Re: Letter of claim - p2p


"M.I.5¾" <no.one@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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"The Todal" <deadmailbox@xxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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"too" <sorry@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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"Peter Crosland" <g6jns@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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Just got a bloody letter from someone acting on behalf of the makers
of 3D dream pinball saying we have been downloading and sharing a
game and they want £325 pounds off us for costs and this includes the
£25 fee they and to pay KC.

Now the account is in my wife's name and she nor I have done this,
might have
been someone else in the house, but very unlikely, have looked
through all PC's and kids games and nothing.

The law firm Davenport Lyons, who sent us the letter saying they had
compelling evidence that in October, German time zone that a 3d
pinball game was being shared from our PC.

I have of course wrote a letter to Davenport Lyons, refuting the
claim and explaining that no such game is in our possession, however
I have no intention of paying them £325 by return of post which
sounds a scam, they are requesting this as a way of not taking my
wife to court as she is the holder of the account and also there is
no way she is going to fill in any of the documents which in effect
state that we have deleted such software and will not download/share
it or anything form the net again.
To pay up or to sign any of these documents would be admitting guilt
for something not done.

I have no idea what compelling evidence they have, but they have
quoted the time, the file and an IP address which I presume is
dynamic not static, so the information on this could me someone else
as I have been told by someone else, dynamic IP address can get mixed
up and are not concrete evidence.
One other thing its odd, but looking at the date, this was a few days
after we fitted a wireless network.

There are various possibilities.

It could be a scam but frankly it is unlikely because the company would
have had to provide compelling evidence to your ISP to get them to
provide the name and address of the user. How else would they have got
the details associated with the IPS address concerned.

If you have, or had, a wireless network that was insecure then it is
quite possible that, by accident or design, someone else gained access
to your network and used it for illegal purposes.

The machine could have been infested with some form of Trojan software
that turned it into what is known as a "Zombie" machine that silently
uses your computer resources for illegal purposes. Unless you have
effective, and up to date, software to combat this then the machine
could be part of a "Zombie" network. An effective hardware and software
firewall is the way to combat this

Whatever the cause you need to treat it seriously and as a matter of
urgency. I would suggest you take you machine off line until you have
had it checked for any nasties, and if not already done, make sure
appropriate software and/or hardware is installed to protect it in
future.

Peter Crosland


This is way over my head this legal and technical stuff, what is a
zombie, can it share files, so that we can be accused of this and what
does one count as compelling evidence?

If you really do not understand any of these issues it would be a good
idea to write to Davenport Lyons to explain that nobody in the household
knowingly downloads any music or software from the internet, that you are
very happy to undertake to delete any such material that is brought to
your attention, and that you cannot trace their game on your computer so
you are not prepared to make any payment.

You said you have a wireless network. You have not said whether or not it
is secured or unsecured - that is, whether a password or code is required
to enable a computer to connect to the network. If you genuinely do not
know, then you ought to find out. It is possible that a neighbour is
connecting to your network and downloading illicit material. It is also
possible that you or your wife, as account holders, are liable for
allowing this to happen.

I don't really see how he can be held liable for sombody else illegally
stealing software via his network. He may be guilty of carelessness in
not securing his wireless network, but then again he may not be savy
enough to understand that the network needs to be secured.

The copyright owners have made clear their intention of pursuing the account
holder for breach of copyright irrespective of whether other members of the
family might have been responsible for uploading or downloading the
offending material. They do regularly prosecute the account holder, and
have apparently succeeded in obtaining convictions - for instance the
conviction of a Mr Lewis, who operated a bulletin board on which customers
uploaded and downloaded copyright material. The law might not necessarily
require the defendant to be aware of what activities are taking place.

see eg http://www.bpi.co.uk/pdf/BPI_Downloading_Research_250404.pdf
http://www.pro-music.org/guide/pdf-youngpeople-english.pdf


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Relevant Pages

  • Re: Letter of claim - p2p
    ... pinball game was being shared from our PC. ... I have no idea what compelling evidence they have, ... If you have, or had, a wireless network that was insecure then it is ... connecting to your network and downloading illicit material. ...
    (uk.legal)
  • Re: Letter of claim - p2p
    ... pinball game was being shared from our PC. ... I have no idea what compelling evidence they have, ... If you have, or had, a wireless network that was insecure then it is ... to your network and downloading illicit material. ...
    (uk.legal)
  • Re: Letter of claim - p2p
    ... of 3D dream pinball saying we have been downloading and sharing a ... pinball game was being shared from our PC. ... I have no idea what compelling evidence they have, ... If you have, or had, a wireless network that was insecure then it is ...
    (uk.legal)
  • Re: Letter of claim - p2p
    ... of 3D dream pinball saying we have been downloading and sharing a ... pinball game was being shared from our PC. ... I have no idea what compelling evidence they have, ... If you have, or had, a wireless network that was insecure then it is quite ...
    (uk.legal)
  • Re: Letter of claim - p2p
    ... dream pinball saying we have been downloading and sharing a game and they ... game was being shared from our PC. ... I have no idea what compelling evidence they have, ...
    (uk.legal)