Prosecution of Illegal downloading.

Bistoman

I am not asking for download/ streaming sites, Please don't post any here.
What I want to know is, Has anyone in Ireland Or the rest of Europe, ever bee prosecuted for Illegal downloading of audio or visual content?
I know most Providers have blocked a number of proscribed websites for distributing copyright materiel,
And a number of years ago they gave warning of a 3 strikes system where your account would be suspended after 3 warnings. But has anyone heard of a successful prosecution for illegal downloading?

The question is borne out of curiosity rather than any fear of being caught :eek:

Johnboy1951

For downloading or streaming alone ..... I have not heard of any.

Bistoman

No one else with any Information? I expected this to be an easy one

drake70

I haven't heard of any. Try searching news sites.

x43r0

I knew someone in college who got fined for it. A couple of grand IIRC

What she thought got her noticed was the amount of stuff she was seeding rather than the downloading

This would have been around 2006

Bistoman

drake70 wrote: »

I haven't heard of any. Try searching news sites.

That was the first thing I did, Surprisingly very little to find. Most reference the ICE crackdown of sites like Ninjavideo, Who were jailed for hosting and making profit from advertising, But nothing from Ireland.

SeanF

As far as I know, legally there is nothing illegal about downloading. In reality, it's the uploading (or seeding) that's the illegal bit. Unless the law has changed, I think that's still technically the case.

Bistoman

x43r0 wrote: »

I knew someone in college who got fined for it. A couple of grand IIRC

What she thought got her noticed was the amount of stuff she was seeding rather than the downloading

This would have been around 2006

Yeh its the seeding and uploading that I can find info on, And the Vile paedophilia uploaders.

nigel_wilson

x43r0 wrote: »

I knew someone in college who got fined for it. A couple of grand IIRC

What she thought got her noticed was the amount of stuff she was seeding rather than the downloading

This would have been around 2006

Pretty sure the previous prosecution cases that I vaguely remember of the average person involved seeding rather downloading

Anyone offer an explanation?

readyletsgo

I think you're ok in Ireland now.

I remember back in 2005, a family member got a strike on their name for downloading, something. But haven't heard anything since.

To be fair, it's extremely impossible to block sites and Torrents like these now-a-days. They are all over the planet and change every few hours.

Think companies are just happy if you're using their services now. But, ya never know, with and Vodafone etc have tried to change laws about illegal downloads. As far as I know, 'streaming' something is legal, downloading (TBs of stuff) and saving to your computer or what have you is illigal.

Most people use Kodi now, that's streaming, so, idk. That's all I know.

batistuta9

nigel_wilson wrote: »

Pretty sure the previous prosecution cases that I vaguely remember of the average person involved seeding rather downloading

Anyone offer an explanation?

Probably considered distribution of the material or else hosting it

x43r0

nigel_wilson wrote: »

Pretty sure the previous prosecution cases that I vaguely remember of the average person involved seeding rather downloading

Anyone offer an explanation?

The action of downloading makes you a consumer but once you start seeding you become a distributor

My guess is that the relevant authorities don't have the time/resources/capability to go after everyone so if you had to pick a target then those who seed are the obvious choice

TomOnBoard

Most of the copyright protection organisations rely on fear of prosecution, rather than on prosecution itself for keeping users 'in line' for downloading/streaming of 'normal' content. Obviously if the content being downloaded or uploaded is illegal in itself, then prosecution based on that illegality is a separate matter and is regularly done.

I recall a few years ago the French introduced fairly strict legal measures to combat torrenting/downloading, but AFAIK they had to relax their rules significantly after just a short time as it simply wasn't working.

Johnboy1951

There is some relevant information and links in this thread

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057690264

It might well be illegal to stream content for which you do not have the right, but I expect that the authorities are attempting to prevent those sources from being available, thus preventing streaming by anyone from them.

It is like a game of whack-a-mole

displaced dub

Friend of mine was fined in Amsterdam for streaming movies and tv shows. Got legal letter which ignored them the next one was a settlement letter for continuing.

Brought the letter to his solicitor and he confirmed it was indeed legitimate and not some scam. Paid a couple of grand to avoid court to the “studios” legal rep in the Netherlands.

Hasn’t gone near anything else since and now just watches Netflix etc

ED E

SeanF wrote: »

As far as I know, legally there is nothing illegal about downloading. In reality, it's the uploading (or seeding) that's the illegal bit. Unless the law has changed, I think that's still technically the case.

Nope.

Having the content you arent licensed to poses/play is the problem. Law has nothing to do with the tech parts of up/down seeder/leecher.

Johnboy1951

ED E wrote: »

Nope.

Having the content you arent licensed to poses/play is the problem. Law has nothing to do with the tech parts of up/down seeder/leecher.

It seems, from the linked reference, that streaming content (as opposed to downloading and holding a copy) is illegal also, without having the rights to the content.

