Slashdot Mirror
Judge Dismisses Movie Piracy Case, IP-Address Doesn't Prove Anything (torrentfreak.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from TorrentFreak: In what's believed to be a first of its kind ruling, a federal court in Oregon has dismissed a direct infringement complaint against an alleged movie pirate from the outset. According to the judge, linking an IP-address to a pirated download is not enough to prove direct copyright infringement. In the Oregon District Court, Magistrate Judge Stacie Beckerman recently recommended dismissal of a complaint filed by the makers of the Adam Sandler movie The Cobbler. According to the Judge both claims of direct and indirect infringement were not sufficient for the case to continue. What's unique in this case, is that the direct infringement claims were dismissed sua sponte, which hasn't happened before. To prove direct infringement copyright holders merely have to make it "plausible" that a defendant, Thomas Gonzales in this case, is indeed the copyright infringer. This is traditionally done by pointing out that the IP-address is directly linked to the defendant's Internet connection, for example. However, according to Judge Beckerman this is not enough. In response to community backlash, Oculus has decided to change its DRM policy (again) to allow HTC Vive games to play on the Oculus Rift virtual-reality system.
How the fuck is old news regarding DRM on VR systems related to this case?
Someone is bad at multitasking. One article at a time mates.
Yes, but if you had keys to the car, and so did your brother, and your sister, and your dad, and the guy down the street, it becomes less likely that YOU were the driver of the car during the bank robbery.
What's going on with this case is similar. The judge is saying that the IP address doesn't prove who was "driving".
Mr. Hu is not a ninja.
Which is exactly why I repeated 'plausible' three times as my point is, lets bring out the car analogy, if Mr Johnson owns a car and that car is caught speeding by a speed camera. It is PLAUSIBLE that Mr Johnson was speeding as it is his car. It's entirely plausible. It doesn't mean it wasn't Mrs Johnson driving or Mr Johnson's kid. It may have been stolen and it wasn't anyone in the Johnson family. But it is definitely PLAUSIBLE that it was Mr Johnson.
Exactly the same applies in this case, if the only requirement is whether it is plausible, then surely the IP belongs to Gonzales' account with the ISP so it is plausible it was him.
I'm a Network Engineer and I have worked in the I.T. field for 30 years. I specialize in computer forensics.
This is completely correct. In this age of cyber attacks, malware, ransomware, viruses, and hacks, it is very common for somebody else to seize control over a computer remotely and make your computer do things without your noticing it or leaving any trace.
Anybody ever accused of such a crime, should remember that a vast majority of cases depends on an admission of guilt. a VAST majority. In fact, the only ones that don't are the few cases with absolute no doubt, rock solid evidence of who was "driving", and what they were doing, and that only happens if a person is completely stupid.
FYI, a VPN connection, provides proof that YOU were the person driving since it's password protected and paid for with your credit card.
I'm a Network Engineer and I have worked in the I.T. field for 30 years. I specialize in computer forensics.
This is completely correct. In this age of cyber attacks, malware, ransomware, viruses, and hacks, it is very common for somebody else to seize control over a computer remotely and make your computer do things without your noticing it or leaving any trace.
Anybody ever accused of such a crime, should remember that a vast majority of cases depends on an admission of guilt. a VAST majority. In fact, the only ones that don't are the few cases with absolute no doubt, rock solid evidence of who was "driving", and what they were doing, and that only happens if a person is completely stupid.
FYI, a VPN connection, provides proof that YOU were the person driving since it's password protected and paid for with your credit card.
Really, a VPN connection can only be established by you?
Yet if someone else already has access and control of your pc, likely with a keylogger on the pc, what stops them from using the VPN as you? Nothing, that is what.