| reply to Tong
You are absolutely correct.
"In the event that it is determined, through computer forensic evidence or otherwise ... you are on notice that said actions will be brought to the court’s attention and further associated remedies will be sought against you."
This is absolutely an "I'll tell mommy" threat. They have no legal authority to force this of you at this point.
All they're saying is "If we (voltage) find out that you tried to delete stuff, then we're telling you that we'll tell the courts this if we ever find out."
So I see what they're trying to get people to think. Deleting this information knowing that the movie's existence on your hard drive could hurt your chances in court -- that the act of deleting it could potentially be considered "obstruction of justice."
(That's what I think they want you to feel...)
But I think I see a small problem with this stance: They're requesting that you keep information, and making a legal threat if you don't. And I see what they're trying to get people thinking by putting their mindset in that kind of defense.
But the issue I see with this is:
(A) You would have to call into question the integrity of Voltage's evidence (hearsay, potentially logged data, sources, etc)
(B) The court would have to get a warrant to cease your property -- THAT's when such a legal obligation could be made.
(C) You would still have to be claiming innocence all the while, intentionally (Which, by the way, is NOT easy, but let's assume you were godly enough at lying and had the stamina of stone cold serial killer bull, and you were actually that stupid...)
(D) If you didn't wipe the drive right, go to directly to (F).
(E) If you wiped your drive right, and the evidence still wasn't good enough, they would *still* be grasping for straws to try and prove that you had the file by fast-firing questions at you in court (and to your credit you're probably a GOD at dealing with lawyers if you got this far...). They'd then go at you enough to find actual proof, in a civil court -- which, you'd pretty never get this unlucky...
(F) Assuming that they weren't satisfied with proving that you infringed their copyright, they would then have to actually WANT to fuck you over, to prove intent to obstruct justice, to bringing about more criminal charges (You may even need a separate hearing for that, because I think this is a civil trial, not a criminal trial!)
(G) You are still within your legal rights to free up your hard drive for any reason, so the burden of proof on obstructing justice would be on them.
(H) And somehow the court would have to be willing to hear this farce of bullying crap to pin you on something that affects absolutely no person any further, for a $100-$5,000 infraction!
That's a LOOOONG list to want to fuck someone over, at $100+ an hour, for several thousand people, with absolutely no financial incentive for these copyright trolls to dent your record.
These laws were put in place to treat people fairly in financial transactions, not to ruin their chances of a life ever again. And not to tell them what they can and can't do with their computers in other avenues of their life. Personally, I'd be more than content to see this resolved honestly. You'd be there to straighten out a checkbook because someone feels their civil rights have been violated, in a time where people don't stop to ask whether they had something of value to begin with. Not because the world wants to screw you over or to see you break down in court. If you actually get called to a stand, just don't lie! Be honest. Be open! Tell them you're afraid! You're well within your legal rights to delete a file on your computer with that kind of intent. Your rights have not been halted all of a sudden because of a civil issue. (Because quite frankly, they're terrible movies -- they're not *worth* a purchase, hence why the bulk of people WOULD pirate them instead of giving legal tender for them -- and we should *ALL* more than certainly boycott anything they ever make again, on the basis that they're FUCKING assholes!)
Remember, Canada's on your side!
PS> I wasn't accused, but I'd LOVE to make a legal defense on the nature of their so-called "evidence", because as a Teksavvy customer, I feel that my rights have been violated too with this kind of empty-handed accusation on the internet!
There's an absolute PILE of information on the internet that calls into question the integrity of their claim, before handing out what could potentially be MY name and address on any other day. (Yes Teksavvy, I'm disappointed about this -- you are NOT being responsible for my privacy by admitting defeat and saying "YES" to an allegation that you haven't even SEEN YET!)
If you want a defense that should never even make its way PAST "Voltage vs John Doe" at the court on January 14th, 2013, start with THIS:
»wiki.theory.org/BitTorrent_Track···_Request
SPECIFICALLY, THIS:
Basic Tracker Announce Request
--------------------------------
ip
An optional parameter giving the IP (or dns name) which this peer is at. Generally used for the origin if it's on the same machine as the tracker; otherwise it's not normally needed.
Which can cause THIS:
»dmca.cs.washington.edu/
Supported by section 4.1 in a research paper published from the University of WASHINGTON, saying THIS:
»dmca.cs.washington.edu/dmca_hotsec08.pdf
On these grounds alone, I would call into question how EVERY SINGLE PERSON on their retarded list isn't being accused on the merits of hearsay alone, FROM ANY ONE OF 7 BILLION POTENTIAL ANONYMOUS LIARS ON THE INTERNET.
I would ask them specifically for the logged traffic, and would question them on how they are exempt from THAT colossal fuck-up above. Assuming they were smart enough to get THAT far, I would then question them how they still managed to partake in a peer swarm without violating the very crimes that they are accusing several thousand people of committing, and would ask for the traffic logs to double-check myself during an extended court recess!
PSPS> Tell your lawyers it's called a torrent "CHUNK". Not a "packet" (lol wtf?)
Welcome to the INTERNET, Voltage! |
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