Illegal Downloading

esuhl

Tomlewis007 wrote: »

I think by not securing your connection then you could be deemed accountable for anything that goes on with your broadband connection.

I'm not sure that a court would see it that way. If I leave my car unlocked, I'm not responsible for the damage caused by joyriders. In the same way, what someone uses my unencrypted WiFi network for is nothing to do with me. The real problems, though, are "proof" and "reasonable doubt".

pendulum

If an internet connection in the name of X is misused, this does not mean that X is responsible.

The person who committed the copyright offence is the one who is responsible. If this person cannot be identified then the law firm for the copyright owner have nobody to sue.

If X can introduce reasonable doubt that it wasn't him (having an unsecured wifi will do the trick, as long as there isn't other evidence against him e.g. the movie/music is on his hard drive and the police found it!) he won't be responsible criminally. It's down to the balance of probabilities if it's civil which this is but I'd still fancy X's chances if he can come up with a plausible explanation of how his internet connection came to be misused by someone else. I don't think the law firm would bring it to court with just the evidence they have. If they did I think they would be told they are suing the wrong person. I tend to think that they are just after the easy money from people who are scared to stand up to them, not really interested in bringing cases to court. It's similar to the situation with private car parking tickets.

I'd have my day in court for sure rather than pay £500. I've been on the receiving end of private car parking companies demanding £75 or so without any real proof I was the one who did wrong. So I know how tempting it is to pay to get it over with in the face of a threatening letter. But you just have to stand your ground sometimes.

All in my opinion!

soul619

if your on virgin it states in there t&c's that the reciever of the internet from them is liable for all activity using the service

i presume others do the same

pendulum

That just means that you're liable as far as they are concerned e.g. they don't take any responsibility for anything that goes on, they put it on you. It doesn't mean you are responsible in the eyes of a court or the law for what someone else does.

soul619

i didnt say it did but you'd have a fight on ur hands

esuhl

soul619 wrote: »

if your on virgin it states in there t&c's that the reciever of the internet from them is liable for all activity using the service

If my car leasing company has a term saying that I'm responsible for "all activity using the car" but I leave it unlocked and joyriders drive it through a shop window... Then I would be liable for the damage to the car itself, but not for the damage to the shop.

Likewise, Virgin may hold me responsible for additional fees if I exceed my download limit, but neither they nor the police/courts could hold me responsible if a criminal using my unencrypted WiFi network downloaded illegal content.

At least... I'm pretty sure that's how the law works.

Esqui

esuhl wrote: »

Likewise, Virgin may hold me responsible for additional fees if I exceed my download limit, but neither they nor the police/courts could hold me responsible if a criminal using my unencrypted WiFi network downloaded illegal content.

At least... I'm pretty sure that's how the law works.

True, but Virgin could still hold you in breach of the contract you signed saying that you are responsible for everything downloaded.

Mind you, Virgin's T&Cs also say you're not allowed to transmit any data you do not have the copyright of. Which technically means you're breaching your contract by going on their own site to check your bill!

esuhl

Esqui wrote: »

True, but Virgin could still hold you in breach of the contract you signed saying that you are responsible for everything downloaded.

Virgin would be right to think that I was in breach of contract, but this would be a civil matter rather than a criminal one. They would be able to sue me for damages, but if someone used my WiFi to download a file illegally, the damage to Virgin would be minimal - just a bit of network traffic.

The criminal liability for downloading illegal content belongs entirely to the person who used my unsecured WiFi connection.

unitedwestand

esuhl wrote: »

There's an article in Computer Active magazine (the issue that has "Take Control" in big letters on the front) that explains the problems that ACS Law are facing.

If I remember rightly (from scanning the article in WH Smith's)....

Illegal reading? :eek: