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Submitted via IRC for SoyCow8093
Internet provider Grande Communications is requesting assistance from U.S. Marshals to serve piracy tracking company IP-Echelon. As part of the RIAA lawsuit, the ISP wants to find out more about a scam where IP-Echelon's name was abused by scammers to extract payments. Thus far, however, it has been unable to reach the company at its Hollywood office.
They used the name of piracy-tracking firm IP-Echelon and several major copyright holders, including HBO, to demand settlements for allegedly pirated content.
The DMCA scam was pretty convincing. The emails lacked IP-Echelon’s PGP signature but were good enough to fool some Internet providers into forwarding them. If anything, it revealed that these type of notices should be carefully vetted.
While we haven’t seen any reports of these fraudulent notices since, Internet provider Grande Communications has taken an interest in the matter, in preparation for its piracy liability case against the RIAA.
This case relies on DMCA notices sent by IP-Echelon competitor Rightscorp. The ISP is therefore eager to hear out IP-Echelon to find out more about the issue, noting that they received the scam emails as well.
“Grande has also received IP-Echelon infringement notices, which include both authenticated, PGP-signed infringement notices from IP-Echelon, as well as fake, non-PGP-signed notices which falsely claim to be from IP-Echelon,” Grande informed the court late last week.
Source: https://torrentfreak.com/isp-wants-us-marshals-to-help-serve-piracy-tracking-outfit-180528/
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Saturday June 02 2018, @04:37PM (10 children)
IP-Echelon is apparently a licensed business, somewhere in the US of A. But, IP-Echelon doesn't answer summonses delivered to their apparent corporate address? Their main offices don't answer questions, don't respond to inquiries? Pretty obvious this isn't a legitimate business - not in the traditional sense of the word. IP-Echelon is just a front company for some other company. Front companies are often necessary for people with nefarious intentions.
I kinda think the US Marshalls probably should get involved. Drag their asses into court, and demand some explanations.
Of course, being associated with the RIAA is a strong indicator of nefarious intentions. Those crooked bastards wouldn't have much to do with any honest company.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by frojack on Saturday June 02 2018, @05:06PM (3 children)
I kinda think not.
Its a private issue. They should not get to use the forces of the US Government as a cudgel in their petty cat fight.
The story seems convoluted. But the ISP can clearly already distinguish between fake and real notices. Problem solved.
The ISP can do exactly like they have been telling their customers to do with spam and scam emails for decades: Delete them and move on.
Want to serve a summons, do what everybody else does, PAY the Sheriff's Department to serve them on a time available basis.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Saturday June 02 2018, @09:01PM
Maybe if the ISPs grew some balls and stood up to assholes like the dubiously named IP-Echelon, they wouldn't be in this mess in the first place.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 2) by sjames on Saturday June 02 2018, @09:09PM
Indeed, get government out of it, including the corporate charter granted by GOVERNMENT. Just pull it. There is no such thing as IP Echelon, just delete anything they send you.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 03 2018, @05:48AM
> Its a private issue. They should not get to use the forces of the US Government as a cudgel in their petty cat fight.
It's not a private issue. IP-Echelon is using the DMCA, i.e., the forces of the US Government, to threaten their business.
> The story seems convoluted. But the ISP can clearly already distinguish between fake and real notices. Problem solved.
I can also clearly distinguish a fake invoice I receive in my mail. Doesn't mean that I will be able to do it 100% of the time, or that I won't think that one of the legitimate invoices is fake. Criminal fraud is a thing for a reason.
They better be 120% sure that fake notices are actually fake. If they accidentally ignore a real notice, thinking it was fake, that excuse will not help them when the hammer of the federal government drops on their heads.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 02 2018, @05:08PM (4 children)
I kinda think the US Marshalls probably should get involved. Drag their asses into court, and demand some explanations.
No, the real problem is the ISP. Until we liberate ourselves from them, the kangaroo courts will give us nothing.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Saturday June 02 2018, @05:12PM (1 child)
Nonsense. That is entirely orthogonal to the issue here.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 02 2018, @08:29PM
You are wrong. The ISP is the issue. They are the internet policeman, doing the state's dirty work, that we must disarm. I don't care how it is done, just that it must be done.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 02 2018, @05:36PM (1 child)
There is no clear way to go ISP free.
You are assuming everyone will help each other out. That is not true.
Mesh is the only thing that is sorta promising going ISP free. But that has problems. Big problems. Let us assume for a minute that everyone has a mesh node. Sweet right? Well at least until you want to talk to someone on another network. Hey I know we will move all of the big boys onto that network. OK. Who wants to be a peer with netflix? OK assume you can solve that somehow. What about your neighbor 3 doors over that decides 'torrent the whole internet!' and swamping everyone? Poorly thought out peer will wreck bandwidth. This is solvable but needs to be thought out. What about when (not if) someone figures out how to hijack the firmware of half the net? What if your neighbor decides kiddie porn is the way to go and routes it all through your router? Maybe you are OK with it but many probably would not be.
All of these things are problems today. Right now. But now you can add in the fact the ISP can not kick off bad actors. You just have to 'deal with it'.
The ISP model sucks because competition is low. In the late 90s I had 50+ ISPs I could choose from all the way from free advert subsidized to some forms of fiber. Now I have 3. What changed? We let the people who own the wires run the ISP.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 02 2018, @07:47PM
All of these things are problems today. Right now.
Yes, that is why we should be developing the tech to *route around the damage* instead of arguing bullshit. But all I'm getting from everybody here is "man will never fly"...
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Saturday June 02 2018, @06:50PM
Even if you're incorporated in another state you have to register as a foreign corporation
That's done to solve problems just such as this
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]