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email from Comcast about BT
Posted by: DavidS
Date: May 18, 2012 07:17AM
I just received an interesting email from Comcast which I have never received before. Just thought I'd share below as a means of discussion. My question is this - If I subscribe to HBO, would I still be in violation of DMCA for using BitTorrent to download one of their shows? I downloaded this for personal use and will not be distributing it (I removed the BT data file after downloading) or broadcasting to anyone else.




Notice of Action under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act

Abuse Incident Number: Not Applicable
Report Date/Time: Wed, 16 May 2012 14:54:11 -0700


my name
my address
ATLANTA, GA my zip code


Dear Comcast High-Speed Internet Subscriber:

Comcast has received a notification by a copyright owner, or its authorized agent, reporting an alleged infringement of one or more copyrighted works made on or over Comcast's High-Speed Internet service (the 'Service'). The copyright owner has identified the Internet Protocol ('IP') address associated with your Service account at the time as the source of the infringing works. The works identified by the copyright owner in its notification are listed below. Comcast reminds you that use of the Service (or any part of the Service) in any manner that constitutes an infringement of any copyrighted work is a violation of Comcast's Acceptable Use Policy and may result in the suspension or termination of your Service account.

If you have any questions regarding this notice, you may direct them to Comcast in writing by sending a letter or e-mail to:

Comcast Customer Security Assurance
Comcast Cable Communications, LLC
1800 Bishops Gate Blvd., 3rd Floor East Wing
Mount Laurel, NJ 08054 U.S.A.
Phone: (888) 565-4329
Fax: (856) 324-2940

For more information regarding Comcast's copyright infringement policy, procedures, and contact information, please read our Acceptable Use Policy by clicking on the Terms of Service link at [www.comcast.net].

Sincerely,
Comcast Customer Security Assurance

Copyright work(s) identified in the notification of claimed infringement:

Evidentiary Information:
Notice ID: 315-5991380
Asset: Game of Thrones
Protocol: BitTorrent
IP Address: xx.xx.xx.xx
DNS: c-71-56-59-85.hsd1.ga.comcast.net
File Name: Game.of.Thrones.S02E01.720p.HDTV.x264-IMMERSE [PublicHD.ORG]
File Size: 1410844406
Timestamp: 15 May 2012 01:38:38 GMT
Last Seen Date: 15 May 2012 01:38:38 GMT
Torrent Info Hash: 93fd9a3f8a548e922e379977746ce08387100192|1410844406
Username:
Port ID: 64743
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Re: email from Comcast about BT
Posted by: ztirffritz
Date: May 18, 2012 07:19AM
Are you guilty as charged?



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Nothing to see here, move along.
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Re: email from Comcast about BT
Posted by: space-time
Date: May 18, 2012 07:22AM
I thought they go after those who make these files available for download, not after those who download the files
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Re: email from Comcast about BT
Posted by: moviebiz
Date: May 18, 2012 07:31AM
Quote
space-time
I thought they go after those who make these files available for download, not after those who download the files

BitTorrent forces a user to upload as s/he downloads. Therefore, the user is making the content available.
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Re: email from Comcast about BT
Posted by: Black
Date: May 18, 2012 07:32AM
Quote
ztirffritz
Are you guilty as charged?

I downloaded this for personal use and will not be distributing it (I removed the BT data file after downloading) or broadcasting to anyone else.



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Re: email from Comcast about BT
Posted by: Black
Date: May 18, 2012 07:33AM
Quote
moviebiz
Quote
space-time
I thought they go after those who make these files available for download, not after those who download the files

BitTorrent forces a user to upload as s/he downloads. Therefore, the user is making the content available.

Exactly. The question in the OP is completely moot-- doesn't matter what you subscribe to, if you're sharing pieces of the show with hundreds of others for any period of time.



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Re: email from Comcast about BT
Posted by: Bernie
Date: May 18, 2012 07:34AM
I download all the time through iTunes. I cut the cable company.




Staunton, Virginia
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Re: email from Comcast about BT
Posted by: BernDog
Date: May 18, 2012 07:39AM
First, in their eyes, yes, you're infringing. Anything more than that would need to be proven and decided on in court.

Second, when you use BitTorrent, you're not only downloading it for yourself, you're helping to distribute it to others as well, likely most of them are NOT HBO subscribers. Someone (probably many) downloaded part of that from you while you were downloading it from others (who also weren't authorized to download or distribute it).

