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Let me preface by saying that I know piracy is illegal and wrong. I was never a huge downloader in school and have only recently started downloading copyright material because it is so rampant among my friends and extended family. This doesn't make my actions correct.
I was served with the following notice and don't know what it means. It might just be a warning? Or are they serving me and letting me know they're going to take more serious action? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm really anxious.
"Under a policy referred to as "Notice and Notice," MTS Allstream Inc. voluntarily notifies customers when copyright infringement claims are made against them. The company making the complaint identifies the name of the file being Uploaded or Downloaded, the IP address engaging in the file transfer, along with the date and time of the infringement. We use our connection logs to determine which user was assigned the IP address at the time of the violation. At no time does MTS Allstream Inc. share customer information with outside parties."
"MTS Allstream Inc. ("MTS") has received a communication from ESA that states that activities associated with your IP address are infringing copyright.
You will note that the details of your infringement are set out in this communication which is attached for your reference.
Under your agreement with MTS and our acceptable use policy, you are prohibited from using our service to engage in illegal activities, including activities that infringe copyright.
Where there has been a violation of these items by a customer, including the unauthorized distribution of copyright protected material, MTS has the right to take appropriate action against you.
If you have any questions about the challenge that the complaining organization has made against you, please contact that organization directly.
We trust you will comply with our policies and all applicable laws in using our services.
Yours truly,
MTS Abuse Department"
"Dear MTS Allstream:
The Entertainment Software Association ("ESA") is a trade association that represents the intellectual property interests of numerous companies that publish interactive games for video game consoles, personal computers, handheld devices and the Internet in the United States of America, in Canada, and in other countries (collectively referred to as "ESA members"). ESA is authorized to act on behalf of ESA members whose copyright and other intellectual property rights it believes to be infringed as described herein.
ESA is providing this letter of notification to make MTS Allstream aware of material on its network or system that infringes the exclusive copyright rights of and is unlawful towards one or more ESA members.
ESA members are entitled to the full protection of Canadian intellectual property laws, including the Copyright Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-42, as amended, in such entertainment software products.
Based on the information at its disposal on XXXXXXXXXXX, ESA has a good faith belief that the IP address XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX infringes the rights of one or more ESA members by offering for sale or download unauthorized copies of game products protected by copyright, or offering for sale or download material that is the subject of infringing activities. The copyrighted works that have been infringed include but are not limited to:
XXXXXXXXXXXX
The unauthorized copies of such game product(s) or the material that is the subject of infringing activities appears on or is made available through the above-listed IP address. Those items are listed and/or identified thereon by their titles or variations thereof, game-related listings/references/descriptions, or depictions of game-related artwork. Such copies, titles, game-related listings/references/descriptions, depictions, and material that is the subject of infringing activities, are hereinafter referred to as "Infringing Material."
Accordingly, ESA hereby requests MTS Allstream to immediately do the following:
1. Notify the account holder of the Infringing Material.
2. Remove, or disable access to, the Infringing Material detailed above.
3. Take appropriate action against the account holder under your Abuse Policy/Terms of Service Agreement, including termination of a repeat offender.
Please inform us whether you will remove or disable access to the Infringing Material as requested. MTS Allstream or the account holder may contact ESA at the above-listed contact details, with email preferred. Please include the above-noted Reference Number in the subject line of all email correspondence.
Thank you for your cooperation and prompt response in this matter.
Sincerely,
Intellectual Property Enforcement
Entertainment Software Association"
 
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You should PM dAPhREAk, he is at least a lawyer so maybe he can help with this.
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this looks like it is just a warning, make sure not to do it again or you will probably get a temporary disconnect on your internet
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On July 04 2012 18:42 LaSt)ChAnCe wrote:
this looks like it is just a warning, make sure not to do it again or you will probably get a temporary disconnect on your internet
Seriously I'm scared that the ESA is going to sue me.
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It's a warning. Did you upload media for distribution or did you just download stuff?
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On July 04 2012 18:45 Arcanefrost wrote:
It's a warning. Did you upload media for distribution or did you just download stuff?
Downloaded.
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Well, I don't think they're likely to sue you but I would stop downloading for a while.
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When you say download do you mean you torrented it? Didn't know they could catch you for direct downloads... If torrenting don't use public or even easy to get into trackers (pirate bay/demonoid) for new material.
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On July 04 2012 19:32 Jonoman92 wrote:
When you say download do you mean you torrented it? Didn't know they could catch you for direct downloads... If torrenting don't use public or even easy to get into trackers (pirate bay/demonoid) for new material.
It was torrent. I'm not an avid downloader; I've downloaded probably 2 gigs in the last 5 years, so I'm not necessarily knowledgeable when it comes to the do's and don'ts.
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On July 04 2012 18:44 Shai wrote:Show nested quote +On July 04 2012 18:42 LaSt)ChAnCe wrote:
this looks like it is just a warning, make sure not to do it again or you will probably get a temporary disconnect on your internet Seriously I'm scared that the ESA is going to sue me.
I don't know how the privacy laws in your country are, but it seems highly unlikely that ESA even knows who you are. They detected the infringement coming from some IP address. They looked up the IP address, found that it belongs to a provider called MTS. So they informed the provider. The provider has access to the database that links IP addresses to users and informed the user that the IP address belongs to: You.
At the end of the quoted message from ESA they list the actions they ask of the provider, the worst being termination when there's a repeated offence.
I wouldn't worry too much just yet.
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It's clearly just a warning of sorts. Don't worry but stop torrenting.
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On July 04 2012 19:33 Shai wrote:Show nested quote +On July 04 2012 19:32 Jonoman92 wrote:
When you say download do you mean you torrented it? Didn't know they could catch you for direct downloads... If torrenting don't use public or even easy to get into trackers (pirate bay/demonoid) for new material. It was torrent. I'm not an avid downloader; I've downloaded probably 2 gigs in the last 5 years, so I'm not necessarily knowledgeable when it comes to the do's and don'ts.
Do you know what a torrent is.... P2P is always uploading and downloading at the same time. You could set the upload rate as low as possible, but it's still uploading...
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Hong Kong9179 Posts
Get a lawyer. Not an internet lawyer on some forum. A real lawyer that can establish an attorney-client privileged relationship with you.
I am not a lawyer
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Let me preface by saying that I know piracy is illegal and wrong. I was never a huge downloader in school and have only recently started downloading copyright material because it is so rampant among my friends and extended family.
So you know it is illegal and wrong (according to you) but all your friends and family are doing it so you decided to do it?
Then you got warned.
I don't understand the point of this blog. 1/5
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On July 05 2012 01:42 Synwave wrote:Show nested quote +Let me preface by saying that I know piracy is illegal and wrong. I was never a huge downloader in school and have only recently started downloading copyright material because it is so rampant among my friends and extended family. So you know it is illegal and wrong (according to you) but all your friends and family are doing it so you decided to do it? Then you got warned. I don't understand the point of this blog. 1/5
You have never become desensitized to something being wrong? Like Jay-walking or online bullying?
I don't understand the point of this post. 1/5
EDIT: to add some content to this post, I will remind you blatently of the point of this blog post, as was written in the second paragraph of the OP.
"I was served with the following notice and don't know what it means. It might just be a warning? Or are they serving me and letting me know they're going to take more serious action? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm really anxious."
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Aren't they saying that you're trying to offer these things you downloaded for sell or download?
Based on the information at its disposal on XXXXXXXXXXX, ESA has a good faith belief that the IP address XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX infringes the rights of one or more ESA members by offering for sale or download unauthorized copies of game products protected by copyright, or offering for sale or download material that is the subject of infringing activities. The copyrighted works that have been infringed include but are not limited to:
Just blows my mind how they can say that you are offering to sell or upload when you're just simply downloading. I understand when you download a torrent that you can keep uploading it, but I usually stop that as soon as I download. That's almost like a cop saying that you have a dime of bud and your intent was to sell it, not smoke it.
Anyhow, didn't some case get settled the other day where if you have a software liscense of something, say like a SC2 key, then you can sell it personally? Maybe not exactly like this, but close.
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On July 05 2012 03:17 Shai wrote:Show nested quote +On July 05 2012 01:42 Synwave wrote:Let me preface by saying that I know piracy is illegal and wrong. I was never a huge downloader in school and have only recently started downloading copyright material because it is so rampant among my friends and extended family. So you know it is illegal and wrong (according to you) but all your friends and family are doing it so you decided to do it? Then you got warned. I don't understand the point of this blog. 1/5 You have never become desensitized to something being wrong? Like Jay-walking or online bullying? I don't understand the point of this post. 1/5 EDIT: to add some content to this post, I will remind you blatently of the point of this blog post, as was written in the second paragraph of the OP. "I was served with the following notice and don't know what it means. It might just be a warning? Or are they serving me and letting me know they're going to take more serious action? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm really anxious."
So you don't understand right and wrong when you've been desensitized to it and you don't understand a warning when you've been served with it. Got it the first time.
I did read the entire OP, it's something I do before replying.
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On July 05 2012 05:36 Synwave wrote:Show nested quote +On July 05 2012 03:17 Shai wrote:On July 05 2012 01:42 Synwave wrote:Let me preface by saying that I know piracy is illegal and wrong. I was never a huge downloader in school and have only recently started downloading copyright material because it is so rampant among my friends and extended family. So you know it is illegal and wrong (according to you) but all your friends and family are doing it so you decided to do it? Then you got warned. I don't understand the point of this blog. 1/5 You have never become desensitized to something being wrong? Like Jay-walking or online bullying? I don't understand the point of this post. 1/5 EDIT: to add some content to this post, I will remind you blatently of the point of this blog post, as was written in the second paragraph of the OP. "I was served with the following notice and don't know what it means. It might just be a warning? Or are they serving me and letting me know they're going to take more serious action? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm really anxious." So you don't understand right and wrong when you've been desensitized to it and you don't understand a warning when you've been served with it. Got it the first time. I did read the entire OP, it's something I do before replying.
See, there's the thing. You used the word "served" which in this context means more than just a warning. Though MTS is giving me a warning I was wondering what ESA was intending by this (ie are they going to follow other avenues).
You might see in black and white, but most of us have evolved past that.
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Ive gotten 2 atleast of letters, just ignore em!
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Here's the deal. Torrenting works both ways. If you're leeching, you're always feeding as well. The part that they can sue you for is the uploading part, not so much the downloading.
So for future reference, don't torrent, use direct downloads. 
btw what probably happened is they put up a "trap" torrent on piratebay and then tracked the IP addresses of every downloader, then sent those people letters. I got two of these letters a few years back, no follow up, no investigation, no lawsuit no nothing, just letters directed at my IP address, never at me directly. This is just me theorizing, so take from that what you will.
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Get a ip block list, stop uploading(depending on your torrent program you can shut it off completely) and don't download from sketchy sites.
Use magnet links.
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The way you were caught (more than likely, as in I'm very sure) is by your ISP tracking the upload rates of their clients. You must have been flagged for uploading too much information and then a manual check occurred to see what you were up to. Some employee somewhere gave the information they found to someone/something and it resulted in you getting warned.
Just stop uploading and you won't be flagged. Don't download an insane amount of things either.
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Please inform us whether you will remove or disable access to the Infringing Material as requested. MTS Allstream or the account holder may contact ESA at the above-listed contact details, with email preferred. Please include the above-noted Reference Number in the subject line of all email correspondence.
Do not reply to them. Replying with 'I have stopped downloading' or anything would be an admission of guilt. They don't have hard evidence against you until you do that.
Loads of worthless replies here, hope you see this in time.
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On July 05 2012 09:05 CecilSunkure wrote:
The way you were caught (more than likely, as in I'm very sure) is by your ISP tracking the upload rates of their clients. You must have been flagged for uploading too much information and then a manual check occurred to see what you were up to. Some employee somewhere gave the information they found to someone/something and it resulted in you getting warned.
Just stop uploading and you won't be flagged. Don't download an insane amount of things either.
I highly doubt that.
The company that is tracking peers in the bittorrent swarm--in this case, ESA--traced his IP to his ISP and sent a notice of copyright infringement to them. The ISP is simply forwarding the message to him.
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You should be fine, the notice didn't really say anything about legal action and generally isps and others are starting to do this sort of warning stuff in hopes that people will sort of fold over and pay a small fine before any real evidence is given or at least people will be scared enough to stop using p2p.
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On July 05 2012 05:36 Synwave wrote:Show nested quote +On July 05 2012 03:17 Shai wrote:On July 05 2012 01:42 Synwave wrote:Let me preface by saying that I know piracy is illegal and wrong. I was never a huge downloader in school and have only recently started downloading copyright material because it is so rampant among my friends and extended family. So you know it is illegal and wrong (according to you) but all your friends and family are doing it so you decided to do it? Then you got warned. I don't understand the point of this blog. 1/5 You have never become desensitized to something being wrong? Like Jay-walking or online bullying? I don't understand the point of this post. 1/5 EDIT: to add some content to this post, I will remind you blatently of the point of this blog post, as was written in the second paragraph of the OP. "I was served with the following notice and don't know what it means. It might just be a warning? Or are they serving me and letting me know they're going to take more serious action? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm really anxious." So you don't understand right and wrong when you've been desensitized to it and you don't understand a warning when you've been served with it. Got it the first time. I did read the entire OP, it's something I do before replying.
What's illegal and what's wrong aren't identical sets.
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Luckily for you, you live in Canada, where the courts have basically ignored civil cases involving downloading of singular works (for reasons that it's essentially a misuse of the legal system).
More importantly, however, is that no major companies/organizations want to go to court with you. What most of them try to do is send you a "pre-settlement letter", in which they essentially threaten to take you to court unless you pay them the requested fee (yes, it does sound like blackmail). A decade ago, you probably would have been taken to court if you didn't respond. Nowadays it's too costly, so they're really just banking on you not wanting to go to court as well.
Granted, this is all based off of the last few years of legal actions in the United States, where statutory damages will range from $750-$150,000 for a single infringement, so they can use massive numbers to threaten you. In Canada, the damages would be much lower...even with Bill C-61 supposedly passing soon, the cap would be $5000 for a single lawsuit against you...so realistically, a settlement would be a fraction of that.
In addition to this, your ISP has absolutely no legal obligation to cut you off. They are not liable for your actions, or the actions of anyone else, and they also have no desire to play copyright cops for the rightholders. Even if the ESA is considering suing you (and that's a big "if"), you should have absolutely no fear of having your internet disconnected.
Now, everything I'm saying here is obviously the trend of these things, not the definitive course of action, so do not push your luck.
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EPT
