Help I'm being accused of copyright infringement
Hero
formerly known as XGPHero Icrontian
this is not a post about getting away with piracy. Please do not advise on that issue, as I don't want this thread to be closed. I do not participate in movie or music piracy of any kind.
That being said my ISP is accusing me of downloading hot tub time machine 2 illegally. I hated the first one. Anyway they are insisting that I downloaded it and they claim that the download was on my laptop IP address. What can I do? They are straight up harassing me.
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Your ISP is the one giving you issues? Or is it another entity? If it is your ISP who is your ISP? Also there are some viruses that feign piracy but they usually use uber popular Torrents like GoT.
Please post a picture of one of the letters. Don't forget to anonymize any personal info.
My ISP (exceed) is the one contacting me. It is Some other entity actually seeking "settlement" but since my ip info is private and protected, my ISP is acting as middleman.
I don't have a copy of the letter handy. In fact to be perfectly clear it is my step dads Internet and I don't see him giving me a copy aside from letting me look at the emails he has been getting.
There is a chance it is a scam and you need to rule that out before you stress about it. Have you or your step dad actually spoken with a representative at your ISP about this to confirm the legitimacy?
Okay, so, you're getting this info second hand. You haven't seen the letters? Here's a couple things, just FYI:
First: ISPs typically send some scary letters, but often, they are worded vaguely, using language about warnings and such, as if something more serious might come later. If someone was going to sue you, they would not communicate with you through the ISP. They would get a court order to have your identity turned over by the ISP, then they would serve you with court papers. They would not warn you. This almost never happens. There are some scary stories from years back, but mostly the practice of sueing individual users has fallen by the way.
Second: There is no way for them to know which PC the request came from. They only know the WAN-IP, and only because an interested third-party told them that they saw illegal traffic coming from that IP. The ISP could not care less what you steal, it's not their shit.
Third: Even that third party, only cares about uploading, not downloading. The warnings are always in reference to stuff that you shared with others, not stuff that you stole.
Fourth: If you're not actually stealing anything, you are pretty safe to ignore these notices. If it gets to a point they try to throttle your access unjustly, then you can order an independent review of your internet traffic to show that you are not the culprit. (The owner of the account can, that is)
Thanks guys
I'm guessing this is either a cable modem or DSL setup of some kind. I'm also guessing that there are multiple computers in the house.
So here's the deal... they cannot say with any kind of certainty that a file was downloaded to any particular computer. The closest they can get is the IP address assigned to a router. They have no way to see beyond that router.
How secure is the router? Is there any way someone could have "borrowed" the connection from outside the house?
The ISP account is your step dad's and they sent the letter to him? They aren't targeting you.
Furthermore, if you didn't download the file, it shouldn't be on your laptop. Protip: make sure your computer account has a password on it, you don't allow auto-login, and that you log off or lock your screen whenever you aren't at the computer.
What it sounds like is someone downloaded a shitty movie and they're trying to pin it on you. You have nothing to worry about but should still cover your ass.
Former contract negotiations and sorta kinda legal guy here. First... You don't pay, you don't admit your did anything wrong, ever... even if you did. This is a new target of junk debt collection companies. See here is how it works. They cast 1000 lines in the water hoping to catch a couple fish. Don't bite, they are not going to take you to court because it is too expensive. If they threaten legal action, document it. You may be able to counter sue them if they threaten action and do not follow through. If the correspondence becomes bothersome after ignoring it for a little while, contact me, I'll teach you how to write a proper cease and desist basically warning them that they are unlawfully harassing you and that any further correspondence on their behalf will have to be filed in a court of law or you will be within your rights to sue them for harassing you that will be the last you will ever hear of it.
Update: my step dad is convinced I did it and he got a second notice about iron man 2 (I have that on DVD). He threatened to "turn off [my] internet if [he] cant trust me". I told him that he should do exactly that. If he removes my access, then when he gets another notice he will have proof that it wasn't me. So resolved for now.
Wow, that's just crappy. Seems like he doesn't understand what he is talking about or is doing the illegal work and blaming you.
/Internet off
Nope. Then you've somehow hacked his computer