Letter posted to Slashdot accuses an IP address of copyright infringement.
We’ve all been watching with a combination of derision and disgust as the entertainment industry, the RIAA in particular, has tried to litigate its way out of a failed physical distribution model.
Now that path is apparently being mimicked by another copyright stakeholder, the Entertainment Software Association. A letter has been posted to Slashdot by a reader, most likely a network administrator, claiming that an IP address at his organization has been accused of copyright infringement as usually happens courtesy of the RIAA.
A user by the name of Cavis writes the following:
My organization just received an e-mail from the Intellectual Property enforcement division of the Entertainment Software Association. It accuses one particular IP address with ‘infringing the copyright rights of one or more ESA members by copying and distributing unauthorized copies of game products (through peer-to-peer or similar software/services).’ It goes on to name the filename and the application: Limewire. Has anyone had any contact with this group? Are they following the RIAA’s lead and pursuing litigation for peer-to-peer piracy? I’m just trying to evaluate what I am in for as I try to battle P2P within my network.
It’s the first time I’ve heard of the ESA going domestic, but after reporting how 5 of the world’s top game developers, Atari, Topware Interactive, Reality Pump, Techland and Codemaster, began targeting illegal file-shares in the UK it’s only logical to conclude that they’d eventually cross the pond.
A redacted version of the notification letter reads:
The Entertainment Software Association ("ESA") is a US trade association that represents the intellectual property interests of numerous companies that publish interactive games for video game consoles, personal computers, handheld devices and the Internet(hereinafter collectively referred to as "ESA members"). ESA is authorized to act on behalf of ESA members whose copyright and other intellectual property rights it believes to be infringed as described herein.
Based on the information at its disposal on 24 Nov 2008 01:09:08 GMT, ESA has a good faith belief that the subscriber using the IP address [IP address] infringing the copyright rights of one or more ESA members by copying and distributing unauthorized copies of game products (through peer-to-peer or similar software/services), in violation of applicable copyright laws, through internet access that [agency name] provides directly to the [IP address] or through a downstream provider that purchases this access for [IP address].
If it is indeed the case and the ESA is going after suspected file-sharers I wouldn’t be too surprised. I haven’t read of a copyright holder group yet that has embraced the future and devised a way to make money in the digital distribution world. Only third parties like Apple and its iTunes have been able to come up with solutions and rake in billions while people like record execs reminisce about the "good old days" and try to force others to remember too by suing teenagers, the elderly, and even the deceased.
jared@zeropaid.com
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- RIAA Letter to ISPs Asks for Help in Combating File-Sharing
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Does anyone have their ip so we can start blocking them too.
PeerGuardian 2 will update their lists. No worries.
Thanks i do use peerguardian i was just hoping to add them directly to my firewall blocking.
last I looked at the laws Electronic Snooping Eg monitoring a persons activities by electronic means required certain conditions to be met such as the suspect to reside inside the jurisciction of the court/judge who authorises said monitoring to be conducted by an member of an Agency of Law Enforcement..
and Private Law Enforcement are rarely if ever permitted to conduct such investigations. unless of course our legal systems mean nothing at all while Pedofiles and Murderers and Major Crimes are left unattended while the RIAA and it’s ilk spend millions hunting down petty crimes.
RIAA invest in your own Future and plan for a new Market instead of wasting time and money on trivial law suits which will never replace your “projected” earnings
maybe you guys should.. huh buy your pc games? i know weird idea. WEIRD! but trust me they are actually available to buy.
Maybe your on the wrong site this is zeropaid. you want a pay site.
@VB
LMAO.
Gargar I do buy games when they are not sold in bits and pieces under the misnomer micro transaction when they are reasonably priced and when I’m not being used as a beta tester for a product that should of never made it to shelves. The gaming industry has turned into some consumer resenting monstrosity much like the music industry. They put in place stringent copyright protection which devalues their product. They sell glitchy unfinished games with the complete game sold as micro transactions and patched if we are lucky. They use marketing more than appeal to try and push crap on consumers. Finally they seem to be moving towards the same monopolistic model which produces generic crap that follows a strict mundane formula. If they want people to buy their product they have to make people feel they want to buy their product if consumers have no sense of loyalty its in no way the consumers fault and corporations need to get off their high horse and find out why. Filesharing will be around regardless of what laws they pass and how many lawsuits they file if they want to solve the problem they need consumer support.
mountain_rage i don’t believe you for one bit. if a game doesn’t worth you money then it probably doesn’t worth a download in the first place.
i found a way to find out the ip address’s of them as well as other anti-2p2 websites like the riaa and mpaa so blocking them all i have done plus any others that need to be blocked.
Well I don’t know what to tell you Gargar since I have about 50-60 legally purchased games right now and maybe 100 downloaded games. Most of the games I downloaded were when I was in high school now I maybe download 2-4 games a year. Usually when I want to play a game but am not willing to pay 50$ for something that is known to be full of bugs drm etc.