Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Bowdon]

UK Government Publish Guidance for ISP Users Hit by Piracy Threat Letters

The Government’s Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has today published a very basic piece of new guidance that is designed to help consumers who may have received a letter that accuses them of having shared copyright material online via P2P (BitTorrent) file sharing networks.

A number of organisations send such letters (e.g. GoldenEye, TCYK LLC and Mircom) and they usually do so on behalf of the copyright holders, which is apparently still seen as a viable way of both making money and discouraging future abuse. The practice is so questionable that it’s often described as “Speculative Invoicing“.

[Dray]

You mean this? https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/letters-alleging-online-copyright-infringement/letters-alleging-online-copyright-infringement

Can't see why you couldn't just post the link instead of me having to go to ISP review.

[Bowdon]

1. Considering I'm linking stories from another site, I think its only fair that site get some credit for posting their article. Ripping details from an article and not giving them credit is bad form imho.

2. I'm not a bot. I'm a person. If you don't like how I'm posting the stories then your welcome to post the direct link yourself.

I'm posting stories up because I was asked to, after I was doing it voluntarily to spark some conversations off.

There isn't anything stopping anyone else posting stories in this section.

[Dray]

I'm posting stories up because I was asked to

Who asked you to?

[Chrysalis]

Well ispreview are only posting what is posted elsewhere which in this case is gov.uk so the link dray posted is the original source. I can understand his frustration, as he has had to click a middle site to get the real source of the news.

[roseway]

Come on guys! Bowdon is voluntarily gathering news items relevant to this forum and posting snippets with links here. He posted a few such items, and then Kitz asked him if he would continue to do it. If you want more information there are links to get you started. He's providing a service, and your complaining that the service isn't good enough is rather depressing.

[Dray]

He posted a few such items, and then Kitz asked him if he would continue to do it.

Thanks, that's all I need to know.

[lcl00]

He posted a few such items, and then Kitz asked him if he would continue to do it.

Thanks, that's all I need to know.

I would've thought that the "Content Team" title would've made the official nature of it obvious. 

[Dray]

I thought those titles were randomly generated based on post count like other forums

[sevenlayermuddle]

Hmm, I've mixed feelings here.   

Anybody who deliberately and knowingly breaches copyright with the express intent of either saving a bob or two on purchase price, or from profiting by republishing, is no different to me than any other thief.   Good then, that there is a way of tracking them down, and good luck to those
who succeed in prosecutions against the file-sharing users in that category. 

Conversely might it be the case that sometimes, as with patent trolls, copyright trolls emerge, who have no real interest in the breach, merely in the opportunity to profit from technical breaches, that might even have been accidental or unkowing?