Charges laid...

[Shine905]

It is becoming increasingly evident that the music industry is putting tremendous pressure to regulate/ban the transfer of music files over the net. With that said, numerous charges were laid in the US yesterday, targeting people who had a lot of mp3's on their computers. A twelve year old girl was apparently charged and fined).

Apparently when you checked that agreement policy that Kazaa makes you agree to before you can use their program, you waive your privacy rights, which allows them to take logs of the number of files you download, which is tracked through your IP address. Now, with these pressures from the music industry, the US government, or a sub agency, has taken over possession of these logs and are beginning to build cases against individuals who have a lot (lets say 1000+) mp3's on their computer.

Here's my question - How much shit am I in, if let's say, hypothetically of course, that I have 2500+ songs on my computer?

Also, is there any way of changing your IP addy without being tracked, deleting these files from your computer without any record of them being there in the first place (will formatting your hard drive do this?) and avoiding the fines that are handed down...

Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated!

...and I apologize for the spelling/run-ons...dead tired...

Thanks in advance,
~shine

 

[Shine905]

Technically and unfortunately I believe they can because of these logs that they record. I was just on Kazaa's website, and read their privacy statement. Their legal disclaimer states that "We may need to disclose personal information if required by law. For example, to comply with a current judicial proceeding, a court order or legal process." This is exactly what has happened - hence the panic that I am experiencing...

I also read the info regarding the logs they record and this is what they have to say: "Like most Web site servers we use log files. This includes internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, platform type, date/time stamp, and number of clicks to analyze trends, administer the site, track users’ movement in the aggregate, and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use. We do not collect personal information from logfiles. IP addresses are not kept after the statistics are logged in the aggregated database."

Yeah they say they get rid of the logs once the statistics are logged into the database, but one cannot know how often they do this.

Scared Shitless...
~shine

 

[WhOiSyOdAdDy?]

It sounds like they are focusing on people who are sharing files, not so much downloading

I have downloaded more than 5000 mp3's... most of them are stored on a removeable hard drive and on DVD-r's

over the last year I have uploaded 5-10 songs.. I don't like to share

I just wonder how long it will be before the software companies start going after people.

Keep in mind that the action being taken is in the USA... not Canada

I will continue to download.. I will not share my files

BTW.. you can change your IP by changing ISP's... but even if you manage to change IP's.. it can still be tracked back to you thru records at your ISP... think of your IP like your digital fingerprint on the internet

 

[thecoolguyms72]

I have a couple questions:

First, I have downloaded a few songs, and a lot of porn, is there a problem with downloading porn? Are they tracking that?

Also, is it a big deal if it's happening in the U.S., and not here? Are our laws more or less the same?

Perhaps WIYD can help me with this question, on Kazaa, how to I stop people from uploading from me(or is it downloading?)? How do I keep people from being able to search what I have, or can I stop that? I know at times I search "same users" info and it comes up, "search performed with no result", yet I know they have shit on their Kazaa, they are downloading from me, and I doubt that was their first download. Any help would be appreciated. And the reason I ask this is not because I'm selfish, although I kind of am, but more so because it slows my computer down because of the volume.

Anyway, much appreciated.

Coolguy.

 

[WhOiSyOdAdDy?]

CoolGUY.. in Kazaa.. go to Kazaa Options... and under the tab labelled Traffic, check the box that says "Disable Sharing Of Files With Other Users"

If you are not sharing, you may find it more difficult to download, as each user is rated based on participation.. so to fix that, download KazaaLite, and you have the best rating, all the time

www.kazaalite.tk

or instead of "not sharing", as files are downloaded, once they are complete, you could move them into another file which you are not sharing, which is what I do..

i think that everyone should make a stand.. and continue to download & share files... I guess they could try to sue everyone

and looking back at the original post in the thread... charges have not been laid.... I believe that subpeonas have been issued... people are being sued, in civil court, not criminal court

 

[thecoolguyms72]

WIYD, thanks for the great info.

Take care,

Coolguy.

 

[t8rs]

This article should answer a lot of questions:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/serv...AC/20030913/KATE13/TPEntertainment/Columnists