For years, the RIAA has claimed that having the IP address of a computer that has shared unauthorized files is the equivalent of having the evidence of who was actually sharing files. That, of course, is false. The IP address simply can help you know who paid for the internet access, but not who was using what computer on a network.
In fact, this even had some people suggesting that, if you want to win a lawsuit from the RIAA, you’re best off opening up your WiFi network to neighbors. It seems like this strategy might actually be working. Earlier this month the inability to prove who actually did the file sharing caused the RIAA to drop a case in Oklahoma and now it looks like the same defense has worked in a California case as well.
In both cases, though, as soon as the RIAA realized the person was using this defense, they dropped the case, rather than lose it and set a precedent showing they really don’t have the unequivocal evidence they claim they do.
The RIAA certainly has the legal right to go after people, even if it simply ends up pissing off their best fans and driving people to spend their money on other forms of entertainment — but, if they want to do so, they should at least have legitimate evidence.
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This is interesting. I think the RIAA or MPAA would have difficulty telling if you really had wi-fi operating at the time of the download in question. This could be a reasonable defense. Better yet they might just drop these cases for fear of losing or costing to much to prove.
Maybe some bright person on here could come up with a step by step procedure on how to setup wi-fi for this purpose after getting the notice letter from their ISP or RIAA? title it “What to do if you get sued by the RIAA” or something. Then post it everywhere. It should be written for even the most novice of internet users.
its pretty simple. hit the hard reset button on your router. no more wep key. worst-case-senerio: you would need to reactivate the wireless connectivity but then you just dont make a wep key
I guess most folks do have wi-fi these days. I don’t know if that defense would really work woof if you bought a router after the summons. If the internet airwaves are going out to the street someone could drive by with a laptop and tell if you had a router before they filed a suit couldn’t they?
They could ask your neighbors when the new network popped up and if it was after their letter was received banged! They could look at your bank card to find out when you bought it.
Belkin seems like it has a good router if you want to share it’s called family friendly I think. It can be set so that the computers in your house have full access to your network but anyone on the outside only gets web access like having a trusted zone.
I saw it when I was at CompUSA looking at the specs for the new Super-G and MIMO routers to see what they could do better than the G stuff. I didn’t buy the Belkin family safe one just read about it on the box.
well if u use cash it wont be traceable
plus u can use ignorance and say you dont know how to set up router