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ISP To Court: BitTorrent Usage Doesn't Equal Piracy (torrentfreak.com)

Posted by Soulskill on from the there-will-be-peace-in-our-time dept.

An anonymous reader writes: The music industry has long argued that evidence of BitTorrent is evidence of piracy, and ISPs have generally gone along with them. But now, ISP Cox Communications is pushing back against that claim. They have been sued by publishers for failing to halt service for users alleged to have pirated music. Not only has Cox argued that the piracy evidence is invalid, they're also contesting the idea that BitTorrent is only used for piracy (PDF). "Instead of generalizing BitTorrent traffic as copyright infringement, the music companies should offer direct proof that Cox subscribers pirated their work. Any other allegations are inappropriate and misleading according to Cox." The company says, "the Court should preclude Plaintiffs from relying on mere innuendo that BitTorrent inherently allows individuals to infringe Plaintiffs' copyrights."

4 of 175 comments (clear)

  1. As an avid Humble Bundle buyer, by pecosdave · · Score: 3, Informative

    I have to agree. I get my books, movies, and whatever else I buy from the Humble Bundle (that isn't a video game) using torrents. 100% legit and paid for.

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  2. Re: Programs using BitTorrent by phishybongwaters · · Score: 4, Informative

    I really hope the mindless morons follow your advice and get themselves fined and knocked offline because bittorrent in NO WAY provides a method to pirate and not get caught. In fact, out of ALL the methods you have at your disposal to pirate content, bittorrent is the WORST option. simply joining a swarm without even sending or receiving blasts your IP to anyone who bothers to listen. Even with DHT, you still have to connect to nodes. Without DHT you are at the behest of whatever torrent tracker(s) are in use. Most of which are extremely easy to eavesdrop on. Why would the "feds" want to shut down a major source of idiots for them to harass? I get your post was in jest, but it's so off base I feel the need to warn the morons who might actually think you were being serious.

  3. Re:Programs using BitTorrent by Brad+Eleven · · Score: 3, Informative

    ... also Amazon. The use case is different from getting a copy, more like keeping a copy current, if modified--or updated, if the source is modified. Great for config files and the like.

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  4. Re:Programs using BitTorrent by balbeir · · Score: 3, Informative

    I use BTSync to synchronise my own files to my various devices.

    Same here. And it works like a charm.