Thursday, July 10, 2008

Wanted

I finally got my first complaint from the MPAA! Here it is, in its full glory!

Dear Subscriber:

This email is being sent to you by Road Runner Customer Care because we have received a complaint that your computer has been used to distribute copyrighted material without authorization through a peer-to-peer program. We received this complaint from the movie studio, record company, television studio or other company that owns the copyrighted material. The purpose of this email is to remind you that the distribution of copyrighted material in this fashion may violate both the copyright laws and Road Runner's terms of service, and to tell you a bit about peer-to-peer programs, the dangers they can pose to your computer and our network, and the steps you can take to protect yourself.

A computer can become accessible to a peer-to-peer network for an unlimited period of time after a peer-to-peer program is downloaded.

You may not even be aware that such a program is on your computer; a child or a visitor to the home could have downloaded it. That is why we want to alert you to this issue. Peer-to-peer programs may contain many problems. For example:

· Downloading and offering for upload copyrighted material without authorization is unlawful. If you or others using your computer have been doing this, you could be subject to civil penalties and criminal fines. Such activity also violates the Road Runner terms of service.

· The programs allow any anonymous person on the Internet to look at your computer files and copy them for themselves. Such a hacker could view all of your files, which can lead to identity theft.
· The programs, which use large amounts of memory, can interfere with the functioning of your computer by destabilizing your operating system, leading to a general sluggishness at bootup and during operation.
· The programs can contain spyware, adware, malware, viruses and pornography.

If you are interested in a discussion of problems associated with peer-to-peer file sharing, please follow this link: http://research.pestpatrol.com/whitepapers/p2p_impact.asp.


If you use the Windows OS, the best way to remove peer-to-peer programs is through the Add/Remove Programs tool. Other removal options are discussed at http://security.uchicago.edu/peer-to-peer/no_fileshare.shtml.


Thank you for subscribing to Road Runner.

Very truly yours,


Road Runner Customer Care


Original Message Follows:
------------------------
ISP: Time Warner Cable
IP Address: [censored]


Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Re: Unauthorized Copying and Distribution of Copyrighted Audiovisual Works

Dear Sir/Madam:

I am contacting you on behalf of the Motion Picture Association of America ("MPAA") and one or more of its member companies.

We submit that the MPAA is authorized to act on behalf of its member companies (the "MPAA Members") with respect to the matter described in this notice. The MPAA Members own intellectual property rights, including exclusive rights protected under copyright law, in many motion pictures, television programs and other audiovisual works (collectively, the "MPAA Titles"). We believe that your Time Warner Cable Internet account is being used to reproduce and/or distribute copies of one or more MPAA Titles on the Internet, in violation of the MPAA Members' legal rights. We have set forth at the close of this letter the details concerning this infringement, including the title(s) of the MPAA Title(s) in question, the IP address of your account at the time of the infringement, and the date and time of the infringement. The audiovisual works being offered through your Internet account include the following:

Office, The (TV)

The copying and/or distribution of copies of copyrighted audiovisual works without the authorization of the copyright owner constitutes copyright infringement under the U.S. Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. §§ 106, 501. This conduct may subject you to significant liability, including statutory damages of up to $150,000 per infringed work for willful infringement. Under certain circumstances, copyright infringement can give rise to federal criminal liability, with penalties as high as five years imprisonment plus a $250,000 fine. (See 17 U.S.C. § 506; 18 U.S.C. § 2319.)

Such infringing activity also constitutes a violation of Time Warner Cable's Abuse Policy/Terms of Service Agreement, and such breach may give Time Warner Cable the right to terminate your Internet access service. We therefore demand that you immediately:

1) Cease any unauthorized offering or downloading of the above title(s), and any other film or television titles whose copyright is owned by the MPAA Members, on any peer-to-peer or other internet services; and 2) Delete from your computer any unauthorized copies of the above title(s), and any other film or television titles owned by the MPAA Members, which you have downloaded from or offered on any peer-to-peer or other internet services.

You can learn more about piracy by visiting the MPAA's web site at http://www.mpaa.org/piracy.asp. If you have any questions about this notice, you may contact us at:

Telephone: 818-475-1727
Email: notices@motionpictureassociation.org

Motion Picture Association of America, Inc.
15301 Ventura Blvd., Building E
Sherman Oaks, CA 91403

United States

Please include the Case ID 485049453 in the subject line of any correspondence.

This letter is not a complete statement of the Copyright Owners' rights in connection with this matter, and nothing contained herein constitutes an express or implied waiver of any rights, remedies or defenses of the Copyright Owners, all of which are expressly reserved.

Very truly yours,

Motion Picture Association of America

------------------------------
INFRINGEMENT DETAIL
--------------------

Infringing Work: Office, The (TV)
First Found: 21 Apr 2008 14:22:57 EDT (GMT -0400)
Last Found: 21 Apr 2008 14:22:57 EDT (GMT -0400)
IP Address: [censored]
IP Port: 6886

Protocol: BitTorrent
Torrent InfoHash: 459A6F0D7C39517FC9E31DC29A8551970E720A16
Containing file(s):
The.Office.US.S04E10.HDTV.XviD-LOL.[VTV].avi (183,535,616 bytes)

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

did anything happen?

Chris said...

Nope. It was just a threatening letter.

Rob Verdon said...

i just got the same letter with the moive i downloaded...how could they have tracked it?

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