spoken to a lawyer and they've told you you have no grounds for defence or appeal? If so, that really does suck.
900 quid, that's ridiculous. I suppose it's because they have logs of you playing your part in uploading small bits of it to about 30 other people.
Which game was it? If for some reason you don't want to say, then which company is it?
When you say 'you have to', do you really? Have you spoken to a lawyer and they've told you you have no grounds for defence or appeal? If so, that really does suck.
Yes i have to.
Last edited by Detomah; 20-08-2008 at 17:05..
Reason: Edited by request from thread starter.
I cant understand them just going after people who download stuff and not try to prevent it at the source, ie the people who actually upload it first, well actualy I can I think its just a way of getting income, the more they allow the uploads the more people they can go after fdor downloading.
its not compensation as they have not lost anything, theres nothing to stop you from buying a retail version of it once youve tried it, it can only be considered as a fine.
I doubt theyl even let you have the retail game for the 900 quid ?
ps oh you uploaded it too? or do you mean it was just the usual torrent operation ?
The way of this story though in my mind, is that kiddy porn downloaders aren't costing these media giants cash, so the media giant powers that be don't give a shite about that, where as the downloading of a game to them means $$$$$, so they are venomous with their investigations regarding that. The only reason the authorities probably have any kind of operations in place to tackle kiddy porn is down to lobby and pressure groups. In fact the chances are, half the directors of these media giants are probably the ones involved in kiddy porn in the first place, as they are so way above any normal human laws.
However, regarding you personally getting caught, unfortunately for you it is a risk you take when partaking in such activities, especially when we all know how much of a hard line they are taking on it.
It does seriously annoy me though, that they are constantly picking on the little people who download the odd thing for their personal use, while thousands of proper organised groups are making a fortune from this type of thing and seemingly get away with almost all of the time.
Not that i'm endorsing such activities, but it is known that using newsgroups is a damn site less traceable than using bitcomet, kazaa and these p2p networks, especially when the media companies are these days deliberately putting tracking code into software and deliberately uploading it to the p2p networks to catch people out themselves.
You should get free advice anyway mate. Yes they have you bang to rights it seems, but you could get that £900 fine reduced. Don't just give in and pay it straight away, speak to the CAB or something first, at least look into it.
You should get free advice anyway mate. Yes they have you bang to rights it seems, but you could get that £900 fine reduced. Don't just give in and pay it straight away, speak to the CAB or something first, at least look into it.
cheers dude.
Last edited by Detomah; 20-08-2008 at 17:07..
Reason: Edited by request from thread starter.
I didnt realise you shared it as well, but if you only shared less than you downloaded, then you havnt lost them any earnings, otherwise you could claim that by downloading the game you actually prevented other people from doing so, wich effectivly saved them money.
Last edited by Detomah; 20-08-2008 at 17:07..
Reason: Edited by request from thread starter.
Its not a fine, its basically an offer to settle the case "out of court". The fact that its so much more than the cost of the game is probably due to the fact that its intended to cover not only the loss of revenue of the game but the costs of tracking you down, e.g. solicitors (a lot per hour), etc.
You keep mentioning "bit comet", which is a client not a protocol afaik.
Does the letter actually say you were using "bit comet", and which torrent client(s) have you been using?
How did they contact you, each time if more than once?
How many times have they contacted you?
What information did they have about you, name, address, isp, which email account, the game title, date/time of download, the site u used, the client u used, every detail they know?
Its very possible that a company could get a court order to request the information from your ISP of who was on their network as what IP at a certain time, and to get your details.
Its pretty hard to guess with the limited information youve provided, chances are its a scam, but to know that youd need to share more info.
Do a search using these terms:-
"two worlds" "davenport lyons"
That will probably show up all the relevant facts.
Just read a few more articles, and it would appear that some people are ignoring the letters or using a "insecure wireless connection" defence and not seeing anything bad happen. Not sure I'd recommend this thou as its likely the non-response ones have just been put on the back-burner for now and will be picked up again later when the easy money has been made.
You keep mentioning "bit comet", which is a client not a protocol afaik.
Does the letter actually say you were using "bit comet", and which torrent client(s) have you been using? yup
How did they contact you, each time if more than once? letter
How many times have they contacted you? first time
What information did they have about you, name, address, isp, which email account, the game title, date/time of download, the site u used, the client u used, every detail they know? name,address,isp,game title,dates and times of infringement and client.
Its very possible that a company could get a court order to request the information from your ISP of who was on their network as what IP at a certain time, and to get your details.yup, they did this
Its pretty hard to guess with the limited information youve provided, chances are its a scam, but to know that youd need to share more info.
if you google them words like ixpah says it comes up with dodgy stuff hmmm.
The actual client (bit comet) you used is transmitted over the torrent protocol iirc, so they would easily have that alongside the ip whether or not they were genuine, the scarey part is that if theyre fake, theyve got your home address, full name and probably phone number by conning your isp.
I still find it incredibly hard to believe that its real though, copyright infringement would be for distributing the software, ie. uploading it, which is generally the way theyre screwing people over for using P2P networks, because they have trouble screwing people over for pirating 1 copy of 1 piece of media, but if youre distributing it you suddenly become a supplier.
The silly thing is out of pretty much all the people i know who use torrents for example, the majority all use the same few sites, and there are more and more private sites now that are charging subscriptions to download illegal shizzle, ie profiting out of it as well as supplying.
Back in the Kazaa days, I set out the following rules for my kids:
1) Never be a peer-to-peer host. There is no defense when they come calling.
2) If you download illegally to "try it" that's fine. But if you play it or listen to it more than once or twice, buy a legit copy. The authors or musicians have earned your money.
3) Exceptions can be made for MicroSoft products, for all the time and money they've stolen from everyone.
I wuold think that this kind off think wuold be dealt by polic, yuor huose wuod be raded & yuor PC & stuff etc wuold be taken & used for everdence. Copywrit enfrindgmernt is a orfence so i think polic deel wiht it