Does Comcast get paid for responding to subpoenas? The company may have decided a one-time investment in an expensive lawyer would stop an endless stream of minor nuisances.

ZAZ: Does Comcast get paid for responding to subpoenas? The company may have decided a one-time investment in an expensive lawyer would stop an endless stream of minor nuisances.

I imagine it would slow down the subpoenas (and get rid of Comcast's "concern" for its customers) if Comcast were allowed to charge a fee for the service.

Wait... I didn't think comcast did anything for the consumer?

labman: Wait... I didn't think comcast did anything for the consumer?

They don't. You think it costs them zero dollars to respond to these requests?

They weren't the first to do this (Verizon was, as stated in TFA). But, it may start a trend in an industry that is tired of dealing with the RIAA, MPAA and others.

Honest Bender: labman: Wait... I didn't think comcast did anything for the consumer?

They don't. You think it costs them zero dollars to respond to these requests?

I'll take a convergence of interests over moral purity.

penguinfark: kobrakai: That's all well and good but if you're torrenting and at this point don't know how to hide what you're doing, you are an idiot.

Maybe a dumb question here, but any suggestions other than using Peer Block?

From the people that brought you thepiratebay:

https://www.ipredator.se/

It basically builds an encrypted tunnel to piratebay servers. All your torrenting uses the server's IP. The only person that "sees" you, is them.

Obviously if you have a data cap you can trip it as easily with this as anything else... but no one will see all those dozens/hundreds/thousands of connections except the server at the other end of the pipe... so you aren't nearly as noticeable.

Use a good torrent program with calendar/day planner and set up staggered schedule of fast/slow/off downloading and even someone looking at you closely will be at a loss to confidently say you are up to anything fishy.

VPN tunnel is the only way to fly.

MurphyMurphy: penguinfark: kobrakai: That's all well and good but if you're torrenting and at this point don't know how to hide what you're doing, you are an idiot.

Maybe a dumb question here, but any suggestions other than using Peer Block?

From the people that brought you thepiratebay:

https://www.ipredator.se/

It basically builds an encrypted tunnel to piratebay servers. All your torrenting uses the server's IP. The only person that "sees" you, is them.

Obviously if you have a data cap you can trip it as easily with this as anything else... but no one will see all those dozens/hundreds/thousands of connections except the server at the other end of the pipe... so you aren't nearly as noticeable.

Use a good torrent program with calendar/day planner and set up staggered schedule of fast/slow/off downloading and even someone looking at you closely will be at a loss to confidently say you are up to anything fishy.

VPN tunnel is the only way to fly.

also,

remember to use this in concert with a firewall that can say "vpn traffic on, everything else off (except initial vpn connect handshake)" so that if something trips up your tunnel, the traffic just doesn't start using your regular connection and defeat the entire purpose.

there are how-to's on ipredator's website to guide you through all that

MightyPez: MurphyMurphy: VPN tunnel is the only way to fly.

I'm more of a seedbox proponent.

What prevents the IP holders from finding the logs of the seedbox or who was paying for it? Also, wouldn't a seedbox seem to imply you wanted to activly distribute the content, instead of just downloading it for your personal use? Ditribution is where the big fines kick in.

Detinwolf: Usenet

The first rule of Usenet is that you don't talk about Usenet

I got hit by a copyright troll (my motion got their subpoena quashed and the case was then dropped), but yeah, they just fire up an illegal torrent themselves and write down all the IPs on it. And that was one of my points: they alleged that my IP was present at something like 4:32:43 am on a Tuesday...not only would my computer have been off then, but it would have been hard to download a usable portion of "Booty Trouble 7" or whatever in that one second they claimed I was violating their copyright.

Also: the defendants were improperly joined as there's no direct relationship between torrent users and therefore no criminal conspiracy.

Also also: IP is not identity.

Also also: the IP you see is not necessarily the real IP.

Spending a week researching and crafting my motion, to have it work, felt great.

Scrotastic Method: And that was one of my points: they alleged that my IP was present at something like 4:32:43 am on a Tuesday...not only would my computer have been off then, but it would have been hard to download a usable portion of "Booty Trouble 7" or whatever in that one second they claimed I was violating their copyright.

Your claim that your computer was off shouldn't be important at early stages of the dispute. It's a disputed question of fact: they say it was on, you say it was off.

Also: the defendants were improperly joined as there's no direct relationship between torrent users and therefore no criminal conspiracy.

Improper joinder seems to be the popular defense theory recently. When successful it really changes the cost-benefit analysis for the plaintiffs.

ShawnDoc: Ditribution is where the big fines kick in.

No one cares about leeches. Show me one court case where a person was targeted for downloading. They care about uploaders because they're the ones illegally distributing copyrighted works, which is what people get nailed on in regards to pirating.

/Leech
//No honor amongst thieves, er... pirates.

Honest Bender

I heard of one downloader being targeted a few years ago, but I can't give a citation. It's at least rare enough not to worry about. You have a better chance of being run over by a bus.

ZAZ: Improper joinder seems to be the popular defense theory recently. When successful it really changes the cost-benefit analysis for the plaintiffs.

There are lots of cases where it works, I found dozens when prepping my motion. Lots of judges like to sever Does 2 and all the rest, allowing the subpoena to move forward against Doe 1, and allow the troll the option to refile separately. They never do.

TheMikeP: I'm in the same situation right now and finding a lot of the same information you are describing here. The fact that you were successful greatly encourages me.

I'd love to hear more about how you fought it.

My motion was about 12 pages long: just write a really good research report, backed up with case law. Google will find you everything. Here's a good article that touches on the main points:

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/05/furious-judge-decries-bliz z ard-of-copyright-troll-lawsuits/

Remember, two critical things: DO NOT USE YOUR REAL NAME. Because all they're after is your name so they can harass you. Identify yourself as you're ID'd on their list, "Doe Defendant #43" or whatever. And, you're not arguing that you didn't do it, that comes later, you're arguing that based on the evidence presented there's no way they could show that you did it (IP, identity, time) and that the suit is flawed since you can't join torrent users together (google "improper joinder").

Put an email in your profile and I'll email you what I wrote. Probably save you your weekend, just change the names, docket, etc.

But no guarantees. I am not your lawyer, and am not in fact a lawyer at all.