Letter regarding downloading peer to peer software

battyboimatt

Hi All,

Im not posting this for myself but for a family member, she has recived a letter today from a company that has traced the IP address for downloading games and music from a peer to peer site, however its not her its her boyfriend who lives there, they are asking for a settlement of £550 to paid in full, however my sister does not work as she looks after the two young children and he only works 16 hours a week now my sister is crapping herself, I know its there own fault, but can an IP address really prove it was you because they are on a wireless network, could she just not play dumb and say it wasnt her and she didnt know the network needed to be secured and someone must of donwloaded off her broadband, I wouldnt normally condem this and would normally lend her the money but I just dont have that kind of money at the moment as have my holiday in 3 weeks and only have £600 saved up for this, any one offer an advice

Thanks
Matt

DCodd

This seems to be a scam, probably on the back of the spate of Getty and PRS letters going out!

damo24

This sounds like a scam, do not write to them, that will only give them more cause to write and try and con more money from your sister. Ignore it and if you want to take further action report it to the local trading standards for the area where the company is based.

tomsutton529

damo24 wrote: »

This sounds like a scam, do not write to them, that will only give them more cause to write and try and con more money from your sister. Ignore it and if you want to take further action report it to the local trading standards for the area where the company is based.

#


yeah just seen this:


One person who received a letter about his alleged sharing of Colin McRae told us: “I got the letter through the post on a bad day and just panicked. I wrote to them denying their claims and giving them as many facts as I could to show it wasn’t me but they haven’t left me alone since. Other people i’m in touch with who ignored the letters haven’t heard anything back at all so i’m kicking myself for contacting them. They say I have just days to pay the full amount.”

tomsutton529

BillScarab wrote: »

If you're using torrents you ARE using a P2P network.

yes you are, but the software used for torrents has better ways of hiding you from the spys out there.

[Deleted User]

tomsutton529 wrote: »

yes you are, but the software used for torrents has better ways of hiding you from the spys out there.

Isn't your IP address shown to everybody who connects to the tracker to share that torrented file? Doesn't sound very well hidden to me.

battyboimatt

Hi All,

Thanks for the replies so far, Ill adivse her not to panic and just ignore it for the moment, hopefully this will shock him into not doing it anymore.

Pssst

Ignore it, bin it.

SplanK

even if this was a legitimate letter - its a possibility that the IP address that was obtained was spoofed and indeed you are in the clear...

torrent servers are more commonly injecting known real IP addresses into the trackers - even if that IP is not been used to download ANY data are not using P2P software on the connection - basicly trying to make the pool a bit dirty for those who are trying to seek those who are actualy downloading...

thus just having an IP address linked to your account is usualy not enough evidence to show that your connection was used to download content illegaly in most cases - they would have to prove that data was actualy transfered to and from your computer, or look at your computers hard drive to prove that you did indeed break copyright laws!

P2P/Torrenting is not illegal... the act of downloading copyright material is illegal

Ignore it and see what happens - letters can get lost in the post!

Money_Grabber13579

It might not be scam. A lot of these letters are legitimate. However....

A lot of people have received these letters, when in fact it was nothing to do with them. The only thing that could have caused it is the changing IP addresses, and it has been traced to the wrong person. It was featured on BBC Watchdog earlier this year.

devizes18193

Money_Grabber13579 wrote: »

It might not be scam. A lot of these letters are legitimate. However....

A lot of people have received these letters, when in fact it was nothing to do with them. The only thing that could have caused it is the changing IP addresses, and it has been traced to the wrong person. It was featured on BBC Watchdog earlier this year.

If memory serves did not the letter on watchdog come from a solicitor not a company and it was the same london firm the bbc used them self .