My isp have sent me a infringement notice stating that I am being accused by an organization of downloading one of their movies through my internet connection. My Isp has not released my information to the organization as of yet. It has the time and date when the event happen and i was asleep at that time. My computer is also old and I read that i am responsible for my internet security which i am not a expert on nor is my computer reliable. I would like to know what I can do to fight this and if I am not able to, what are the penalties of this crime.
You best bet is to consult a copyright litigation attorney ASAP.
If you want to fight it, it is like going to war, meaning you will need a budget to pay your attorney. Nobody I know works these cases for free, so the question turns to how much money you have to fight?.
This is like fight a traffic camera, you can but many times it is not worth it.
You should take a look at the answers given to previous posts on this topic (see link below). Then, find an attorney near you with experience in this area.
p.s. It is my understanding that both Marc Jacobson and Ray Beckerman do a lot of this work:
http://www.attorneyqna.com/attorneys/10019-ny-marc-jacobson-387437.html
http://www.attorneyqna.com/attorneys/11375-ny-ray-beckerman-785244.html
The problem is not likely your computer but your router and how you set it up. I agree with the attorneys who have suggested you get counsel. It is not likely to become a criminal case but will become a lawsuit if you do not pay a settlement or set up a defense. And you need a lawyer to evaluate what useful defenses you may have. Do not delay. The earlier you act the less it is going to cost you. But it will not be zero.
I answer questions on this question almost every day, and I have clients that call me about these issues many times monthly. The short answer is this---you should not ignore this situation. Rather, you need to immediately retain counsel to attempt to defend you. Chances are that from an economic standpoint, it will be more expensive for you to fight this than to settle. The problem that you face is that the internet protocol address associated with your computer has been detected by copyright owners (using sophisticated technology) as having been used to illegally download a movie (most of these cases these days involve porn). There is little doubt that your address was used in this manner----even if you did not personally download the movie, someone using your IP address did so. The problem may be that your wireless internet router was not password protected and encrypted, which allowed someone else to download the movie. You could be held responsible for the download on the theory that you were negligent or reckless in failing to make sure your router was password and encryption protected. Even if you have valid defenses to this matter, it will be expensive to battle this. And do not listen to the fools who assert that you should just ignore the situation---there are "anti copyright troll" vigilantes who are giving people bad advice by asserting that the copyright infringers are scam artists and you should ignore them. In all likelihood, this is not a scam, and if you ignore them you will end up with a giant default judgment against your for thousands of dollars.
In most of these cases, your lawyer can arrange for a settlement on reasonable terms---an economic solution that is probably in your interest. But you cannot possibly handle this on your own---you need to retain counsel. And lawyers do not handle these matters for free--be prepared to pay legal fees.
This has been asked and answered here many times. Look up the prior answers please. Bottom line is you cannot safely ignore this. If you do your contact information will be released by your ISP, you will get demand letters and perhaps a suit, you will either pay the settlement then or hire a lawyer to fight. So, it's best to hire the lawyer and fight now to conceal your identity (if possible) or call the copyright troll involved and pay their settlement fee, likely $200 now, which will be more like $3000 later if you ignore this stuff.
So you set the torrent up and then went to bed so you could say you were asleep? You need a better story than that you were asleep.
We handle a lot of these. Here is my blog on the subject: http://recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com Here is a motion we're presently handling:
http://recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com/2012/06/john-doe-4-files-motion-to-quash-sever.html
My email address: [email protected]
My phone number: 718-544-3434