I'm not the conscience police (far, far, from it), but those are the facts. As far as the right or wrong of it, don't worry about the letter. Let your coscience be your guide. I do. It'd have to be pretty extreme (I don't even know how extreme) before Comcast would dump you as a paying customer. I get the feeling the service providers really don't care what you do with their bandwidth, as long as THEY'RE not liable for facilitating any infringement. They sent you this letter, so they've done their part (in their eyes, in relation to the copyright holders).
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Re: email from Comcast about BT
Posted by: DavidS
Date: May 18, 2012 07:41AM
Quote
Black
Quote
moviebiz
Quote
space-time
I thought they go after those who make these files available for download, not after those who download the files

BitTorrent forces a user to upload as s/he downloads. Therefore, the user is making the content available.

Exactly. The question in the OP is completely moot-- doesn't matter what you subscribe to, if you're sharing pieces of the show with hundreds of others for any period of time.


Interesting thought that I had not considered, as I rarely use BT. Uploads start soon after you have enough data to send back. I guess I'll have to stick with Usenet.
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Re: email from Comcast about BT
Posted by: mikebw
Date: May 18, 2012 07:43AM
Hmm, pretty sure you can just leech (download without upload) on a torrent.
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Re: email from Comcast about BT
Posted by: cbelt3
Date: May 18, 2012 08:07AM
Nice spying by the MPAA and your ISP. Check upstairs for black helicopters flying overhead ?

The whole purpose of Bitorrent is that the P to P interchange is supposed to be untraceable. Unless you've posted your seed to a tracking site, this letter implies that Comcast is packet sampling. In other words, they are spying on everything everyone does on the internet... at least through their tubes.

CRIPES !
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Re: email from Comcast about BT
Posted by: decay
Date: May 18, 2012 08:16AM
i got one once for Bored to Death (HBO, again ... hmmm).

deleted the files and emailed them back to that effect. no further contact.

btw, not Comcast.





[www.giyf.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/18/2012 08:16AM by decay.
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Re: email from Comcast about BT
Posted by: onthedownlow
Date: May 18, 2012 08:25AM
Quote
cbelt3
Nice spying by the MPAA and your ISP. Check upstairs for black helicopters flying overhead ?

The whole purpose of Bitorrent is that the P to P interchange is supposed to be untraceable. Unless you've posted your seed to a tracking site, this letter implies that Comcast is packet sampling. In other words, they are spying on everything everyone does on the internet... at least through their tubes.

CRIPES !

I will say wrong.

What likely happened is that, like other copyright holders, they have a team that also illegally downloads/searches for its own 'stuff' via BT, etc. When you are downloading something though BT, you can use your client to see all of the IP addresses (e.g. many times individuals) that you are connecting to for seeding/leeching.

They simply jot these down and then contact the ISP with the details of the file, time, etc.

BT is really not too anonymous, even despite the routing and encryption that might be utilized, unless you are using a paid BT service that offers a proxy(ies) and/or its own torrent file-format.



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Re: email from Comcast about BT
Posted by: rz
Date: May 18, 2012 08:44AM
Usenet is great... but only for stuff that's been broadcast recently. If you're looking for something like an episode of something that aired last year, you might have to wait a while for it to just show up. Of course, you can request it.... some groups are better than others as far as filling requests.

I try to use BT as little as possible. And I tend to use it for things that are very obscure, that aren't available for sale. And thankfully I'm not a comcast subscriber.
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Re: email from Comcast about BT
Posted by: Will Collier
Date: May 18, 2012 09:29AM
Quote
DavidS
Quote
Black
Quote
moviebiz
Quote
space-time
I thought they go after those who make these files available for download, not after those who download the files

BitTorrent forces a user to upload as s/he downloads. Therefore, the user is making the content available.

Exactly. The question in the OP is completely moot-- doesn't matter what you subscribe to, if you're sharing pieces of the show with hundreds of others for any period of time.


Interesting thought that I had not considered, as I rarely use BT. Uploads start soon after you have enough data to send back. I guess I'll have to stick with Usenet.

agree smiley
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Re: email from Comcast about BT
Posted by: rjmacs
Date: May 18, 2012 10:09AM
Quote
DavidS
My question is this - If I subscribe to HBO, would I still be in violation of DMCA for using BitTorrent to download one of their shows?