ED E

Streaming is downloading, you just don't store the data for more than 10 seconds.

Johnboy1951

ED E wrote: »

Streaming is downloading, you just don't store the data for more than 10 seconds.

There is an allowed temporary storage for streaming in the EU law, and downloading is storage that exceeds what the streaming device needs to operate properly.

So, yes they are regarded and treated differently.

TomOnBoard

ED E wrote: »

Streaming is downloading, you just don't store the data for more than 10 seconds.

And if your device's cache is big enough, you may be holding it for even longer.

In any case, accessing any copyrighted content via streaming sites where you have not paid for the right to use the content constitutes a breach of that copyright and is interpreted by most people as theft in most jurisdictions (although there is a legal distinction between theft of property and copyright infringement). If you're paying for a Netflix subscription for example, you obtain a license to view the content. Netflix manages the arrangement whereby the distributors and all artists who are entitled to a financial cut are paid. If you watch the same content via Kodi for example, you do not have a license to view it and are therefore acting illegally.

The same applies to reading books that have been downloaded from non- paying sources (such as torrents), unless those books are in the public domain and/or out of copyright.

The reality is that in Ireland, I have never heard of anyone being prosecuted for download such content, but the courts have ordered ISPs to prevent access to sites such as The Pirate Bay over the years. However, with proxies for such sites as TPB popping up all over the place, it is practically impossible for the ISPs to implement the spirit of those court orders.

So, if you're not paying, you do not acquire the rights to access/use content that is copyrighted- simple as that!

Johnboy1951

TomOnBoard wrote: »

And if your device's cache is big enough, you may be holding it for even longer.

In any case, accessing any copyrighted content via streaming sites where you have not paid for the right to use the content constitutes a breach of that copyright and is interpreted as theft in most jurisdictions. If you're paying for a Netflix subscription for example, you obtain a license to view the content. Netflix manages the arrangement whereby the distributors and all artists who are entitled to a financial cut are paid. If you watch the same content via Kodi for example, you do not have a license to view it and are therefore acting illegally.

The same applies to reading books that have been downloaded from non- paying sources (such as torrents), unless those books are in the public domain and/or out of copyright.

The reality is that in Ireland, I have never heard of anyone being prosecuted for download such content, but the courts have ordered ISPs to prevent access to sites such as The Pirate Bay over the years. However, with proxies for such sites as TPB popping up all over the place, it is practically impossible for the ISPs to implement the spirit of those court orders.

So, if you're not paying, you do not acquire the rights to access/use content that is copyrighted- simple as that!

IMO this is untrue.

Theft and copyright infringement are completely different actions and are treated differently in law.

DubInTheWest

I do know numerous people in Ireland who have got dmc notices I think they were called. They had been downloading things that had been 'leaked' such as prominent tv series. In leaked I mean leaked to the net before they televised and the powers that be freaked out. They (Industry) then uploaded the particular show to public trackers and waited for people to download them and then sent notices to their ISP. I don't think they got fined, just told to delete all files concerned. To combat this, if downloading is your thing, using a server is the way to go for privacy.

ED E

DMC is an american term.

Eircom did issue strike letters though.

gar32

https://www.toytowngermany.com/forum/topic/140797-downloading-of-torrents-in-germany/?

Living in Germany people don't use torrents. Full post here on what happens when they get mixed up in it.

juice1304

My Ex in Germany paid €800 for downloading a movie with Utorrent.
It was that or be taken to court by a very very large movie production company.

NIMAN

although not strictly the same, a guy up here in the NW was fined in court for selling dreamboxes.

CalamariFritti

displaced dub wrote: »

Friend of mine was fined in Amsterdam for streaming movies and tv shows. Got legal letter which ignored them the next one was a settlement letter for continuing.

Brought the letter to his solicitor and he confirmed it was indeed legitimate and not some scam. Paid a couple of grand to avoid court to the “studios” legal rep in the Netherlands.

Hasn’t gone near anything else since and now just watches Netflix etc

I can confirm the same thing happened to a friend in Germany. You're being threatened with a lawsuit under cilvil law and presented with evidence in the form of IP logs. Making it clear if it goes to court it could get very expensive.
Then you're asked to sign a witnessed declaration of discontinuance (best translation I could find) exposing you badly in case of future infringements and you will have to pay the legal fees up to this point. It will be something between €500 and €1500 and you could view it as a settlement of sorts. There are some law firms hovering those cases up.

Some people ride it out and I'm not sure what happens to those but there's been a few public cases in the media when copyright holders were awarded 5 figure sums. I think a good number of people just pay up.

TomOnBoard

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

IMO this is untrue.

Theft and copyright infringement are completely different actions and are treated differently in law.

I stand corrected in respect of the legal distinction. Post amended to reflect this.