Comcast Threatens to Sue Website For Posting Court Document Wednesday Aug 21 2013 08:55 EDT 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. 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. |
skeechanAi Otsukaholic Premium Member join:2012-01-26 AA169|170 1 edit |
skeechan
Premium Member
2013-Aug-21 8:36 am
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). | |
| | |
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 |
Torrentfreak really badly needs to counter sueThe cost of "thugging" someone by abusing law and the court systems really needs to be driven up. This is becoming far too typical. | |
| | |
Re: Torrentfreak really badly needs to counter suesaid 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
2013-Aug-21 12:06 pm
Re: Torrentfreak really badly needs to counter suetons 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 | |
|
KearnstdSpace Elf Premium Member join:2002-01-22 Mullica Hill, NJ |
Kearnstd
Premium Member
2013-Aug-21 12:52 pm
Court documents cannot be copyrightedThey 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? | |
| |
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. | |
| | SterlingIP Support Tier III Premium Member join:2003-05-30 Pittsburgh, PA |
Sterling
Premium Member
2013-Aug-21 6:09 pm
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 | |
| | | Ubee E31U2V1 (Software) pfSense Netgear WNR3500L
|
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. | |
| | | | |
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. | |
| | | | | |
Re: Why?There IS no penalty for perjury... Ask the NSA boys and Congress. | |
|
|
huh?if they had the right to distribute it, then if you are downloading that, isn't that legal? | |
| |
Nothing new here...Comcast was always a bubble off plumb both directions. | |
|
| |
|
|