Also Belgian internet provider Telenet threatens customers
Posted on 15/05/03 19:14 by Dennis                             
Also Belgian internet provider Telenet threatens customers
dansmug used our news submit to tell us that about 100 Belgian customers of ISP Telenet received a message warning them that they're downloading illegal files and should stop or their internet connection would be closed:

"On that day and on this hour you have downloaded the following illegal files from the internet. We advise you to stop your illegal activities". That is the e-mail that more than one hundred customers of Telenet received in the last few months.

Telenet says that they were contacted by foreign organisations such as the Motion Picture Association (MPA), representing the American movie industry. 'They track who downloads illegal files though file-sharing networks such as Kazaa and they send us the IP-address. We then check to whom this IP-address belongs to and contact this person', says Jan de Grave from Telenet. 'The customers have to promise that they will not download any more illegal files and we send their reaction back to the MPA'.

If the customers fail to stop their illegal activities their connection will be closed and possible legal steps will be taken by the MPA, according to the Belgian article.

Source: Planet Internet

Reactions
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By dentman42, Thu 15 May 2003 23:23
Now how can they track what files somebody DOWNLOADED on Kazaa? The only way I can see is with a honeypot server. Maybe the ISP doesn't know the difference between downloading and making files available. (Or maybe there was a bad translation somewhere)
By sorti, Fri 16 May 2003 05:46
sortiRIAA/MPA sends a fax to your ISP that says 'We'd like to setup a copyright compliance appliance on your network that will watch for piracy, and if you say no we'll send nasty DMCA faxes & emails every five minutes for the rest of your life and make sure you never get anything else done except answer our faxes and emails and we might just sue you any time if you don't comply" Then your ISP has to decide; should they comply or waste there limited resources fighting a company with more money and lawyers then they have? Does your ISP make more money because you are a pirate? Do they have any reason to back a customer that might pay $50/month from the RIAA/MPA? If you are a pirate there is no corporation that will do anything to help you be a pirate. I'd like to see a network of co-op wireless mesh networks form a large new network to at some level replace the internet. Every house, car and dog with an 802.11x access point beaming encrypted traffic everywhere, and let the police / FBI / RIAA roll a tuck and have to sniff the wireless traffic and see who is doing what. It's too easy for a lawyer to sit in his office and make 2-3 phone calls and get someone shutdown now.
By musipho, Fri 16 May 2003 08:02
Who are they to say what we can and cant do. The internet is open and unsensored (or should be) and thats what makes it cool. Fuck these corperations whom try to put their commercial ideals onto us. Its just data. 101010100 and these dead shits who try and stop us from sharing will NEVER windevil
By GezusK, Fri 16 May 2003 08:47
GezusKWhy would a Belgian ISP be concerned with a US law? Talk about some wimps.
By GristyMcFisty, Fri 16 May 2003 10:24
GristyMcFistySo Telenet want to go bust do they? Like GezusK says, tell the US to go poke it...
By freonchill, Fri 16 May 2003 20:23
yea, can i just go ahead and get a patent on 00, 01, 10, 11 and then everyone can pay me $.01 one time fee to use the internet and the RIAA, MPAA, FBI, CIA, NSA, etc can just shove it, b/c they have to break my patent to do anything muhaha

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