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posted by janrinok on Wednesday March 26 2014, @10:59PM   Printer-friendly
from the I-am-127.0.0.1 dept.

Fluffeh writes:

An important ruling in Florida has made it more difficult for copyright holders to extract cash settlements from alleged BitTorrent pirates. District Court Judge Ursula Ungaro dismissed a lawsuit filed by Malibu Media, arguing that the IP-address evidence can't identify the person who actually downloaded the pirated file.

Judge Ungaro was presented with a case brought by Malibu Media, who accused IP-address "174.61.81.171" of sharing one of their films using BitTorrent without their permission. The Judge, however, was reluctant to issue a subpoena, and asked the company to explain how they could identify the actual infringer. "There is nothing that links the IP address location to the identity of the person actually downloading and viewing Plaintiff's videos, and establishing whether that person lives in this district".

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  • (Score: 5, Funny) by edIII on Wednesday March 26 2014, @11:25PM

    by edIII (791) on Wednesday March 26 2014, @11:25PM (#21811)

    Truth and Accuracy!

    It's a bold move Cotton. Let's see how that plays out...

    --
    Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
  • (Score: 5, Funny) by Blackmoore on Wednesday March 26 2014, @11:25PM

    by Blackmoore (57) on Wednesday March 26 2014, @11:25PM (#21812) Journal

    There's no way to check the IP address's corporate paperwork to confirm that it exists as a person under the law.

  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by Lagg on Wednesday March 26 2014, @11:42PM

    by Lagg (105) on Wednesday March 26 2014, @11:42PM (#21827) Homepage Journal
    We'll know the desperate struggle of Dr. No Shit Sherlock is finally won once things like this aren't considered newsworthy. I wonder if the people in the IT department experience the cringe we do when they have to pass off a random log line to their manager who then filters it through a lawyer who then passes it off to someone else with all of them besides the initial IT guy being technically ignorant. I better watch out though, I might get sued for libel by said ignorant lawyer who presents his complaint against "105".
    --
    http://lagg.me [lagg.me] 🗿
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 26 2014, @11:43PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 26 2014, @11:43PM (#21828)

    ... turning each IP address into a corporation?

    Then it would be a person!

  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by moo kuh on Thursday March 27 2014, @12:56AM

    by moo kuh (2044) on Thursday March 27 2014, @12:56AM (#21848) Journal

    Malibu media could always just make thete content easily obtainable on tbe Internet in a way they can make money. I will have to add them to my companies I don't buy from blacklist.

  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by clone141166 on Thursday March 27 2014, @01:55AM

    by clone141166 (59) on Thursday March 27 2014, @01:55AM (#21861)

    I agree with the ruling from a technical standpoint, and I think the way corporations go about trying to litigate "pirates" instead of discouraging piracy by making their content more easily available is wrong. However if this ruling were to take affect across America/the world at large, how does anyone go about obtaining a subpoena for an illegal online action?

    If a person breaks into a computer system and is later tracked back to their IP address, what other methods are available to investigate the break in and convict the person of the crime? This is a genuine question, I am interested in how law enforcement of online activities would be possible?

    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 27 2014, @01:48PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 27 2014, @01:48PM (#22043)

      If a person breaks into a computer system and is later tracked back to their IP address, what other methods are available to investigate the break in and convict the person of the crime?

      There is still a big distinction. I don't know the laws for the place in the article, but in most areas file sharing isn't a criminal item and given the above, an IP doesn't identify a person, no judge should ever issue a warrant for it. (Law enforcement shouldn't get involved in these things)
      Now if you do something real criminal online, it would be the DA or justice police or (insert location equivalent here) that asks a judge a warrant. Because the IP does identify an address, and they have good reason to believe they can find more evidence about the crime on that address to hopefully later identify the culprit.

      In the file sharing example, it's some private firm suing some person because they think that person did something they don't like. They basically ask a warrant for a fishing expedition to find something to harm the accused.
      The crime example, they want a warrant to find the criminal.

    • (Score: 2) by mcgrew on Thursday March 27 2014, @02:21PM

      by mcgrew (701) <publish@mcgrewbooks.com> on Thursday March 27 2014, @02:21PM (#22061) Homepage Journal

      However if this ruling were to take affect across America/the world at large, how does anyone go about obtaining a subpoena for an illegal online action?

      That's their problem, isn't it? Besides, there's no reason for them to fear file sharing as study after study shows. Piracy increases sales, it makes money for the producer rather than costing him money.

      Reading has always been free, why haven't libraries killed book publishing? The fight against piracy is idiotic.

      --
      mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
  • (Score: 5, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 27 2014, @04:03AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 27 2014, @04:03AM (#21914)
    I'm going to pirate everything forever!

    I finally learned the lesson business has been teaching for decades.
    Nothing else matters but the bottom line. My profit. Screw everything else.

    Only profit matters. I have an obligation to my stockholder to provide maximum value.

    And what better way for me to profit than download every piece of media in the world for free?

    When i get caught i'll say i'm sorry. And go right back to doing it again.

    What do you mean this is wrong? Nearly every company on the planet behaves this way. It must be correct.
    Profit above all else. Fuck people. Fuck right and wrong. Fuck morality. Profit!
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 27 2014, @04:42AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 27 2014, @04:42AM (#21924)

      Settle down there! Don't make the mistake I did! If you pirate with abandon, sooner or later you will listen to Celine Dion, and her evil spawn Beliber, totally by accident, and then it will be too late. Only then will you realize the true power of the marketing side of the Force, and the error of your ways, but you will never be able to forget the horror! The Horror! The Horror!!

    • (Score: 1) by unauthorized on Thursday March 27 2014, @10:13AM

      by unauthorized (3776) on Thursday March 27 2014, @10:13AM (#21967)

      I guess the lesson that such corporations make everyone's life miserable kinda went over your head.

      • (Score: 2) by nukkel on Thursday March 27 2014, @12:18PM

        by nukkel (168) on Thursday March 27 2014, @12:18PM (#22012)

        whoosh ...