Shadowrun Pub
General => News => Topic started by: Gabriel on October 06, 2007, 06:51:51 PM
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Hoi Chummers,
Well it looks like I may be getting sued or arrested. Although I am really not sure yet. I recieved the following e-mail from Comcast, my loal ISP. I'm kind of worried. Can anyone advise? Please respond ASAP!
Gabriel
Notice of Action under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act
Abuse Incident Number: NA0000004302421
Report Date/Time: Fri, 5 Oct 2007 17:36:06 -0700
MICHAEL FREEMAN
XXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXX, SC XXXXX
Dear Comcast High-Speed Internet Subscriber:
Comcast has received a notification by a copyright owner, or its authorized agent, reporting an alleged infringement of one or more copyrighted works made on or over Comcast's High-Speed Internet service (the 'Service'). The copyright owner has identified the Internet Protocol ('IP') address associated with your Service account at the time as the source of the infringing works. The works identified by the copyright owner in its notification are listed below. Comcast reminds you that use of the Service (or any part of the Service) in any manner that constitutes an infringement of any copyrighted work is a violation of Comcast's Acceptable Use Policy and may result in the suspension or termination of your Service account.
If you have any questions regarding this notice, you may direct them to Comcast in writing by sending a letter or e-mail to:
Comcast Legal Response Center
Comcast Cable Communications, LLC
650 Centerton Road
Moorestown, NJ 08057 U.S.A.
Phone: (856) 317-7272
Fax: (856) 317-7319
E-mail: dmca@comcast.net
For more information regarding Comcast's copyright infringement policy,
procedures, and contact information, please read our Acceptable Use Policy by clicking on the Terms of Service link at http://www.comcast.net.
Sincerely,
Comcast Legal Response Center
Copyright work(s) identified in the notification of claimed infringement:
Title: Shadowrun
Infringement Source: BitTorrent
Infringement Timestamp: 6 Oct 2007 00:21:35 GMT
Infringement Last Documented: 6 Oct 2007 00:21:35 GMT
Infringer Username:
Infringing Filename: Shadowrun
Infringing Filesize: 1019089486
Infringer IP Address: 68.47.12.56
Infringer DNS Name: c-68-47-12-56.hsd1.ga.comcast.net
Infringing URL: http://tpb.tracker.thepiratebay.org:80/announce
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ok unless reading it wrong you recive the notice on 10/5/2007
but the allagde voliations ocured on 10/06/2007
I could be wrong but I think someone is messing with you
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He received the notice 10/5/2007 at 17:36 (-0700).
The infringing took place on the same day at 00:21 (GMT = -0000)
17:35 +0700 = 00:35 GMT
Infringing took place 00:21 GMT, e-mail received 00:35 MT, about 15 minutes after.
Gabe:
Stop downloading that file :P
In the future only use piratebay to get torrents. I stopped using TorrentSpy once I found out they report their server logs so they wouldn't get sued. PirateBay is based in Sweden and they're dedicated to fighting 'the man'
EDIT:
Forgot to mention, my coworker has Comcast and he got a similar e-mail when his brother was downloading something on their connection. Nothing came out of it and he only uses pirate bay now. PirateBay FTW!
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Thanks, Ingo. I have to wonder, though, is this just warning or what? I keep expecting a federal martial to show up at my door with a warrent. Any ideas??
Gabriel
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plus if they were going to sue you or arrest you they wouldnt warn you with a email
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I know that it's probably scary as drek to have this happen to you, but it's probably a scare tactic meant to dissuade you from downloading illegal stuff. I think the RIAA managed to include the ISP in the recent lawsuits, so ISPs are protecting themselves by pushing that crap off on the people who use thier service.
There are a lot of simple ways around it- claim that a friend used your computer and downloaded it without permission. Unless they have a private eye tailing you and keeping track of who you let use your computer and when, you should be okay.
If you're not comfortable with that, stop the download and start it up again at Piratebay. Like Ingo says, they're good and they haven't sold their souls to the Man yet.
Last defense (not a good one) is to claim that you were trying to obtain rare or out-of-print books with it. The company can't fault you for trying to obtain information that they no longer provide, and most of them will be happy that a customer has been so loyal. But I wouldn't trust in that.
