They might not know its a mistake and will drop the case, no one wants to sue when they know they are losing.
First time getting sued, Info needed. - Page 3
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Ryps
Romania2740 Posts
They might not know its a mistake and will drop the case, no one wants to sue when they know they are losing. | ||
Postaldude
Sweden180 Posts
On September 30 2010 03:13 PaD wrote: Did you contact them and tell them you never downloaded the movie Blood and maybe they are making a mistake ? They might not know its a mistake and will drop the case, no one wants to sue when they know they are losing. They are suing to squeese money. But if the accused has any knowledge about this stuff he will overwhelm them and there's nothing they can do but turn it down, it's basicly a cheap and really cheap way of getting extra monies which in all is all what they care about | ||
No_Roo
United States905 Posts
On September 30 2010 03:03 Postaldude wrote: As I tried to point out (i suck at forums really i hate discussing on it im much better verbally) there is no way they can prove you are actually guilty unless they confiscated your computer and found the file there, no way. Only one to blame if you lost the case is yourself/lawyer for not pushing this Well the other way they can prove it is if he admits guilt, which is probably the most common way people lose a case like this. A lot of people have a habit of admitting to perceived lesser crimes to get away from a bigger charge, while that might work on your girlfriend it is a very poor strategy in a courtroom. Outside of those two situations I'm not aware of any way they can prove guilt. + Show Spoiler + "Yep, I slept with your sister sorry ![]() Result: gg "No baby I didn't sleep with her, we were drunk and kissed each other." Result: girlfriend might give you a walk. "No I wasn't driving 85mph in a 65mph zone, I was only driving 68mph" result: you just admitted to speeding and are found guilty in a court room. By that extension, do not go into a court room and say "I didn't download Blood, I downloaded Blood+" The judge will be much less sympathetic to you since you have at that point admitted to unauthorized downloading of some other copyrighted material. | ||
Postaldude
Sweden180 Posts
On September 30 2010 03:15 No_Roo wrote: Well the other way they can prove it is if he admits guilt, which is probably the most common way people lose a case like this. A lot of people have a habit of admitting to perceived lesser crimes to get away from a bigger charge, while that might work on your girlfriend it is a very poor strategy in a courtroom. Outside of those two situations I'm not aware of any way they can prove guilt. + Show Spoiler + "Yep, I slept with your sister sorry ![]() Result: gg "No baby I didn't sleep with her, we were drunk and kissed each other." Result: girlfriend might give you a walk. "No I wasn't driving 85mph in a 65mph zone, I was only driving 68mph" result: you just admitted to speeding and are found guilty in a court room. By that extension, do not go into a court room and say "I didn't download Blood, I downloaded Blood+" The judge will be much less sympathetic to you since you have at that point admitted to unauthorized downloading of some other copyrighted material. Indeed It's all about being persistent and know the fact that they are the weak side not you. Also i like your analogy | ||
Icemind
Germany570 Posts
On September 30 2010 02:59 RaptorX wrote: also i do find it doubtful that they can even prove that I downloaded the file considering that i have 2 pcs behind this router and this router has wireless connection on which even though password protected i have seen guys cracking wireless pass with my own eyes... thats the reason i mentioned earlier that their case might not hold up in court, but i might be wrong as i have never been to court before. Actually this is rather bad for you since in germany you can be held legally responsible for any law infrigements done via your connection. Meaning that the person whose name is on the contract with the isp (i assume this to be you) is the one thats gonna be held accountable no matter who used that connection. This is another reason why you should really try hard(er) to protect your network. That beeing said, if you happen to NOT be this person you can just laugh at their demands no matter if you did download that movie or not since you are not the legally accountable person. Although said person might get a little angry at you in that case ![]() Apart from that you should definitely not give into their demands since the rule dudel linked to applies if this is your first offense so you couldnt be charged for more than 100 € anyway. And for that you still would need to be proven guilty first, which i personally deem unlikely since this sounds completely like one of those scare-mails in which the demanding party has no legally sound proof whatsoever. | ||
Ryps
Romania2740 Posts
On September 30 2010 03:15 No_Roo wrote: Well the other way they can prove it is if he admits guilt, which is probably the most common way people lose a case like this. A lot of people have a habit of admitting to perceived lesser crimes to get away from a bigger charge, while that might work on your girlfriend it is a very poor strategy in a courtroom. Outside of those two situations I'm not aware of any way they can prove guilt. + Show Spoiler + "Yep, I slept with your sister sorry ![]() Result: gg "No baby I didn't sleep with her, we were drunk and kissed each other." Result: girlfriend might give you a walk. "No I wasn't driving 85mph in a 65mph zone, I was only driving 68mph" result: you just admitted to speeding and are found guilty in a court room. By that extension, do not go into a court room and say "I didn't download Blood, I downloaded Blood+" The judge will be much less sympathetic to you since you have at that point admitted to unauthorized downloading of some other copyrighted material. Do you really think that if he admits to have pirated some other movie the judge will rule in the favor of another company ? I can tell to the op from experience, you want to avoid lawyers and sueing they cost a lot of money, time and stress. | ||
RaptorX
Germany646 Posts
