My ISP called...

[Judahnator]

Yesterday when i got home i was met by my parents wanting to talk to me. They said my ISP (small local business) called saying someone wanted to sue us for downloading something illegally. They also demanded that i purge the content from my computer and stop using BitTorrent all-together.

 

I did my Google-ing and from what i saw it says i should ignore claims like this. I noticed that they only said i downloaded "something," they were not specific.  Im not sure if i should ignore it or contact the person.

 

Also, i torrent a lot of stuff. For example, the PC vs PS4 vs XBONE footage linus sent out some time ago. I have been experimenting with different distro's of Linux running off a RAM-disk so i have been fairly active torrenting versions of Xubuntu, Linux Mint, Lubuntu, Ubuntu Server, ect...

 

I also move large files using BitTorrent Sync to some friends (for use on my website, we dont move anything in our .zip files other than content we ourselves made). I have checked and double-checked that everything i have done is legal, so im pretty sure im not the problem.

 

I do support the TOR network though. I dont use it much, i just have it setup to be an exit node. Is it possible someone downloaded copy-protected material through me and my ISP saw that?

 

 

What should i do, any thoughts on this?

 

 

Judah

[Jogostar]

tell them you torrent legal content only, and prove it to them.

damn laws are hard over there, I must have had atleast 1TB of pirated media on my computer a few years ago...

[NInety]

RUN! THEY CAN'T CATCH YOU IF YOU RUN NOW! HURRY!!!!

[Joshyy]

Personally, If I was in the situation you were in I would unsecure your WiFi, and claim someone must have used your WiFi and you have no knowledge of Illegal activities (This is assuming they take it further) it's been ruled that an IP address can't be linked to a person. 

[Snickerzz]

torrenting itself its not illegal, just downloading illegal content is illegal, you can torrent linux distros til the cows come home without any trouble. I would just wait until you were actually met with a lawyer....

 

edit~

is your wifi password secured? if its not then you cant be held liable for the lawsuit

[Jogostar]

torrenting itself its not illegal, just downloading illegal content is illegal, you can torrent linux distros til the cows come home without any trouble. I would just wait until you were actually met with a lawyer....

[Albatross]

If you aren't torrenting anything illegal, tell them that. If they insist, demand they tell  you what it was that you downloaded that was illegal. 

[Tea1337]

Yes. Just, yes.

[Snickerzz]

tell them you torrent legal content only, and prove it to them.

damn laws are hard over there, I must have had atleast 1TB of pirated media on my cumputer a few years ago...

they would already know if he was getting legal or illegal content, 3rd party company gets your ip from content you illegally downloaded> that company contacts the copyright owners of whatever content the user illegaly downloaded> copyright holder demands info from isp> then thats when you get sued

[Lays]

I've gotten like 2 emails from comcast when I was downloading movies still in theatres, they never did anything so w/e

[Jogostar]

they would already know if he was getting legal or illegal content, 3rd party company gets your ip from content you illegally downloaded> that company contacts the copyright owners of whatever content the user illegaly downloaded> copyright holder demands info from isp> then thats when you get sued

but why? I love it, that my ISP, doesn0t give a shit. I could download 100 TB of porn and illegal stuuf, and they wouldn't give a shit.

[helping]

It's highly probable you're torrenting something illegal. 

 

Just play it safe and use a VPN connection for your torrent, they're not very expensive, BTguard comes to mind. http://btguard.com/. ISPs don't give a shit about what you do, they start caring when media companies come threatening them and pass the issues. They won't come after you for no reason just because you're torrenting, there's no point in them caring to do that because they're not there to enforce law.   

 

Please use common sense when downloading something. That exit node is also kind of a big deal. 

[3DDude]

Call them back:

1. Say you use torrents exclusively for legal purposes (linux distro's and private stuff between friends)

2. Ask who is sueing?

3. Ask for what?

 

(depending on 2 and 3 - the answers)

4. Tell them to relay the message either sue me or get the fuck lost.

[xXxYOLOxSWAGxXx_420BlazeIt]

Yesterday when i got home i was met by my parents wanting to talk to me. They said my ISP (small local business) called saying someone wanted to sue us for downloading something illegally. They also demanded that i purge the content from my computer and stop using BitTorrent all-together.

