Beware illegal downloaders: Data is being collected on you to crack down on piracy in

[oilyfan]

http://www.calgaryherald.com/enterta...323/story.html

I am sure of marginal interest to some people here. Just for general knowledge, and academic discussion.

If you’re watching an illegally downloaded movie, someone could be watching you.

A forensic software company has collected files on a million Canadians who it says have downloaded pirated content.

Logan said the court decision means Canadians must realize they could be held liable for illegal downloading and statutory damages of up to $5,000.

“I think the end game actually is to try and make a dent in the downloading activity,” said Sundara Rajan. “What we are doing is following in the footsteps of an American approach here which has been to try to target individual users and set them as examples of what can go wrong if your illegal downloading activity is discovered.

[Acey]

Tell 'em to COME AT ME.

[SebC]

Thank you Conservatives for setting up the legal framework under which copying something you'd have never bought anyways somehow justifies statutory damages!

[polak]

The max is 5 G's right? I better start downloading in bulk to get my money's worth.

[FlameOn]

Don't really agree with the whole six strikes and you get cut thing the US has going. Mind you once the US started implementing something like this it was only a matter of time before we followed.

Never a better time to start looking at VPNs and usenet if you aren't already using those.

[TurnedTheCorner]

Originally Posted by SebC

Thank you Conservatives for setting up the legal framework under which copying something you'd have never bought anyways somehow justifies statutory damages!

[Yakbutter]

How is it possible to tell who EXACTLY is on the other end of a download (if that makes sense). I mean yeah they could find IP adress but how could a person ever be tied to it?

And how would these cases proceed? Criminal court? How is it feasible to send "millions" of people through the court system.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Yakbutter

How is it possible to tell who EXACTLY is on the other end of a download (if that makes sense). I mean yeah they could find IP adress but how could a person ever be tied to it?

Said every caught pedo...........


Not saying you are a pedo.

[Yakbutter]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

Said every caught pedo...........


Not saying you are a pedo.

Finding the IP with a strong link to illegal materials then examing the contents of the harddrive to tie it to the person basically. It makes sense to have police on top of things like child pornography as people are obviously being harmed. However I don't see how it's realistic to enforce the law on illegal downloading.

People used to copy cassette tapes back in the day. Illegal downloading has existed in some way for decades when you think about it. This situation of going after people using illegal downloads seems like big business trying to scare people into buying overpriced products while they refuse to adapt to the current situation of the market.Which is people don't pay for music or watch live TV.

[Kjesse]

Parts of this legislation represent needed steps in the right direction. The $5000 liability cap is a huge deal, as it prevents some of the gross injustices seen in the US, as in where some people have been liable for $100,000+ for possessing (or more accurately, sharing) $200 worth of pirated content.

My biggest concern is that the digital lock provisions are too tight. Even then, since damages are limited to actual damages, it pretty much means the law won't be enforced for individuals doing it in their home.

This is what the digital lock provision does: It makes it illegal to defeat the copyright owners' encryption. In other words, if you like to use a home server, and buy blu-ray discs, ripping the blu-rays to your server so that you can watch all your movies without walking to your blu ray player and putting the disc in, is now illegal, even if you own the disc and aren't merely "borrowing or renting" it.

As an owner of a home server, I'm now potentially offside as I have my entire collection ripped. That being said I did it before this law came into effect, so I'm probably OK unless I buy another blu ray and rip it, I which case I might be liable for only that transgression-- my prior activities were legal, at the relevant time.

So I'm going to stop buying blu-rays as a form of protest, unless I REALLY like the movie. In any event the landscape is clearly moving to a subscription model whether I like it or not, and even though it will actually save me money in the long term. I find that the streaming services do not have the same sound and video quality compared to when you have the content locally. The sound is downgraded, and you end up with compression artifacts in your video.

That being said, for a home user, there is really no chance you'll ever be sued or charged if you rip your own blu-rays to your own server-- within the confines of your own home, no one would really know. The problem is that it is illegal and there's really no good reason for that to be.

For those who use bit torrents to download movies and music, I expect a small group of people are about to be made an example of in the near future, but mostly for the chilling effect it will have.

And yes, your ISP knows who you are based on your IP. With this legislation the copyright owner has the ability to force your ISP to disclose the identity of which customer was using the particular IP address at the relevant time. That would cost them a lot of money in court costs, but I'm certain they're going to try, at least to make an example.

[d_phaneuf]

The court case dealt with 50 IP addresses (unique identifiers assigned to computers and other devices on a network) who allegedly illegally downloaded NGN Prima Production’s movie Recoil.

I would imagine the fact that they have kept track of the people who downloaded that movie, and not something popular means that they still don't have much jurisdiction up here from American companies

[Kjesse]

Originally Posted by diane_phaneuf

I would imagine the fact that they have kept track of the people who downloaded that movie, and not something popular means that they still don't have much jurisdiction up here from American companies

An American company has copyright enforceable in Canada for their work whether they created the work in the US or Canada. An American company has the legal right to sue in Canada for damages. So, jurisdiction is not an issue.

The bigger issue is they'll want to make sure they get the right precedent from the get go. I think they've picked an obscure movie as opposed to a blockbuster for the purposes of making an example and testing how the courts will react, and also for public perception -- they don't want the whole country to live in fear that they might be liable because junior downloaded "The Amazing Spider Man" on his laptop in his bedroom. It could cause the matter to become a mass public issue, which the copyright holders do not want.

They need to start small and build precedent with the courts. Until they've achieved that they're unlikely to do anything which would cause public backlash. It has nothing to do with jurisdiction.

[TurnedTheCorner]

That's a lot of writing for someone who wants to watch all your movies without walking to your blu ray player and putting the disc in.

[Kjesse]

Originally Posted by TurnedTheCorner

That's a lot of writing for someone who wants to watch all your movies without walking to your blu ray player and putting the disc in.

In case you couldn't tell, I also deal with intellectual property issues on a daily basis as part of my job.

[TurnedTheCorner]

It's all good man - just an observation.

[Caged Great]

I find this whole thing stupid. I've downloaded movies and tv shows in the past (haven't in a few years actually, it was before netflix even had a Canadian site) and then enjoyed them and then bought either the movie or the full season/series of the show afterwards (usually blu-ray).

The entertainment industry has actually benefited from my prior downloads as I would not normally purchase things in hopes in might be good. I do understand if all you do is download tons and tons of stuff, as that makes total sense, but it would help if things like Netflix in Canada would have everything of everything on there so you wouldn't have to go to alternate methods to find things. Realistically if there was everything available for download legally, I know there'd be no reason for anyone to download things illegally.

[Erick Estrada]

I'm okay with this kind of thing getting ramped up. I guess I'm old fashioned in that I don't believe in piracy.

[Kjesse]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I'm okay with this kind of thing getting ramped up. I guess I'm old fashioned in that I don't believe in piracy.

That's a deep thought in the tradition of Jack Handey. Piracy is wrong, the battleground is fair use, or in Canada fair dealing. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use

[saskflames69]

With all the lousy movies they keep churning out these days, The Pirate Bay is a bored man's best friend.

$30 for a movie I may or may not like? Lick my balls, Hollywood.

[Mike F]

My friend is wondering whether you'll see a crackdown on downloading TV content or just movies. Virtually everything my friend downloads are TV episodes / series, including tonnes of BBC documentaries.