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RightsCorp To Bring Its Controversial Copyright Protection Tactics To Europe

Posted by Unknown on from the export-grade-copyright-trolls dept.

judgecorp (778838) writes "RightsCorp, the controversial copyright enforcer, is planning to begin operations in Europe. In the U.S., the company scans torrents for IP addresses on behalf of media companies, shares them with ISPs, forcing them to send lawyers' letters (using the DMCA) demanding money from the supposed copyright infringers. RightsCorp says Europe needs its help in fighting piracy." They recently expanded operations into Canada as well.

3 of 196 comments (clear)

  1. Re:RightsCorp by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Well, I happen to live in Canada and these guys are having some real problems pulling off their "jane and john doe" lawsuits here (and rightflully so).
    The position many have taken is these lawsuits are a form of "Speculative invoicing" and the Canadian courts don't allow this (it is considered "fraud on the courts").

    They have also attempted to "bundle" the lawsuits to keep their court costs low, and again this is being questioned.

    You can read more here: http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6805/125/

    I guess given enough pressure from the US canada will take a similar view and start all the lawsuit stuff where single moms are forced into bankruptcy when they would face no such charge had they actually just stolen the CD.

  2. Re:RightsCorp by Microlith · · Score: 5, Informative

    I once worked three jobs to be able to afford 1/2 a bedroom in a two bedroom apartment with three other guys.

    What is this supposed to be, a badge of honor? Or is this stockholm syndrome? "Well I subjected myself to systemic abuse and overwork to just barely keep myself from becoming homless! There's nothing wrong with that!"

    At what point did it become necessary that the government mandate a wage level so that people can live the way they want without incentive to live better?

    At the moment it was obvious that corporations were more powerful than most people, and would would abuse them to the extent they could get away with.

    you think I'm a mean-spirited jerk with no empathy because I want people to have an incentive to get a better life and improve their skills?

    You're a mean spirited jerk because you assume that people who live in poverty have the time and resources to improve their skills.

    Get a roommate or two and pool your resources.

    Which works well for a small subset of people.

    In the richest country that *ever* existed, in an era of post-scarcity (at least here in the US) with productivity through the roof and increasing rapidly, how can we allow the removal of incentives for people to work hard and get ahead and make something of themselves.

    Indeed, in the richest country that ever existed why are people paid such poor wages and so often do without basic necessities (that they can't afford due to said same low wages)? Don't worry, the corporations you exalt are doing a great job at removing incentives for people to work hard by ensuring that hard work doesn't necessarily pay off.

    Your argument strikes me as wanting to tell people the "man" is keeping you down and you'll never succeed so don't work hard and we'll make sure you can live a life of relative luxury.

    No, it's about pointing out how the system is rigged and they are being taken advantage of for the sake of quarterly profits.

  3. Re:RightsCorp by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 4, Informative

    Oh, but don't worry. They are already lobbying for "IP address == real person". The "internet passport" is coming sooner than you might think.

    Nonsense.

    They've tried to pull the "ip address = person" BS for years. And they've been losing, right and left.

    Not just frequency but increasingly courts are recognizing that not only does IP address not equal a person, but that it's not even CLOSE.

    Take my case, for instance. I run an open guest internet account as a public service. Not just somebody next door but anybody in my neighborhood can connect to the internet from my router, and often do. In fact, I just looked and I see that there are 3 people outside my household who have connected just in the last 24 hours.

    Sometimes it's someone living nearby. Sometimes it's someone walking or driving by with their cellphone. It could be someone in a car with a laptop. I don't know and I don't care.