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Comcast Threatens to Sue Website For Posting Court Document

Things haven't gone particularly well for porn copyright troll Prenda ever since the organization pissed off a Judge who had started noticing the outfit was engaged in all manner of sleazy behavior operating under the umbrella of a vast maze of shell companies and organizations.

Said sleazy behavior allegedly includes everything ranging from extortion to identity theft, and last week TorrentFreak revealed that Prenda had taken things one step further: they created a honeyput offering the very files they claim to protect in order to lure people into downloading them, then demanded cash from those users.

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The Pirate Bay exposed the honeypot by noting the files in question were uploaded from a Comcast IP address connected to Prenda. Comcast then confirmed the IP address via subpoena.

In an interesting twist however, Comcast is now threatening to sue Torrent Freak for copyright infringement using an automated lawyer nastygram system of their own:

said by Torrent Freak :
It was an article like any other, we thought, but on Monday we learned that Comcast was not happy with our coverage. Through the brand protection company Cyveillance they sent a cease and desist letter for an alleged copyright infringement, demanding that we take the article offline, or face legal action. The threats are clear. If we fail to comply with the takedown notice within five days Comcast will file a lawsuit seeking immediate injunctive relief, compensatory damages, statutory damages, punitive damages, attorneys’ fees and costs of the suit.
Comcast also sent the same copyright infringement notice to Torrent Freak's hosting provider but when asked, neither Comcast or Cyveillance could clarify what exactly about a court document constitutes copyright infringement.

Update: Comcast is now circulating a statement to the press that claims the notice was sent by mistake. "This notice was sent in error, and we have advised TorrentFreak to disregard it," said the company. "We apologize for any confusion." The company isn't offering further detail on how the mistake occurred.
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skeechan
Ai Otsukaholic
Premium Member
join:2012-01-26
AA169|170

1 edit

skeechan

Premium Member

Comcast is engaging in "copyfraud"...

...and they will go no where. Worse if TF is damaged by their false claims of infringement, Comcast is liable for the damages, especially since Comcast legal absolutely knows better (meaning it is clearly malicious).

meeeeeeeeee
join:2003-07-13
Newburgh, NY

meeeeeeeeee

Member

Re: Comcast is engaging in "copyfraud"...

said by skeechan:

...and they will go no where. Worse if TF is damaged by their false claims of infringement, Comcast is liable for the damages, especially since Comcast legal absolutely knows better (meaning it is clearly malicious).

I for one, have a dramatically lowered opinion of Torrentfreak due to these allegations made by Comcast and would happily testify in a court, under oath to that. If Clapper, et al can lie under oath in Congress to support something evil, I can fib a little under oath in court to support something good (freedom of the press).
meeeeeeeeee

meeeeeeeeee

Member

Torrentfreak really badly needs to counter sue

The cost of "thugging" someone by abusing law and the court systems really needs to be driven up. This is becoming far too typical.

Camelot One
MVM
join:2001-11-21
Bloomington, IN

Camelot One

MVM

Re: Torrentfreak really badly needs to counter sue

said by meeeeeeeeee:

The cost of "thugging" someone by abusing law and the court systems really needs to be driven up. This is becoming far too typical.

I agree completely. In the end, Torrent Freak has a great case, and could even come out ahead. If they can afford to hang in the fight that long. Comcast certainly can. But most groups/companies/individuals can't, so just the threat of a bogus lawsuit is enough to get what Comcast wants.

elios
join:2005-11-15
Springfield, MO

elios

Member

Re: Torrentfreak really badly needs to counter sue

tons of people around the world will give TF money to fight comcast
i dont think they will any issues

i wouldnt even be surprised if some one took the case for free
Kearnstd
Space Elf
Premium Member
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ

Kearnstd

Premium Member

Court documents cannot be copyrighted

They can be sealed by a judge for a case in progress but otherwise isnt this stuff public record as a part of the rules and laws that make the justice system work?

LeftOfSanity
People Suck.
join:2005-11-06
Dover, DE

LeftOfSanity

Member

Why?

Why would Comcast even care? All they did was verify an IP address to an account. I think maybe they have an over zealous lawyer somewhere.

Sterling
IP Support Tier III
Premium Member
join:2003-05-30
Pittsburgh, PA

Sterling

Premium Member

Re: Why?

It's probably very likely because the document contains CPNI which puts public info with private info, being the ip addy and what maybe private numbers
Chubbysumo
join:2009-12-01
Duluth, MN
Ubee E31U2V1
(Software) pfSense
Netgear WNR3500L

Chubbysumo

Member

Re: Why?

I am guessing it was an automated system that flagged it for the terms COMCAST and probably a few others, but it was largely sent without human eyes ever checking it. This is the number one issue with takedown requests from automated systems. They are wrong so often, and yet, even if they are, its a lengthy process to fight it, so its just easier to comply. Automated enforcement systems are great for finding the content, but the stuff that gets flagged should be checked by a human to see if its legit before a misfire like this happens. This is likely over a public record too, which is even more sad.

FailOverflow
join:2011-02-23
united state

FailOverflow

Member

Re: Why?

And yet even though the laws state that the DMCA claim needs to correct under penalty of perjury, major companies that use simply abuse the automated means abuse the system and no one seems to care.

meeeeeeeeee
join:2003-07-13
Newburgh, NY

meeeeeeeeee

Member

Re: Why?

There IS no penalty for perjury... Ask the NSA boys and Congress.
mrhoogles
join:2012-03-02
Silverhill, AL

mrhoogles

Member

huh?

if they had the right to distribute it, then if you are downloading that, isn't that legal?

nonamesleft
join:2011-11-07
Manitowoc, WI

nonamesleft

Member

Nothing new here...

Comcast was always a bubble off plumb both directions.