Entertainment Software Association Following RIAA? 204
cavis writes "My organization just received an e-mail from the Intellectual Property enforcement division of the Entertainment Software Association. It accuses one particular IP address with 'infringing the copyright rights of one or more ESA members by copying and distributing unauthorized copies of game products (through peer-to-peer or similar software/services).' It goes on to name the filename and the application: Limewire. Has anyone had any contact with this group? Are they following the RIAA's lead and pursuing litigation for peer-to-peer piracy? I'm just trying to evaluate what I am in for as I try to battle P2P within my network."
Read on for more details.
The letter reads in part (with my redactions):
The Entertainment Software Association ("ESA") is a US trade association that represents the intellectual property interests of numerous companies that publish interactive games for video game consoles, personal computers, handheld devices and the Internet(hereinafter collectively referred to as "ESA members"). ESA is authorized to act on behalf of ESA members whose copyright and other intellectual property rights it believes to be infringed as described herein.
Based on the information at its disposal on 24 Nov 2008 01:09:08 GMT, ESA has a good faith belief that the subscriber using the IP address [IP address] infringing the copyright rights of one or more ESA members by copying and distributing unauthorized copies of game products (through peer-to-peer or similar software/services), in violation of applicable copyright laws, through internet access that [agency name] provides directly to the [IP address] or through a downstream provider that purchases this access for [IP address].
Re:What link? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:What link? (Score:5, Informative)
No, I mean that that is the link. From the initial summary:
Click the link below to read part of their letter.
Sure enough, clicking on the link gives you part of the letter.
Re:What link? (Score:3, Informative)
It's effectively an Ask Slashdot. No link required.
Re:My reply (Score:5, Informative)
WRONG
If you are a company, you certainly are responsible for what your employees do with your network resources. Just about the only way the company can weasel out of it is to show good faith attempts at reprimanding the offenders and attempts at preventing their future misbehavior.
So what do they want? (Score:5, Informative)
Are they merely asking for the infringement to stop, are they threatening to take you court and asking for an out-of-court settlement, are they asking for the identity of the person with the IP address?
If it's the first option then it's easy, find the person who might be infringing and deal with it. Perhaps even block the Limewire service on your network. Setup guidelines for accepted computer usage within your organization. Then ignore the letter unless it demands some form of communication back to them, or threatens legal action if something isn't done about it. If it does ask for a response or you get a second letter, then refer to legal advice on how to deal with it.
The other two scenarios may require legal opinions and official responses.
Bullshit takedown notice (Score:2, Informative)
They haven't made a request for takedown, haven't cited the applicable laws for the aforementioned, and do not mention the specific instance of the infraction. What you've got here is a bullshit takedown notice. It's a scare tactic. Send back to your ISP that it is not a valid DMCA notification and no action is necessary. Also, it takes more than an IP address to prove infringement -- they also have to prove it was you, on a computer that was using that IP address, at that time. Short of a forensic search of the computer in question, they have nothing.
Yes and no (Score:5, Informative)
Yes, we've been contacted by them (I work for a large university). We got a DMCA takedown notice. However no they aren't acting like the RIAA, they seem to be working like the MPAA. That is to say they send a notice saying "Please remover this shit and yell at the user." We say "Ok we did," and that's the last we ever hear from them. They don't seem to be suing people, they just seem to be trying to get the ISPs to take down the content.
Re:So what do they want? (Score:2, Informative)
Could be a good thing. (Score:3, Informative)
I got one of those passed on to me via my ISP once. Turns out I'd picked up a virus and someone had installed filesharing onto one of my PCs. Thanked the ISP, cleaned up the machine, never heard another thing about it.
So clean up your network, thank them for letting you know, and I'd assume as long as it doesn't happen again, you're okay.
Re:Legal advice. (Score:3, Informative)
No, but this letter can.
Send out a company wide email with this message and the letter:
Do to legal action imposed on us, we need all users of P2P software to meet with our attorny on Monday. P2P has no valid use for our line of business so our attorny will not represent you in court if you receive one of these letters with your IP address on it. As a reminder the use of P2P software is not allowed on our network.
I'm not sure he wants legal advice... (Score:2, Informative)
I think this guy just wants to know about the ESA and its modus operandi; not what they have to do legally. Obviously, you need a lawyer for that.
That said, I haven't heard of them suing people en masse, though the ESA has been sending takedown notices for a long time now. I seem to recall that you can see a bit of their work on the Pirate Bay's legal complaints page, for example.
Another poster mentions something about removing the files and then hitting the user with a cluestick and having them go away. That pretty much sums up the rumors I've heard on the Internet, but I haven't dealt with them personally. Because it's Limewire, you just have to figure out who has that installed and make them stop (you might be able to block ports, but I have to believe that people would get around that). But you don't necessarily have to offer them up to the ESA as a sacrifice unless they start making legal demands. Obviously, you should be looking for a lawyer whenever they mention any demands.
It might be even safer not to contact them at all, but merely to cut off Limewire access at the source (i.e. the user). They do send a lot of DMCA notices and whatnot. Even if it's not a proper DMCA notice (or intended to be one), sending a letter documenting the infringement is standard practice for copyright disputes. But they send a lot, so you may never hear back so long as you cut off the user.
Just be careful. If you start getting phone calls, follow-ups, or something more personal than a form letter you need to contact the company lawyer (and you might want to, anyhow). None of this should be considered legal advice. The best I have are second-hand rumors about other people's experiences with the ESA which I got from news sites like TorrentFreak.
Good luck.
- I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property [eff.org]
Re:Legal advice. (Score:3, Informative)
Get a lawyer and ask them for legal advice.
I'm no lawyer, but it seems to me that:
* Simply stopping the infringement at this point might be enough to resolve the matter
* You should re-enforce your organizations computer/network use policies (and ensure that you have one)
* You might consider disciplining the responsible person if you don't think a word in their ear will be enough to prevent this re-occurring
The text in TFS although written in a very legal style does not seem to imply further action is being taken, yet.
Re:Legal advice. (Score:4, Informative)
Are you suggesting they negotiate with terrorists ? Because that's what these litigating spammers are.
There is no such thing as "good faith belief", unless you work for the police. Recent RIAA court failures should be a sign.
Get them to show you undeniable proof, or else they can fuck right off!
Re:Sort of (Score:1, Informative)
Unfortunately, you are in the business of (reactively, not proactively) policing your users. You don't have to watch what they do (and can get into worse trouble if you do), but you do have to respond to these sort of notices. The DMCA provides 'safe harbor' for ISPs that 'act in good faith'; in that it protects ISPs from civil lawsuits, regardless of what their users do, so long as they take action when notified of a problem.