You Are Not Anonymous Bit Torrent users seeing more DMCA letters

Written by Karl Bode

Many broadband users naively assumed that if they stopped using Kazaa and switched to Bit Torrent they'd be out of range of what they view as the great unblinking eye of Sauron - the RIAA. That simply hasn't been the case, as many peer-to-peer users slowly realize that while Bit Torrent is a revolutionary file trading client, it offers no better privacy than more traditional p2p distribution methods.

Anyone with a Bit Torrent client can clearly see the IP address of every other user connected to the same tracker. Whether coming via Cox or Comcast, the DMCA letters are all generally the same. Both recent examples target torrent film and television episode downloaders, and both inform users they won't suffer any punishment if they simply delete the offending material.

"We are writing on behalf of Cox Communications to advise you that we have received a notification that you are using your Cox High Speed Internet service to post or transmit material that infringes the copyrights of a complainant's members," the letter politely informs one Cox user.

"Cox will suspend your account and disable your connection to the Internet within 24 hours of your receipt of this email if the offending material is not removed," the letter adds. So far we're not seeing many providers taking this step no matter what the recipient does.

The MPAA is being more polite than the RIAA (no lawsuits) for the time being, because film downloads have yet to become as popular as music trading. Films generally range from 500 megabytes to several gigabytes; caps and slower speeds acting as a deterrent for now. But as the film industry begins to feel the tugging at their purse-strings, you can expect these letters to become more menacing in tone.

"Protecting" users from the film and music industry is slowly becoming as big of an industry as those industries themselves. The promise of anonymity is becoming a big selling point for companies promising everything from anonymizing software and "stealth" p2p clients to anonymous DSL. The majority of traders have simply fled to IRC. This was taken straight from this website http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/4193.

I honestly thought i was safe guess now i have to think twice before i download stuff

-- Oz (souljah972@hotmail.com), April 08, 2004

Answers

People have also gotten DMCA letters from d/ling movies on suprnova. Last I heard the court overruled RIAA's ability to force isps to send DMCA letters.

-- ubb (demonreaper73@hotmail.com), April 08, 2004.

On another note I am really doubting the promise of new p2p encrypting your ip and file transactions. Winny(a popular japanese p2p client)'s owner promised anonymity, two weeks later he was arrested, although the client lives on.

-- ubb (demonreaper73@hotmail.com), April 08, 2004.

Whoa...

-- Takumi (Takumi_411@hotmail.com), April 09, 2004.

where the hell can i get that software????!!!

-- Pearson (none@aol.com), April 29, 2004.

I believe that it was the RIAA that brute hacked their way into my computer and stole vital windows files. I have the logs to prove it.

-- 2501 (hitokiri_282@hotmail.com), April 29, 2004.

HOLY SHIT, Why the fuck would he/she do that?

-- shortstop (shortstop@narutochaos.com), April 29, 2004.

RIAA cannot possibly hack your computer because it is a felony.

-- ubb (demonreaper73@hotmail.com), April 29, 2004.

I personally have received 3 typed complaints and 1 e-mail from Comcast about violating the DMCA. The reason behind it was because I was running a BT Tracker from my PC. Therefore I was in violation of the Acceptable Use policy. But me just running around downloading from here and there isn't the problem. It was me offering a service to others that they didn't like.

-- forsaken (jenjas@comcast.net), July 03, 2004.

I got a letter from Comcast the other day. It was for a movie. I was using BT. I use peerguardian to log all my connections. When I went to check for a logged ip address at the times they say they found me (twice over a 8 hour period) I found nothing in the log. There were 693 logged connections made in that 9 hour period, but none matched with the times that they saw me with the file. I'm not sure how they got me without it being logged, but they did. Makes me wonder what is going on. BTW never respond to your isp. They will forward your claim of being inocent to the copyright holder along with all of your personal info. If you do not respond, all the copyright holder has is a meaningless ip address and your isp will only have to tell them who you are if they go through a bunch of legal hoops which they don't want to do. Just stop sharing the file and you should be ok.

-- jctoad (jyw@troyjaycees.org), July 04, 2004.

By not sharing the file do you mean not uploading or not running torrent?

-- ubb (demonreaper73@hotmail.com), July 04, 2004.

P2P programs like kazza or torrent are completely legal, if u use the programs that u download only as a demo. that means u either delete over 24 hours or just use 10 bucks to go buy w/e u were downloading.

-- Cheezboi (johnstonye@yahoo.com), July 28, 2004.

Is that true?

-- Super Brother (anarchy0987@yahoo.co.uk), August 01, 2004.

That is definitely not true, it's just some BS made by ROM distributor so they won't take responsibility if someone d/l ROMs from them(seeing as how they're the ones who distribute it in the first place, it probably doesn't work). You cannot download digital copies even if you own the movie or game(correct me on this if you found an article that contradicts it).

-- ubb (demonreaper73@hotmail.com), August 01, 2004.

You fools need to discover DC++. It's like mIRC, but easier.

-- Brian (gfs@sfnks.com), August 03, 2004.

goten is cute

-- ~*AngelGoten*~ (angelgoten@hotmail.com), November 25, 2004.