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Torrent Users Fight Back
eonlabs writes "Torrent users being blamed for illegally downloading Far Cry are fighting back. In a 96-page lawsuit, the lawyers at Dunlap, Grubb, and Weaver are being accused of: 'extortion, fraudulent omissions, mail fraud, wire fraud, computer fraud and abuse, racketeering, fraud upon the court, abuse of process, fraud on the Copyright Office, copyright misuse, unjust enrichment, and consumer protection violations.'"
Let us raise our glasses in toast to these people and hope that they will be successful, and that their success will cause more to follow in their footsteps.
1) Release low-budget, badly-written & directed crappy movie to the public
2) Give it time to be distributed illegally on the internet
3) Find those who have supposedly shared it
4) Sue everybody, but count on only some people paying to settle out of court and collect fines
5) PROFIT!
He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson
That's a lot of fraud. I can see how this must have happened:
Man: Well, what've you got?
Prosecutor: Well, there's extortion and blackmail; extortion racketeering and blackmail; blackmail and fraud; extortion and fraud; racketeering extortion blackmail and fraud; extortion indecent exposure blackmail and fraud; fraud indecent exposure fraud fraud criminal negligence and fraud; fraud misuse of police property fraud fraud racketeering fraud extortion and spam;
Vikings: Fraud fraud fraud fraud...
Prosecutor: ...fraud fraud fraud criminal negligence and fraud; fraud fraud fraud fraud fraud fraud traffic violation fraud fraud fraud...
Vikings: fraud! Lovely fraud! Lovely fraud!
Prosecutor: ...or international terror conspiracy to overthrow the government with an insurgent army funded with drug trafficking and armed robbery and fraud.
Wife: Have you got anything without fraud?
Prosecutor: Well, there's fraud indecent exposure extortion and fraud, that's not got much fraud in it.
Wife: I don't want ANY fraud!
Man: Why can't she have racketeering extortion blackmail and fraud?
Wife: THAT'S got fraud in it!
Man: Hasn't got as much fraud in it as fraud extortion traffic ticket and fraud, has it?
Vikings: Fraud fraud fraud fraud... (Crescendo through next few lines...)
Wife: Could you do the extortion indecent exposure blackmail and fraud without the fraud then?
Prosecutor: Urgghh!
Wife: What do you mean 'Urgghh'? I don't like fraud!
Vikings: Lovely fraud! Wonderful fraud!
Prosecutor: Shut up!
Vikings: Lovely fraud! Wonderful fraud!
Prosecutor: Shut up! (Vikings stop) Bloody Vikings! You can't have extortion indecent exposure blackmail and fraud without the fraud.
Wife: I don't like fraud!
Man: Sshh, dear, don't cause a fuss. I'll have your fraud. I love it. I'm having fraud fraud fraud fraud fraud fraud fraud extortion fraud fraud fraud and fraud!
Vikings: Fraud fraud fraud fraud. Lovely fraud! Wonderful fraud!
Waitress: Shut up!! Extortion is off.
Man: Well could I have her fraud instead of the extortion then?
Waitress: You mean fraud fraud fraud fraud fraud fraud... (but it is too late and the Vikings drown her words)
Vikings: (Singing elaborately...) Fraud fraud fraud fraud. Lovely fraud! Wonderful fraud! Fraud fra-a-a-a-a-ud fraud fra-a-a-a-a-ud fraud. Lovely fraud! Lovely fraud! Lovely fraud! Lovely fraud! Lovely fraud! Fraud fraud fraud fraud!
GAAH! MY PRINTER IS ON FIRE!!! PUT IT OUT! PUT IT OUT!
You have qualified immunity for statements made in legal proceedings (or in actions leading up to possible legal proceedings) such as demand letters. Furthermore, in order to slander/libel someone you need to make the statement in the presence of another person. If I send you a letter saying you're an idiot, that's not libel unless I show the letter to other people.
I'm rooting for the guy, but he has made a serious blunder.
USCG registered Far Cry's copyright on behalf of the German studio that owns it in January 2010. Registrations must be made within 60 days of publication, and Shirokov claims they lied to the USCO by stating the movie was released in April, 2009. That would be copyright fraud, and would completely invalidate all of USCG's lawsuits, and could possibly land them jail time. However, Far Cry was released in April 2009 in the Netherlands. The US release was, in fact, November 2009.
The case basically unhinges after that, and the only argument he really has left is that the majority of law-suits by USCG were for either issued before November 2009 (limiting maximum penalty to actual damages - or about $25), or were for infringement occurring before November 2009. In both cases a $1500 settlement threat could be considered coercion. That would mean the racketeering claim might still stand, but I'm not sure anything else would. I don't think an offer to settle for $1500 even though the maximum penalty is about $25 is illegal, and I don't believe insinuating a $300k per item penalty is illegal, since I believe what is stated in the settlement offer is factually correct (there have been $300k+ judgments before, but in these types of cases the statutory damages have limits to about $7k, if I remember correctly). The combination and the fact that they send these letters to people they know cannot afford representation, combined with the fact that they have never, ever sued anyone who rejected their offer, should make the racketeering case a decent option.
He is also attempting to push the issue that these mass-multidefendant lawsuits are frivolous and waste the court's time - the exact charge USCG leveled against the lawyer selling DIY motions to dismiss kits. That might be fruitful too (it's the one I really want him to win).
Security is mostly a superstition... Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. - Helen Keller
Not only is piracy unethical but it also tells people like Uwe Boll that there is actually demand for his terrible movies.
Netflix streaming is only $8 per month and turns people on to smaller producers.
Hollywood and other big producers make the bulk of their funds from theater and retail blu-ray/dvd sales. The profits from Netflix are pennies on the dollar in comparison. Support Netflix, not piracy.
Let me rephrase - like an ACTUAL pirate, not a curious teen or aging grandma.
We obviously need new terminology. By labeling people who let's say "back up" data as "pirates", the word "pirate" has come to mean something harmless, even cool. Yet the word is still used in the traditional sense to describe people who attack at sea, and destroy rather than create, and kill viciously, and actually take something away from people.
The pirate analogy is a bad one for copying data. The jesus analogy works better I think... he made some copies of fish and bread and distributed it free of charge.
People who copy data should henceforth be referred to as "miracle workers." Now try to paint them in the same exaggeratedly bad light with that name.
Furthermore, I wasn't complaining about being on the receiving end of anything; I am an uninvolved third party in this dispute. You are complaining about "young people" and making a sweeping generalization that they buy expensive coffee.
You are simply not talking about the laws that this legal case involves. You are instead saying that young people in disputes with businesses deserve to be "spanked." And shouldn't "complain" (which in this case means exercise their legal rights based on the laws as they are written).
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