Well the other way they can prove it is if he admits guilt, which is probably the most common way people lose a case like this. A lot of people have a habit of admitting to perceived lesser crimes to get away from a bigger charge, while that might work on your girlfriend it is a very poor strategy in a courtroom. Outside of those two situations I'm not aware of any way they can prove guilt. + Show Spoiler + "Yep, I slept with your sister sorry ![]() Result: gg "No baby I didn't sleep with her, we were drunk and kissed each other." Result: girlfriend might give you a walk. "No I wasn't driving 85mph in a 65mph zone, I was only driving 68mph" result: you just admitted to speeding and are found guilty in a court room. By that extension, do not go into a court room and say "I didn't download Blood, I downloaded Blood+" The judge will be much less sympathetic to you since you have at that point admitted to unauthorized downloading of some other copyrighted material. true, I was not planning on saying those things on the court, but i needed to mention those things here to avoid flame wars about whether i did it or not. I am true to myself, and i just mentioned it in here to clarify but I am aware that "everything you say might be used against you in court" so I will take as much advice as you guys throw at me as possible. :D | ||
Pandonetho
Canada321 Posts
It'd REALLY suck to go to court thinking you never downloaded it but did and then bam, evidence comes up showing that you did download it and you're screwed. | ||
RaptorX
Germany646 Posts
On September 30 2010 03:30 Pandonetho wrote: Are you 100% positive you didn't download it? I mean, it was a whole year ago, and people are forgetful. It'd REALLY suck to go to court thinking you never downloaded it but did and then bam, evidence comes up showing that you did download it and you're screwed. I am 100% sure. | ||
Grebliv
Iceland800 Posts
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Grettin
42381 Posts
Stupid question, but are you sure any of your friends haven't downloaded anything like that or someone you might know. | ||
Lennon
United Kingdom2275 Posts
Edit: There's no way you'll end up alone in this situation if you seek help. | ||
Postaldude
Sweden180 Posts
On September 30 2010 03:40 Fantistic wrote: If I was in your situation, I'd go to a Lawyer. There are plenty of law firms available in England. I would imagine it's the same in Germany. You need to find out if it's a scam or not. At that point, your lawyer will help you with everything else. Edit: There's no way you'll end up alone in this situation if you seek help. From what i've read on the internet etc its a hellhole in england with piracy compared to anywhere else pretty much. ISPs freely work with the big companies in court to get you convicted and the ISPs dont stand up at all against ridiculous money hungry companies and give them all info they can on your connection etc. | ||
ckw
United States1018 Posts
Some collection agencies do the same type of thing out here, which is illegal. They will call you'r home pretending to be an officer of the law and tell you to either pay you'r full amount owed to them or they will be raiding you'r home with a warrant for you'r arrest. This was working for a while until people started calling the REAL police and finding out what was going on. Many of these collection services have been dismantled and owners thrown in jail. I really think you're getting the same B.S. I was getting for small file download's. When I never responded I got 3 more letters every 2 weeks claiming that this was my final chance and the wording was getting firmer and actually pretty rude. I finally called them and told them that I would like to take them up in court and my lawyer would be contacting them soon, (which I made up) and never heard from them again. I don't want to tell you what to do and I am no one to say that the letter you received is faulty but I really think you'r wife is right in a way. It's most likely not a scam but it is just a load of crap to make some money. Contact someone who knows there stuff and don't take anyone here's word for it, you could get screwed. Find a lawyer and get a consultation, which is many times free and they will enlighten you to what you'r options are and if this can actually be a problem for you. Good luck, and I hope things turn out fine. Remember, get a consultation from a lawyer! | ||
RaptorX
Germany646 Posts
On September 30 2010 03:40 Grettin wrote: Stupid question, but are you sure any of your friends haven't downloaded anything like that or someone you might know. Thats where i cannot answer for sure. Update on the situation: It seems that the law firm involved with this, started out recently with this activity, their name is Waldorf Frommer, and there is a LOT of germans getting those letters curiously for the exact same amount of 956,00 (i mistyped it before). for any other german having the same/similar issue you might one to check this (german) thread: http://abmahnwahn-dreipage.de/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=78 (thanks to Ropid for sending me that link) As far as i can tell they give almost exact information on how to proceed, they mentioned that the cost for a lawyer on Amtsgericht is ~$10 (if im not misinterpreting then thats hell of a funny price for a lawyer) So i feel more confident now. I thank all of you for being so informative, if you want to continue discussing just go ahead i will be going for now (lots to read and get in order), will check the thread later. | ||
Latham
9553 Posts
Although I limit myself to downloading music from the internet using mediafire/rapidshare/what-have-you, and I rarely torrent, I'm afraid D: Can they sue me for DLing from those places? Or is it just torrents? I wonder what are the odds of this happening to a random person... 1 in a 1000? less? Hope you get out of this safe and sound! GL! | ||
LunarDestiny
United States4177 Posts
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RaptorX
Germany646 Posts
On September 30 2010 03:50 LunarDestiny wrote: Can you post that letter you got on TL so we can have a closer look. Did you try googling looking for similar cases where others who also got sued by Constantin Films? it is a 20+ pages letter and even though i can scan it i dont think anybody has the time/patience to go through all of it. I did search for Constatin films and nothing relevant showed up but see some posts above i got a link from one of the TL'ers that contains a german forum with several ppl complaining about the same thing from the same law firm and all the dates are from now September 2010. So im not alone and i think with confidence that this will be sorted soon, I will however talk with a lawyer and get prepared for the worse anyways just in case. | ||
Postaldude
Sweden180 Posts
On September 30 2010 03:50 Latham wrote: I'm sorry for you, and tbh, I'm a little paranoid myself now O.o Although I limit myself to downloading music from the internet using mediafire/rapidshare/what-have-you, and I rarely torrent, I'm afraid D: Can they sue me for DLing from those places? Or is it just torrents? I wonder what are the odds of this happening to a random person... 1 in a 1000? less? Hope you get out of this safe and sound! GL! private tracker and ur fine really. | ||
venger
15 Posts
If it did come from them seek legal help. Do not agree to anything. | ||
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