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Canadian ISPs Send Thousands of Copyright Notices
An anonymous reader writes "The CBC reports that Canadian Internet service providers are passing along
thousands of copyright infringement notifications to their customers. These notices are coming, not from Canada, but from US copyright lobby groups such as the Business Software Alliance under a system called notice and notice. Michael Geist comments that unlike the U.S. takedown approach, the Canadian system is proving effective while protecting privacy and free speech. Downloaders take the hint, and alter their behavior before they receive a more serious letter in the mail."
So what are the fees that people pay for media for?
Alter their behavior? Like installing Peer Guardian? Or maybe a Tor client? Or perhaps just opening up a WAP?
What do these US lobby groups (note: not law enforcement agencies) think they can do against Canadian citizens?
There is no mod option "-1: Disagree" for a reason. "Overrated" is not an acceptable substitute. Post something instead.
You know, the one where its legal to share files because they pay taxes.
Then again, I also can't think of any country's borders the **AA actually respects. So welcome to the club.
Come and get me RIAA! Sixty miles from town on highway, 25 miles via dirt road, 10 miles via dog sled, and 6 by snowshoe... fourth igloo on the left with the green satellite dish... oh, and windchill is -45 today, very balmy
Notice Of Copyright Complaint - name - email - ip - mac We are writing to inform you that TELUS has received a complaint that alleges that your TELUS Internet Service account has been involved in copyright infringement. This complaint was traced back to your account based on the IP address used at the time of this activity. Please note that TELUS has not provided any of your personal account information to the complainant. It is TELUS' policy to disclose such information to a complainant only if ordered to do so by a court of law, which has not happened to date. We do, however, want you to be aware that this complaint was received by us and offer you the following information that may be of help to you: If you are unaware of this type of activity originating from your account, you may wish to inquire with others who have access to your account. If you are using a dial-up account, change the account password to ensure that only authorized users have access to it. You may also want to check your system for viruses, which may explain why this sort of activity is originating from your account. If you are not aware of our Acceptable Use Policy, which strictly prohibits use of our Service to infringe the copyrights of others, you may review at mytelus.com/internet. Please be aware that violation of this policy could result in disconnection of your Service. Below is an excerpt from the complaint that we received regarding your account. We include it in this notice in an effort to help you identify the activity that is in question. Karen TELUS Internet Services Internet Abuse Team abuse@telus.com http://www.telus.net/aup.html http://www.telus.net/policies * Please include the original email in any reply. ~~~ Excerpt from complaint: --- ------- Title: some movie Infringement Source: BitTorrent Initial Infringement Timestamp: 4 Mar 2004 05:11:41 GMT Recent Infringment Timestamp: 5 Mar 2004 03:04:13 GMT Infringer Username: Infringing Filename: blah blah blah Infringing Filesize: big Infringers IP Address: yep Infringers DNS Name: uh huh Infringing URL:
Ignore them... or bill them?
Dear RIAA,
It has come to my attention that you have accused me of illegally downloading file xxx, in an electronic letter received by you on xx/xx/2007. As a Canadian citizen I pay tax on recordable media so that you may be compensated for any losses incurred by downloads. I take it that you currently wish to alter this agreement, since you no longer wish for me to download your media.
Therefore I enclose a bill for CDN $54 which is the amount of tax I have paid on the CD's I have purchased in these past 3 months. I can continue to bill you quarterly if you wish. I expect payment by certified cheque from a Canadian bank within 2 weeks of the date on this letter. Thank you!
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
I've gotten two letters from the ESA in the last 6 months like this.. I don't think they hold a lot of water, they were sent to my ISP who forwarded them to me. My ISP was awfully nice, they offered a link to their site showing how to disable uploads on many popular P2P file sharing apps (made me laugh), covering damn near everything except BitTorrent. Now the first time they caught me was OK, I was downloading software I shouldn't have been, it scared me straight for about 15 minutes till I give it some serious consideration. The second one just made me laugh, it was for downloading an ISO of Starcraft (no cracks or anything, just the ISO), which I do have a legit copy and serial for but left my original copy at work.. Anyways, I'm rambling, but my only real point here is that the only one you should be afraid of is your ISP in cases like this. The ESA/RIAA/MPAA, whatever, holds little to no jurisdiction here in Canada (afaik noone in Canada has ever been convicted along these lines, please enlighten me if you've heard otherwise), but your ISP can easily give you the boot for violating their own terms of service.
That's what belts are for.
"unlike the U.S. takedown approach, the Canadian system is proving effective while protecting privacy and free speech. Downloaders take the hint, and alter their behavior before they receive a more serious letter in the mail."
:)
RIAA: Don't download that
Us: Ok, sorry
Man up fellow Canadians
"Some of the worst mistakes in my life have been haircuts." - Jim Morrison