Yes. You would be in violation of DMCA for using any protocol to download one of their shows. Your subscription to HBO does not grant you access to unencrypted files you can keep in perpetuity. Your access to their media stops when you stop paying the subscription, and it's a bit of a stretch to ask HBO to believe that when you end your subscription, you'll delete all your HBO shows on the 'honor system.'



rj
AKA
Vreemac, Moth of the Future
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Re: email from Comcast about BT
Posted by: M A V I C
Date: May 18, 2012 10:47AM
Most BT clients let you choose not to upload, but some seeds wont let you download if you're not uploading. Best thing to do is download, then shut the client off. Leaving it up when you're not downloading, or downloading for extended periods of time is going to create issues, especially on Comcrap. And that's what the OP said he did and still got caught. I guess next time make sure the upload rate is capped at something very low, or try having uploads off.

Quote
rjmacs
Quote
DavidS
My question is this - If I subscribe to HBO, would I still be in violation of DMCA for using BitTorrent to download one of their shows?

Yes. You would be in violation of DMCA for using any protocol to download one of their shows. Your subscription to HBO does not grant you access to unencrypted files you can keep in perpetuity. Your access to their media stops when you stop paying the subscription, and it's a bit of a stretch to ask HBO to believe that when you end your subscription, you'll delete all your HBO shows on the 'honor system.'

Not really. It's called "time shifting" [en.wikipedia.org] Circumventing copy protection to exercise fair use is an acceptable use, as defined by the DMCA.

The biggest issue the OP faces is the fact they're also likely distributing the content to hundreds or thousands of other people. That's clearly a DMCA violation.




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Re: email from Comcast about BT
Posted by: hal
Date: May 18, 2012 11:16AM
Quote
cbelt3
The whole purpose of Bitorrent is that the P to P interchange is supposed to be untraceable.

who told you that? not true...
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Re: email from Comcast about BT
Posted by: AllGold
Date: May 18, 2012 11:22AM
Quote
rz
Usenet is great... but only for stuff that's been broadcast recently. If you're looking for something like an episode of something that aired last year, you might have to wait a while for it to just show up. Of course, you can request it.... some groups are better than others as far as filling requests.

I tend to think it's the other way around. If you're using a paid Usenet server with 600+ days of retention along with NZB files, you're more likely to find old stuff than being at the mercy of whomever decides to seed a file on BT.



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Re: email from Comcast about BT
Posted by: Black
Date: May 18, 2012 11:29AM
Quote
M A V I C
Most BT clients let you choose not to upload, but some seeds wont let you download if you're not uploading. Best thing to do is download, then shut the client off. Leaving it up when you're not downloading, or downloading for extended periods of time is going to create issues, especially on Comcrap. And that's what the OP said he did and still got caught. I guess next time make sure the upload rate is capped at something very low, or try having uploads off.

Quote
rjmacs
Quote
DavidS
My question is this - If I subscribe to HBO, would I still be in violation of DMCA for using BitTorrent to download one of their shows?

Yes. You would be in violation of DMCA for using any protocol to download one of their shows. Your subscription to HBO does not grant you access to unencrypted files you can keep in perpetuity. Your access to their media stops when you stop paying the subscription, and it's a bit of a stretch to ask HBO to believe that when you end your subscription, you'll delete all your HBO shows on the 'honor system.'

Not really. It's called "time shifting" [en.wikipedia.org] Circumventing copy protection to exercise fair use is an acceptable use, as defined by the DMCA.

The biggest issue the OP faces is the fact they're also likely distributing the content to hundreds or thousands of other people. That's clearly a DMCA violation.

agree smiley



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Re: email from Comcast about BT
Posted by: Zoidberg
Date: May 18, 2012 12:16PM
I had this discussion once a long time back re/Napster when I postulated, is it wrong to download the MP3 file if I have the song sitting on a 45 vinyl record in the attic.



