Legal Question in Intellectual Property in California
Yesterday evening I received an email from my ISP, Charter Communications. The message essentially served to forward an email from Copyright Enforcement Group (CEG) alleging that on Christmas morning I illegally downloaded a copy of a pornographic film from the Group's client using a file sharing program called, BitTorrent.The message went on to threaten that if I did not logon to their website and pay them some unspecified sum, I'd be prosecuted and that the cost of that litigation would far exceed the settlement amount.
Suffice it to say that I did not celebrate the birth of Christ by downloading, uploading or viewing any pornography legally or illegally. I also did not bow to this obscenely naked extortion. Instead, I confirmed with the Abuse Department of my ISP that my identity has not (as yet at least) been shared with these thugs.
Evidently, CEG uploads their client's copyrighted material to the internet and then tracks IP addresses supposedly linked to activity associated with those files.
1. I was not even on the computer at the time alleged.
2. I neither have, nor have I ever had, the pornographic film described in the message in my possession.
3. I legally own over 1000 commercial DVDs.
4. I do not download, nor view, movies on my computer. I watch films on my large screen television.
5. I pay DirecTV over $170. per month for the legal privilege of accessing their full menu of broadcasts and I have done so for at least a dozen years.
6. I am a Platinum subscriber to Audible.com and regularly listen to legal narrations of books; fiction and nonfiction.
7. I purchased a Kindle E-book reader from Amazon.com and frequently read stories that I have legally downloaded from Amazon's ample library.
In short, I am not a pirate. My use of the internet is primarily to assist in my work as a ghostwriter and an administrative law advocate. In my research, I have discovered that IP addresses can be "spoofed" or faked. Several times a week I receive "bounce backs" of emails that I NEVER authored or transmitted. Charter Communications advises me that this is common and is evidence of spammers spoofing my email address to avoid blowback from their spam.
Frankly, I don't know whether CEG genuinely detected evidence of infringement by a spoofer or manufactured their supposed evidence against me out of the ether, but I have done nothing wrong and I will not be bullied into paying a bribe to induce these thugs to go away.
I would, however, appreciate your advice on my legal options.
Thank you
2 Answers from Attorneys
You would be helping them locate you if you comply with their demand to log on. If they track you down and pursue their 'claim' and threat against you, then your options will be to settle or fight / defend yourself. If serious about hiring counsel to help you do either, feel free to contact me.
Unfortunately, it is a shakedown. They will subpoena your identity from your ISP. Then they will send you a letter offering to settle the case for a few thousand dollars. This amount is probably a little less than a lawyer would cost you, and there have been recent cases in the media where juries have awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars to this or that movie or record company. If you are really interested in not being bullied, the alternative is to face them down in the federal courts and put it before a jury. That's one of the things I do
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