I'd go with the first method- this is a scare tactic. I'm fairly certain that Comcast doesn't have any authority to send a marshall to your door, so you don't really have to worry about it.
-kv
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Well, I hope you're right. And since I haven't really heard from them since this happened, well, it gives this runner hope. Of course, I pointed out to my Girlfriend last night that this is EXACTLY what Shadowrun is all about (getting the paydata and getting away clean) and it is a bit hypocritical of FanPro to bust ANYONE for pirating Shadowrun products. ;)
Gabriel
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Comcast reminds you that use of the Service (or any part of the Service) in any manner that constitutes an infringement of any copyrighted work is a violation of Comcast's Acceptable Use Policy and may result in the suspension or termination of your Service account.
Be a good boy or Comcast will turn off your intarwebs.
Generally it's a scare e-mail which is pretty good at stopping most people from downloading stuff. Most people don't realize that every server/hub you connect to keeps a log of your information so administrators can see who connected to what, where, and when. Most people thing that the internet is totally secure and no one can find any information about you unless you willingly give it. Most people are dumb. :P
I now link you to a story:
http://www.shortnews.com/start.cfm?id=65408 (http://www.shortnews.com/start.cfm?id=65408)
Not sure if you've read it or not, but a woman in Minnesota was fined $9,250 for each of the 24 songs she shared on Kazaa. I'll help with the math, that's a total of a $220,000 fine! Ridiculous, I know, but she's appealing and I think she'll win the appeal.
Moral of the story? Don't use P2P programs. Wanna be a cut above the rest? Use Torrent files, but be smart about it and connect to torrent servers outside of the US. Want to be l33t? Use proxies ;)
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Technically, it was a setback for the RIAA, because they tried to charge her for the THOUSANDS of songs she had downloaded and/or shared. They got her on only 24 of them, which I thought was pretty cool, but the $9K apiece was a little steep.
She's actually the first person to take the RIAA to court, so it looks like thier little terror parade is over. It was mostly done with the popularity of iTunes, and it's only getting weaker now.
Yay for the fall of the Evil Empire. ;D
-kv
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Hoi Chummers,
I have been reading your recomendations, but I was a little confused about Pirate Bay. As it turns out, I checked the original post, and it turns out the last line was left off of it. I guess I didn't catch it in the Copy. So I have put it back in. It lists the Pirate Bay as the infringing url, so that seems to say to me that Pirate Bay in not exactly safe. What do you guys think?
Gabriel (NOT a decker)
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Well I went to PirateBay to download files, only I can't get them to open once I download them. Is there certain software that is required? I agree it is a scare tactic, but passing the buck is always the easiest thing to do. I hope it all works out well for you.
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I think Piratebay is full of torrents, so you need a torrent downloader (I stick to bittorrent myself, when I find I have need stolen sourcebook pdfs). Other than that, I don't know what to tell you.
-kv
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I recommend Azureus for torrent downloading. I used to use BitTorrent all the time until I started downloading 4 things at once and the program was eating 4x the memory and CPU time. Azureus can download a whole mess of stuff at once and will only have 1 instance of itself running at once.
Piratebay is kewl in that they know that they're outside of US jurisdicton (sp?). From their home page you can go to view all the legal threats they've received (and their replies!).
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Hmm... Thanks a lot. I'll be sure to get that. I hate to get shadowrun stuff for free, I think they need the money! Perhaps I'll just buy the books... But I'll keep that in mind if the funds get too low. :-\
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Download old out-of-print books. Buy the new ones.
That's how I keep my conscience clear.
-kv
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I agree, but then again I've been thinking about obtaining all of the actual sourcebooks I can. Being as playing Shadowrun has been my only real hobby since it came out way back in 1st edition. In fact it made me happy to see they have "Food Fight 4.0" ;D It is always fun to run, especially when trying out a new edition!
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See, I use BitLord for downloading. But youa re saying that Azureus is more secure? I'll have to give it a try.
Gabriel
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I haven't seen "Food Fight 4.0" -- what book is that in?
