p2pnet - rss feed: Tiscali tells Hollywood to poke it
p2p news / p2pnet: One of the two UK ISPs ordered by the Big Six movie studios to turn in the IDs of users targeted for copyright infringement action has told Hollydud to poke it.
The BPI (British Phonographic Industry ), owned by Time Warner, Viacom, Fox, Sony, NBC Universal and Disney, is demanding that Tiscali and Cable & Wireless freeze 59 client accounts whose owners are said to have shared files with each other.
Seventeen are Tiscali customers, but only one of them appears to be in immediate danger and Tiscali says it’s contacted the account holder asking for an explanation within seven days. But, “Should we not receive an adequate explanation during such period, we shall suspend the user’s account pending resolution of your investigation, assuming by that time we have received evidence from you of a link between the user account and the IP address at the relevant time,” states the ISP.
As usual, to generate instant mainstream media ink and bytes, the BPI started firing off puff pieces described by a Tiscali spokeswoman as a “media ambush”.
Quoted by Webuser, she said the BPI, “sent their letter to the media before we even had a chance to read it and the information they went to press with was not strictly correct”.
It also states, “It is not for Tiscali, as an ISP, nor the BPI, as a trade association, to effectively act as a regulator or law enforcement agency and deny individuals the right to defend themselves against the allegations made against them..”
In a letter linked to by Boing Boing the company says:
Thank you for your letter dated 10 July 2006, notifying us of your allegations that certain customers of Tiscali UK Limited (”Tiscali”) have and continue to infringe the copyright in various sounds [sic] recordings owned or controlled by certain members of The British Phonographic Industry Limited (”BPI”).
In your letter, you request that Tiscali:
1. suspends the relevant customers until such time as they enter into an undertaking with the BPI in the form required by you;
2. discloses the personal details of the relevant customers to the BPI; and
3. itself enters into a legal agreement with the BPI obliging it to do the above.
I will deal with each of these issues in turn below.
Firstly, however, I would like to be clear that Tiscali does not support or condone use of its network for abuse or infringement of copyright. Tiscali has a history of co-operating with those investigating any such matters, within the limits of its own legal obligations and whilst respecting the legal rights of our customers. Moreover, Tiscali has done a great deal of work to further the development of the legitimate online music community and has developed and enjoys an excellent working relationship with most of the major record labels in the UK and many independent labels, the majority of which are your members.
Suspension
You have sent us a spreadsheet setting out a list of 17 IP addresses you allege belong to Tiscali customers, whom you allege have infringed the copyright of your members, together with the dates and times and with which sound recording you allege that they have done so. You have also sent us extracts of screenshots of the shared drive of one of those customers. You state that such evidence is “overwhelming”. However, you have provided no actual evidence in respect of 16 of the accounts. Further, you have provided no evidence of downloading taking place nor have you provided evidence that the shared drive was connected by the relevant IP address at the relevant time.
Similar requests we have dealt with in the past, have included such information and, indeed, the bodies conducting those investigations have felt that a court would consider it necessary to see such evidence, supported by sworn statements, before being able to grant any order.
Therefore, in order to assist you, we will require the following information from you:
1. in respect of the remaining 16 IP addresses, please provide screenshots of each user’s shared drive so that you can prima facie establish communication to the public;
2. in respect of all 17 IP addresses, please provide evidence that shows that the user id is connected via the IP address concerned at the relevant date and time;
3. if you wish to establish that downloading is taking place, please also provide evidence of this; and
3. [sic] as these IP address are dynamic and are allocated to a user upon connection for the duration of the connection only, please confirm that the timings provided are all BST, so that we may accurately identify the customer details.
In the meantime, we have contacted the customer, in respect of whom you have provided partial evidence of communication to the public of copyrighted sound recordings and have given such customer seven days from the date of receipt of our letter to provide an explanation. Should we not receive an adequate explanation during such period, we shall suspend the user’s account pending resolution of your investigation, assuming by that time we have received evidence from you of a link between the user account and the IP address at the relevant time.
At this point, I would like to make it clear that a similar procedure will be followed in respect of the remaining 16 customers, once you have provided proper evidence. Tiscali does not intend to require its customers to enter into the undertakings proposed by you and, in any event, our initial view is that they are more restrictive than is reasonable or necessary. However, should you wish our customers to enter into your undertakings, you will need to approach them directly. It is a matter for them to decide whether they wish to enter into such undertakings or defend proceedings against them in the courts. It is not for Tiscali, as an ISP, nor the BPI, as a trade association, to effectively act as a regulator or law enforcement agency and deny individuals the right to defend themselves against the allegations made against them.
Disclosure of Customer Details
As you will already be fully aware, Tiscali will not be able to disclose customer details to you unless you obtain a court order requiring us to do so. To disclose without a court order would put Tiscali at risk of breaching the terms and conditions of its customer agreements, and the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998.
Tiscali Undertakings
As we have mentioned above, Tiscali has always co-operated with investigations into alleged infringement conducted by copyright owners, whilst observing its own legal obligations and respecting the legal rights of its customers. In the circumstances, we do not consider it necessary nor desirable to enter into such undertakings nor do we believe that, in circumstances where we are co-operating with your investigation in the manner we have outlined in this letter, that a court would require us to do so. Furthermore, we do not believe that you have at present satisfied the requirements of section 97A of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 with the information you have provided.
We look forward to receiving the information requested above.
Yours sincerely
Tiscali UK Limited
Reuters quotes the BPI as saying it’ll supply Tiscali with the evidence requested and, “The overwhelming feeling we’re getting from this letter is that they’re willing to co-operate, and that’s hugely encouraging,” according to spokesman Matt Phillips.
On customer names, “It’s more of a rubber-stamping exercise,” he said.
C&W says it’ll, “take whatever steps are necessary to put the matter right,” adding policies for its Bulldog broadband Internet service meant any accounts used for illegal file-sharing would normally be closed, says the story.
Stay tuned.
Digg this.
Also See:
Boing Boing - UK ISP to British recording industry: get lost , July 11, 2006
Webuser - Tiscali refuses to unmask ‘file-sharers’, July 11, 2006
Reuters - Tiscali snubs music industry demand for names, July 11, 2006
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