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Re: email from Comcast about BT
Posted by: Blankity Blank
Date: May 18, 2012 01:48PM
Quote
BernDog
As far as the right or wrong of it, don't worry about the letter. Let your coscience be your guide. I do. It'd have to be pretty extreme (I don't even know how extreme) before Comcast would dump you as a paying customer. I get the feeling the service providers really don't care what you do with their bandwidth, as long as THEY'RE not liable for facilitating any infringement. They sent you this letter, so they've done their part (in their eyes, in relation to the copyright holders).
As usual, YMMV. I know someone who got the boot after continuing to BT after a letter. They weren't particularly heavy users, but she wasn't exactly keeping her nose clean either. She got back on after about a year. Just switched providers in the meantime. They had to settle for DSL in the interim though.
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Re: email from Comcast about BT
Posted by: rjmacs
Date: May 18, 2012 02:36PM
Quote
Black
Quote
M A V I C
Most BT clients let you choose not to upload, but some seeds wont let you download if you're not uploading. Best thing to do is download, then shut the client off. Leaving it up when you're not downloading, or downloading for extended periods of time is going to create issues, especially on Comcrap. And that's what the OP said he did and still got caught. I guess next time make sure the upload rate is capped at something very low, or try having uploads off.

Quote
rjmacs
Quote
DavidS
My question is this - If I subscribe to HBO, would I still be in violation of DMCA for using BitTorrent to download one of their shows?

Yes. You would be in violation of DMCA for using any protocol to download one of their shows. Your subscription to HBO does not grant you access to unencrypted files you can keep in perpetuity. Your access to their media stops when you stop paying the subscription, and it's a bit of a stretch to ask HBO to believe that when you end your subscription, you'll delete all your HBO shows on the 'honor system.'

Not really. It's called "time shifting" [en.wikipedia.org] Circumventing copy protection to exercise fair use is an acceptable use, as defined by the DMCA.

The biggest issue the OP faces is the fact they're also likely distributing the content to hundreds or thousands of other people. That's clearly a DMCA violation.

agree smiley

Okay. Time-shifting is kosher. Nonetheless, i think it's a DMCA violation whether the use distributes the content or not. Can someone show me where downloading recorded shows via the internet has been shown to be 'fair use' for time-shifting purposes? Capturing a real-time broadcast for viewing later is not the same as acquiring someone else's recording of a broadcast. It's not legal to download someone else's MP3 versions of CDs that you own. You can rip them yourself, but iTunes Match is only legal because Apple has extensive licensing agreements with the record companies.



rj
AKA
Vreemac, Moth of the Future




Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/18/2012 02:37PM by rjmacs.
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Re: email from Comcast about BT
Posted by: Black
Date: May 19, 2012 01:04AM
Quote
rjmacs
Quote
Black
Quote
M A V I C
Most BT clients let you choose not to upload, but some seeds wont let you download if you're not uploading. Best thing to do is download, then shut the client off. Leaving it up when you're not downloading, or downloading for extended periods of time is going to create issues, especially on Comcrap. And that's what the OP said he did and still got caught. I guess next time make sure the upload rate is capped at something very low, or try having uploads off.

Quote
rjmacs
Quote
DavidS
My question is this - If I subscribe to HBO, would I still be in violation of DMCA for using BitTorrent to download one of their shows?

Yes. You would be in violation of DMCA for using any protocol to download one of their shows. Your subscription to HBO does not grant you access to unencrypted files you can keep in perpetuity. Your access to their media stops when you stop paying the subscription, and it's a bit of a stretch to ask HBO to believe that when you end your subscription, you'll delete all your HBO shows on the 'honor system.'

Not really. It's called "time shifting" [en.wikipedia.org] Circumventing copy protection to exercise fair use is an acceptable use, as defined by the DMCA.

The biggest issue the OP faces is the fact they're also likely distributing the content to hundreds or thousands of other people. That's clearly a DMCA violation.

agree smiley

Okay. Time-shifting is kosher. Nonetheless, i think it's a DMCA violation whether the use distributes the content or not. Can someone show me where downloading recorded shows via the internet has been shown to be 'fair use' for time-shifting purposes? Capturing a real-time broadcast for viewing later is not the same as acquiring someone else's recording of a broadcast. It's not legal to download someone else's MP3 versions of CDs that you own. You can rip them yourself, but iTunes Match is only legal because Apple has extensive licensing agreements with the record companies.

Oops-- I wasn't agreeing with the "time shifting" piece-- I tend to think the "time shifting" piece doesn't apply when the content provider clearly didn't intend to do anything more than allow you to view the show at the scheduled airtime. Not the same as purchasing the specific content.



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