http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/internet/Company+collects+data+millions+illegal+downloaders/7613175/story.html
Company collects data on millions of illegal
downloaders in first step to crack down on piracy in Canada
Case
marks beginning of crackdown on Internet piracy in Canada
By Gillian Shaw, Vancouver Sun November
27, 2012
A
forensic software company has collected files on a million Canadians who it
says have downloaded pirated content.
If you’re watching an illegally
downloaded movie, someone could be watching you.
A forensic software company has
collected files on a million Canadians who it says have downloaded pirated
content.
And the company, which works for the
motion picture and recording industries, says a recent court decision forcing
Internet providers to release subscriber names and details is only the first
step in a bid to crack down on illegal downloads.
“The door is closing. People should
think twice about downloading content they know isn’t proper,” said Barry
Logan, managing director of Canipre, the Montreal-based forensic software
company.
Logan said while last week’s court
case involved only 50 IP addresses, his company is involved in another case
that will see thousands of Canadians targeted in a sweep aimed at deterring
Internet users from illegally downloading movies and other digital content.
Logan said his company has files on
one million Canadians who are involved in peer-to-peer file sharing and have
downloaded movies from BitTorrent sites, identifying them through Internet
Protocol addresses collected over the past five months.
Logan said the court decision means
Canadians must realize they could be held liable for illegal downloading and
statutory damages of up to $5,000.
He said many people ignore the
warnings from their ISPs that they are engaged in illegal downloading. Now, he
said, they may receive litigation letters about possible court action.
Last week’s court decision involved
a Burnaby movie production company that went to court to force Internet service
providers to provide names and addresses of subscribers who had illegally
downloaded one of its movies.
The Federal Court, sitting in
Montreal, ordered several Internet providers to disclose to the Burnaby company
the names and addresses of their subscribers whose IP addresses were linked to
illegal downloads.
The court case dealt with 50 IP
addresses (unique identifiers assigned to computers and other devices on a
network) who allegedly illegally downloaded NGN Prima Production’s movie
Recoil.
“Canada is a very significant
country in terms of peer-to-peer file sharing and illegal downloading of
copyright works,” Logan said. “We have quite a significant evidence collection
program that has been in place in Canada for a number of months, it doesn’t
discriminate between ISPs.”
If ISPs hand over the subscriber
data sought through court action, Logan said the copyright holders can seek
statutory damages that are capped at $5,000 for non-commercial infringement.
Mira Sundara Rajan, formerly the
Canada Research chair in intellectual property law at the University of B.C.,
said the movie industry in Canada appears to be following the lead of the
United States. There, the recording and motion picture lobby was instrumental
in the recent creation of a “Six Strikes” initiative, targeting Internet users
who download pirated content. The graduated system starts with a notice phase
and can lead to repeated offenders being blocked from certain sites. In
addition to the six strike initiative, offenders can still be sued by rights holders.
“I think the end game actually is to
try and make a dent in the downloading activity,” said Sundara Rajan. “What we
are doing is following in the footsteps of an American approach here which has
been to try to target individual users and set them as examples of what can go
wrong if your illegal downloading activity is discovered.
“I think that it is much more than
an issue of trying to get fines in place. I think it is a question of creating
an idea of deterrence in the mind of the public.”
Logan said his company is looking
for repeat or habitual illegal downloaders. He said they will only be
identified by Internet Protocol addresses initially but if a legal action is
launched, names will be released in statements of claim.
“I don’t think we have to limit this
to just teenagers downloading Justin Bieber’s last record,” he said. “We
represent a lot of mature titles that would be of interest to the 30/40/50
crowd.”
Logan said his clients in the
industry are turning to the courts for rulings on the implementation of Bill
C-11, the Copyright Modernization Act, which was passed in June, and took
effect earlier this month. Under the act, rights holders can send copyright
infringement notices to Internet providers who in turn notify subscribers who
are linked to the IP address.
© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun
No comments:
Post a Comment