Anyone else had a "Copyright Violation Notice" mail from F2s?

[baardhimself]

to the OP: what p2p program were you using? I hear many such as Limewire and WinMX have been forced to shut down or become a Napster-style pay for download situation.

[DKTronics]

Bittorrent, is classed as P2P, and it's currently one of THE most efficient use of file transfer we have today.

Taking the moral high-ground on this "Issue", isn't going to stop me from downloading my US TV show fix.
I'm not taking any revenue away from anybody, as it's not broadcast here in the UK. And any ads that get left in, are not suitable for the UK, anyway, so no revenue lost there.

It's just a shame that these greedy companies just can't see the good that comes of it, rather than their own profits.

Firefly, is a good example of a US show thats made a success because of the sharing community. People have downloaded this great show, have purchased the boxed set(Currently now among THE best sellers), and are now going to the cinema to watch the movie. All revenue, that wouldn't have been made if it weren't for the fans, sharers, etc..
Funny thing is, the show was cancelled due to poor **TV** ratings. And it's the file sharers, who then bought the DVD set, that have helped make the movie, possible.

[plesbit]

If your argument is that the record / TV companies are being very shortsighted then I don't think you'll find too many people arguing against you. But none of that counts when it comes to the legality of it all.

[lonerifle]

So long as we delete the material within 24 hours we would be keeping within the law, right? I make a small living composing for a ringtone company on a freelance basis, and depend on the P2P networks to get the mp3s of songs the ringtone company wants me to transcribe (ie, convert manually from mp3 to midi). I usually remove the files from my hard disk within 6 hours since I generally don't like pop music.. If F2S is enforcing copyrights I'm going to have a lot of problems....

[Krusty]

Ha, you're having a laugh right?!

Nice try though


I imagine WB and co concentrate on the high traffic eDonkey and Fasttrack networks.
Bittorrent is harder for them to target since the window of opportunity is much smaller, and a file could be on multiple trackers.

Using PeerGuardian2 can't be a bad idea either....


Ummm so I've heard, naturally

[3xH]

Originally Posted by lonerifle

So long as we delete the material within 24 hours we would be keeping within the law, right? I make a small living composing for a ringtone company on a freelance basis, and depend on the P2P networks to get the mp3s of songs the ringtone company wants me to transcribe (ie, convert manually from mp3 to midi). I usually remove the files from my hard disk within 6 hours since I generally don't like pop music.. If F2S is enforcing copyrights I'm going to have a lot of problems....

I'd be more worried about all the Law suits that are about to be filed by artists against un-licenced ringtones myself. Eminem has already started, more will follow. So I can see this buisness stopping all together pretty soon.

[artee2]

Originally Posted by lonerifle

So long as we delete the material within 24 hours we would be keeping within the law, right? I make a small living composing for a ringtone company on a freelance basis, and depend on the P2P networks to get the mp3s of songs the ringtone company wants me to transcribe (ie, convert manually from mp3 to midi). I usually remove the files from my hard disk within 6 hours since I generally don't like pop music.. If F2S is enforcing copyrights I'm going to have a lot of problems....

One would have thought that plagiarising material for gain without the copyright holders express permission, would mean that f2s would be the least of your problems

A bit like complaining about window locks as you make a small living from burglary

[lonerifle]

Originally Posted by 3xH

I'd be more worried about all the Law suits that are about to be filed by artists against un-licenced ringtones myself. Eminem has already started, more will follow. So I can see this buisness stopping all together pretty soon.

No worries here, since I'm not the one actually selling the ringtones direct to consumer: That's the company's responsibility.... They claim that they do pay the royalties..

[artee2]

Originally Posted by lonerifle

No worries here, since I'm not the one actually selling the ringtones direct to consumer: That's the company's responsibility.... They claim that they do pay the royalties..

Likewise not a defence, for a pimp who claims it is not him actually having sex

You are benefitting from an illegal act. It is your responsibility to ensure that you are not, and if your employer were paying royalties and had express permission to recreate the music, do you really think his method of obtaining said material would be using you to download it via p2p?

[lonerifle]

Originally Posted by artee2

One would have thought that plagiarising material for gain without the copyright holders express permission, would mean that f2s would be the least of your problems

A bit like complaining about window locks as you make a small living from burglary

Originally Posted by artee2

Likewise not a defence, for a pimp who claims it is not him actually having sex

You are benefitting from an illegal act. It is your responsibility to ensure that you are not, and if your employer were paying royalties and had express permission to recreate the music, do you really think his method of obtaining said material would be using you to download it via p2p?