 

I did my Google-ing and from what i saw it says i should ignore claims like this. I noticed that they only said i downloaded "something," they were not specific.  Im not sure if i should ignore it or contact the person.

 

Also, i torrent a lot of stuff. For example, the PC vs PS4 vs XBONE footage linus sent out some time ago. I have been experimenting with different distro's of Linux running off a RAM-disk so i have been fairly active torrenting versions of Xubuntu, Linux Mint, Lubuntu, Ubuntu Server, ect...

 

I also move large files using BitTorrent Sync to some friends (for use on my website, we dont move anything in our .zip files other than content we ourselves made). I have checked and double-checked that everything i have done is legal, so im pretty sure im not the problem.

 

I do support the TOR network though. I dont use it much, i just have it setup to be an exit node. Is it possible someone downloaded copy-protected material through me and my ISP saw that?

 

 

What should i do, any thoughts on this?

 

 

Judah

An exit node is a incredibly dumb thing to set up on your home connection.

 

Set up a relay node.

[Wheelzz]

If you're not pirating anything, there should be nothing to worry about. If you're pirating content (and I won't get into the ethics of this), you should probably use a VPN, Proxy, etc.

[Askew]

If I lived with my parents I wouldn't be running a TOR exit node, matter of fact I wouldn't run one from my home full stop.

 

My advice, shut down the node and learn to use Usenet, use a VPN for your .nzb aquisitions.

 

I wouldn't worry about legit torrent traffic, but I'm calling bullshit when you say you didn't download anything illegal, your IP has been captured from a swarm on something copyrighted, 99.9%.

 

You're not in any tangible trouble now, but your ISP might ban you if you keep getting flagged.

[_ASSASSIN_]

torrenting isn't necessarily illegal, what your torrent can be

[AustinTheIntern]

Just out of curiosity, where are you from?

[DefinitelyNotAPedophile]

Maybe they're just noticing you torrent in general. My ISP tried shutting me down but I proved whatever I did was fully legal

[dizmo]

They can tell what you download when you torrent, so clearly there's something that violates their Use Terms.

If you insist on downloading movies, it's better to go through a site like RapidShare or something similar where they change the name of the file.

[Giddyguy]

Isp's don't usually come at you unless they have a request from the content creator or another third party. I don't know what the node is but I suggest you stop torrenting for a while and see what happens.

[Guest]

tell them you torrent legal content only, and prove it to them.

damn laws are hard over there, I must have had atleast 1TB of pirated media on my computer a few years ago...

I never torrent illegal content (except anime, but I have no other means of obtaining if possible I will support the studio by buying the product though) I usually torrent linux distros or a game mod or something 

[GoodBytes]

If it was a real claim, you would get an official letter through the mail, sent for you to sign to acknowledge that you received it.

if you contact them, they'll ask all your personal information (and now you'll be compromised), and then ask you for a bounty to wire them, if not, they'll treat you to take you to court. And if you refuse, then they can send fake letter that look official, so that you panic, and beg for them, and then they'll probably ask you for a higher sum, which you'll pay.

This reminds me of a call that I got from India, saying how my Windows is not genuine, and that I need to pay them to be genuine (of course, they won't accept credit card as you can't just cancel the charge 5 sec after), then to activate or if you insisted that it's genuine, ask you to install some remote desktop software, they'll gain control, install malware on your system. It's a famous scam. I said on the phone that I only use Mac, and that I don't understand what he is talking about, and replies, "Yes, I wanted to say Macs".. yea right, hanged up on him.

Also, if you are in Canada DOWNLOADING protected content is legal. UPLOADING isn't. Canada follows the benefit of the doubt where, it's not fault that you didn't know that the content was not approved by the author(s). Of course, when you torrent you are seeding as well, so that's uploading, at least by default.

[Myxzoid]

If you were getting sued the people that were seuing you was have there lawyers Mail you legal documents and not have your IPS calling you saying that your being sued.

[Tigerbomb8]

Call them.. And then ask if they call you.. I was most likely a hoax.. if not switch ISPs.. they should not be monitoring your data..