Kingston Communications Spying on P2P!?

[gpbrown81]

Hi, just got a letter this morning from Kingston Communications which is the ISP Karoo in Hull.

Basically they've suspended my service under their "Acceptable Use Policy" for File Sharing - Notice of copyright infringement.

Their accusations are quite specific, especially when it comes to the information regarding the content downloaded. Their readout appears as follows:-

Title: <copyrighted material name> *
Infringement Source: BitTorrent
Infringement Timestamp: 22 Jun 2008 13:10:11 GMT Infringement Last Documented: 22 Jun 2008 13:10:11 GMT
Infringer Username <username> *
Infringing Filename: <infringing filename> *
Infringing Filesize: 1938193503
Infringer IP Address: <IP Address> *
Infringer DNS Name: <DNS Name> *
Infringing URL: tracker.bitreactor.to:271 0/announce

*Items within < > are masked for my own privacy reasons, (who knows I might get suspended for typing it into a thread LOL).

I'm wondering if they're allowed to throw allegations like that at their customers, and if they are... how do they know if the content downloaded is actually copyrighted material? Do they take a copy of the file downloaded and open the zipped archive to check the contents of the file?

I am fuming at this, it's an invasion of my privacy, I'm now beginning to wonder if my ISP is reading my e-mails and monitoring my online browsing activity...

Can anybody shed some light on this issue and if KCOM are in breach of any privacy legislation, or just to tell me if they are justified in their actions.

Thanks,

Graham.

[Conniff]

The RIAA and it's British counterpart the BPI have been attempting to make ISPs responsible for the whole of the illegal download culture.

Although that is music, I would assume that the film industry are following every move and are in league with them. They just want someone responsible, someone to sue, it doesn't matter who, if they can't get the downloader, they want the ISP.

So in the light of that, I would say that yes they are entitled to take the action they have with you or it could close their business down.
When you think that they have asked up to £20,000 from a music downloader, what would they be asking from a business.

They have chased kids as young as 12 for downloading so have no scrupples at all, and the ISPs are afraid of this attitude.

[acegeordie]

Try using a program called "Peer Guardian 2", freely available on the net. This will block many thousands of dodgy RIAA/MPAA/BPI etc websites from contacting your P2P program and identifying you as a file sharer, it also scrambles your P2P programs attempts at connecting to other P2P IP addresses allowing you to file share anonymously (if thats what you might be doing, i can't condone illegal acts ).

I would like to know if passing the information about what you have downloaded onto a third party breaks any part of the data protection act? it seems like virgin (my broadband provider) are doing this with the BPI.

They (VIRGIN) are then sending threatening "cease and desist" letters to certain downloaders or they will have their service terminated!

Is it legal to threaten to or actually terminate a service to someone that has not been criminally convicted of file sharing?

Surely ISP's are contracted only to supply a connection to the Internet and not spy on the particulars of any data transfered?

[locutus]

I belive it's the other way around acegeordie. If you upload with a P2P sharing program, RIAA and the BPI trace your IP back to the ISP (the 1st few numbers of an IP address are your ISP), and inform them that the user on IP xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx at time 00:00 on date 01/01/2009 uploaded filename.xxx (downloading it is hard to charge with anything whereas uploading is you distributing copyrighted material)

I agree Peer Guardian 2 is well recognised as a tool to assist your privacy whilst using peer to peer software (obviously not to infringe on any copyright issues, but to download copyright free things privatly).

[acegeordie]

I believe they (virgin broadband) are targeting users that are transferring large amounts of data...........they are not looking for proof of illegal activity but just the fact that your own IP address has transfered X amount of bytes of data!

THEREFORE (in their eyes) you are guilty of being an illegal file sharer and YOU WILL stop or have your connection terminated.

No proof is needed in their eyes or sought! it is up to you to prove your self innocent.

Bring it on!