I do understand what you're getting at: You're saying that if the company really pays the royalties to the artist they would have the means to provide me with the source mp3s to transcribe. Unfortunately the company does little to help us transcribing monkeys, although having said that paying for a music download would be viable. When I applied for the job I already was assured that copyright has been taken care of, and to be honest, I would not know for sure whether the company is doing everything legally (aside from the inference suggested).

[artee2]

Originally Posted by lonerifle

When you mention illegal act, are you referring to the transcription, the marketing of the ringtones, or the downloading of the source files?

All three I'm afraid:

You are reproducing copyrighted material without permission, making a pecuniary gain from said illegal act and by the nature of p2p, distributing copyrighted material without the express permission of the copyright holder.

The role you are playing is no different from someone who burns pirated DVDs and passes them on for a third party to distribute on a market stall in the eyes of the law.

If your employer is legitimate then he will be able to show you documentation and provide another avenue for you to obtain the source material. If not I would seriously reconsider my career choice if I were you.

All the best,

[lonerifle]

Thanks. Like you, I too feel that the company isn't playing by the rules, judging from what I have heard from other parties in their dealings with them. As this is only a small aside, I could easily abandon this and not worry too much about it (i don't make a *real* living out of it, btw). I'll probably give them a buzz and ask them about providing me with source mp3s in the future; at least it eliminates the copyright uncertainty and the P2P problem....

[stevvi]

Unless you're a moral angel, I would just ask the company for written assurance that what you are doing is legal and they do actually pay whatever they have to pay. It covers your ass with minimal fuss...

[donegal]

And I also reckon there's a pretty fair bet that the company won't be giving you anymore work if you start to rattle cages. Then you'll have your answer

[Jumpin_Jon]

Originally Posted by baardhimself

to the OP: what p2p program were you using? I hear many such as Limewire and WinMX have been forced to shut down or become a Napster-style pay for download situation.

I use Shareaza, as it's nicely configurable and supports a wide range of networks and protocols. I'm pretty sure I could configure it to not allow uploads, and I think I'll investigate these peering applications to further obscure my IP.

JJ

[Jumpin_Jon]

In case anyone is interested, here's the content of the "Copyright Violation Notice" mail message I received:

ac: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
adsl: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hi,

We have received the following copyright violation email.

Please remove/delete all copyright data you may have on your systems to avoid any further action.

<SNIP>
Title: Big Lebowski, The
Infringement Source: eDonkey
Initial Infringement Timestamp: 9 Oct 2005 05:35:38 GMT
Recent Infringment Timestamp: 9 Oct 2005 05:35:38 GMT
Infringer Username: HighID|3280543773|E84B2FB75F0E859A70334EC782A86F39
Infringing Filename: The_Big_Lebowski_Xvid_AC3_CD2_BeefStew.avi
Infringing Filesize: 732649472
Infringers IP Address: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Infringers DNS Name: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Infringing URL: ed2k://|file|The_Big_Lebowski_Xvid_AC3_CD2_BeefStew.avi|7 32649472|5EC608A6F8EFFEFC524797D52829CE42|/
</SNIP>

Kind regards,

Technical Support.

JJ

[Krusty]

Yup, eDonkey network, thought it would be.

Great film btw, I bought it on DVD after watching a rip. Go figure...

[Magical-Meow]

heh, its bad enough that yanks bend over to these peice of trash organisations, but now uk isps?

Its a load of coblers. f2s should be ashamed of themselvs. This is not usa (thank god) so instead of bending over to em, f2s should be roddin em.

it is bad enough we have to use ip blocking things so our privacy isnt violated.

[sergiu.panaite]

Well, I can't say I agree. In business, you have to do everything with a smile usually and not upset people, so it's only normal for them to co-operate within the limits of sensibility. I doubt they'd be really keen to kick people off though!

[oddstudios]

How do you know that the email is genuine?

[DKTronics]

How do you know that the email is genuine?

I'm still wondering just that, especially after a few people on Plusnet have had them, and they know now they're fakes.

I want someone from f2s staff to actually comment on this.
They do visit here, don't they ?

[Stephenb]

There have been problems with hoax emails being sent out (the ones i've seen have been related to spam). A genuine email would never have an unsolicited attachment and would always be from freedom2surf.net domain and not .com.

[John R]

Thanks for that Stephenb.
And welcome as a new member of the F2S Staff...

[DKTronics]

I too, thank Stephenb, for the reply.

After seeing the Plusnet guys talking about hoax emails, I knew this was going to be the same.

Puts my mind at rest, now I can carry on enjoying my f2s net, at the great speeds I've been getting lately.

[Stephenb]

Thanks guys. Just to be clear though, I wasn't saying the email that the original poster received was fake, only that some people have been getting hoax emails and how to tell them apart.