(We always called it "Back to the Shack" and made it mandatory for new players to run through it before playing anything else. Made for some funny stories, because sometimes it goes well, and sometimes not so much.)
Anyway, Gabe- other than vaguely threatening letters, anything happened with this?
Did you hear that the lady who fought the lawsuit for hosting thousands of songs, (the one they decided owed the RIAA like $220,000) is fighting the constitutionality of the penalty, based on the bill of rights "cruel and unusual punishment" since the RIAA only loses $.70 per song that's downloaded illegally, and they're charging her the maximum that they can- which is over 1000% of the expected value of the song? So even if they do take you to court (unlikely), there's a good chance that they'll lose. And since they'll have to spend money for a team of lawyers to prosecute you, they'll lose out BIG. Even if you settle out of court for a couple thousand dollars (which you can then stiff them for, OJ-Style), they'll still have to pay thier team of lawyers.
It gives me happy thoughts to know that the RIAA is being reigned in. If I had a little pixie dust, I would be able to fly right now!
-kv
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You can download it here (http://www.shadowrun4.com/wordpress/?p=188)
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Oh, snap.
That's larger than the stuffer shacks I usually draw- mine are typically based on the 7-11 of the tiny variety. I used to work in something of the kind, so I know what sort of crap they stock- and it's always fun to blow it up. Sort of satisfying, actually. ;D
-kv
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Glad I could be of help! ;D
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Well, so far I have yet to do anymore downloading. I'll wait a bit longer before I try any more. To be honest, After the move and getting the new job (which pays much less than the old job) I am hesitant to do anything that might casue me to be fined for anything. I just don't have the money to pay if it happens. SO who knows.
Gabriel
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I'm sure we can find a creative way to get paydata to you ;) I'm sorry about the reduction in pay, I understand how you feel.
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Yeah, Gabe. Don't be afraid to ask your chummers for paydata. If you really want, I'll track down some paydata for you and download it. I can even do it over an unsecured wireless network (my method of choice for hiding my trail), so no one will know where it came from or who it's going to.
If you want. And it's not more trog porn.
-kv
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Echo that, and it would also be over a unsecured wireless network. Just let me know what u need.
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My old favorite used to be school networks, but then the RIAA started getting subpoenas to force the schools to track down who was using what computers when, so that they could sue individual students. When the schools refused, the RIAA tried to sue them, and the schools folded.
So now I steal someone else's bandwidth, and they can claim that it wasn't their computer (which they can prove) and I get away scot-free like a bandit!
-kv
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*Sigh* It brings a tear to my eye to hear such great minds think alike
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Well, here ya go. I guess I'm not the only one getting fragged over. I think I will start looking around for a new ISP next week.
Gabriel
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21376597/ (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21376597/)
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Yeah, I hadn't heard about that- looks like Comcast is ratting out it's traffic.
-kv
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Then companies wonder why their sites get hacked! ::)
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Sometimes it's just a dumb kid vandalizing something. Sometimes the company deserves it.
-kv
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That is very true. :)
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as an old hand at this, I have one word for ya'
PROXY
whenever you do something illegal, they try to track it. they do so with a well documented set of tools.
their tools return an IP address.
they then go to that IP address and say: give us your data or we'll sue you!
if it's someone local, like your local service provider, they fold.
if it's someone in Mongolia they say: 'we no like your face!'
the best part about proxys... is that you aren't limited to just one.
feel free to bounce your signal off of a satalite or two.
trust me, they'll get tired of sending subpoenas into sweeden, norway, and any number of other countries you can send it through long before it gets back to you.
the harder they work to track you, the more layers of protection it takes to block them.
for backup. get deniability.
funds may be tight, but I think that if you look hard enough
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3312457&Sku=L48-V2003&SRCCODE=GOOGLEBASE&CMP=OTC-GOOGLEBASE
you may find an answer to your problems.
and who says that you can't find a plug-and-play solution to all of your problems?
"You downloaded illegal stuff"
"no i didn't. look, I have an unsecured wireless router! it must have been 3v1L H4X0Rz"
"we'll need to check your computer!"
"let me finish formatting the disk first. okay, here you go."
-RuskiFace the pirate