Hollywood (ang mo dua kee) goes after illegal downloaders in S'pore

Hollywood goes after illegal downloaders in S'pore

By: LINETTE HENG
Those who illegally downloaded the Oscar-winning Hollywood film Dallas Buyers Club could soon get "pay up" letters for infringement of copyright.

The firm behind the movie, about the search for drugs to treat HIV in the mid 80s, has engaged a local law firm to send letters to several downloaders that had been identified, asking for a written offer of damages and costs.

It had earlier gone after illegal downloaders in the US and Australia after using a software programme to detect IP addresses in torrents.

The three local telcos confirmed that they received demands to reveal information of their subscribers.

They refused until court orders were issued to M1 and StarHub to compel them to do so. Singtel's case is still before the courts.

Intellectual property and technology lawyer Han Wah Teng said illegal downloaders may have to pay the copyright owner up to $10,000 for statutory damages.

Read the full report in our print edition on April 7.

Subscribe to The New Paper, now available in print and digital, at http://bit.Iy/tnpeshop.

- See more at: http://www.tnp.sg/news/hollywood-goes-after-illegal-downloaders-spore#sthash.t3MZUpjd.dpuf

All the more reason why you should use vpns that don't log connections eg IPVanish.

i am using hola ever since you recommend, i like it a lot. thks boss...

Leongsam said:

All the more reason why you should use vpns that don't log connections eg IPVanish.

Click to expand...

thanks. i'll just stream my videos. no evidence to charge me with. they wanna sue, sue the website loh.

Leongsam said:

All the more reason why you should use vpns that don't log connections eg IPVanish.

Click to expand...

Absolutely agree.

Actually even if one downloads, the person would not even know what the download is until he/she opens it up to view it. Most may not even know what Dallas Buyers Club is. I would assume they would have to proof intent.

they should go after china, why a small country like us, do you get it?

Leongsam said:

All the more reason why you should use vpns that don't log connections eg IPVanish.

Click to expand...

What are the pros and cons of IPVanish vs Hola? Other than 1 is a paid service and the other is free? Is there a comparison table? This would help end-users make a decision whether IPVanish is worth paying for, or whether Hola would suffice.

UltimaOnline said:

What are the pros and cons of IPVanish vs Hola? Other than 1 is a paid service and the other is free? Is there a comparison table? This would help end-users make a decision whether IPVanish is worth paying for, or whether Hola would suffice.

Click to expand...

There is no "one answer fits all" solution. Each will have their strengths and their weaknesses. It all depends upon what you are trying to achieve.

Best VPNs for netflix : https://www.bestvpn.com/blog/8848/5-best-vpns-netflix-2014-update/

Best VPNs for torrent : https://www.bestvpn.com/blog/11535/5-best-vpn-torrent-p2p-filesharing/

Best VPNs for privacy : https://www.bestvpn.com/the-ultimate-privacy-guide/

VPN myths : https://www.goldenfrog.com/take-back-your-internet/articles/7-myths-about-vpn-logging-and-anonymity

How can you be caught using Private VPN when there's no logs about who you are?

because obama is a secret moslem communist, am i rite?

Leongsam said:

All the more reason why you should use vpns that don't log connections eg IPVanish.

Click to expand...

the issue is the speed of the download. we're talking about downloading movies here and even the smallest movies with hd quality range from around 800mb to 1.5 gb in size and some people probably why to download the blu ray version which has been reduced to 4.7 gb in size or even worse the actual blu ray rip which wood probably be larger than 10gb. anyway in cases like this you need a fast connection and vpns slow down the connection speed

Here's a perfect example of the problem with the rep system I've raised repeatedly in the past. 80% of the time when I wanna rep someone for a good post (strictly meritocratic based on the contents of the post), I kena this error msg :

"You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Leongsam again."

Boss Sam, pls at least consider lowering the 'spreading out points' requirements, even if you don't remove it entirely.

Leongsam said:

There is no "one answer fits all" solution. Each will have their strengths and their weaknesses. It all depends upon what you are trying to achieve.

Best VPNs for netflix : https://www.bestvpn.com/blog/8848/5-best-vpns-netflix-2014-update/

Best VPNs for torrent : https://www.bestvpn.com/blog/11535/5-best-vpn-torrent-p2p-filesharing/

Best VPNs for privacy : https://www.bestvpn.com/the-ultimate-privacy-guide/

VPN myths : https://www.goldenfrog.com/take-back-your-internet/articles/7-myths-about-vpn-logging-and-anonymity

How can you be caught using Private VPN when there's no logs about who you are?

Click to expand...

Ozland also kenna

Dallas Buyers Club judgment: Internet providers must hand over customer details, court rules

Updated about 2 hours ago
Photo: Jared Leto and Matthew McConaughey starred in the 2013 film Dallas Buyers Club. (IMDB: Anne Marie Fox)
Related Story: Dallas Buyers Club judgment sets scene for film companies to chase illegal downloaders
Map: Sydney 2000

Internet providers must hand over contact details of Australian customers accused of illegally downloading The Dallas Buyers Club, the Federal Court has ruled.
The landmark piracy and privacy case was lodged by Dallas Buyers Club LLC, the company that owns the rights to the 2013 Hollywood blockbuster.


It wanted a group of internet service providers (ISPs), including iiNet, to hand over contact details of Australian customers accused of illegally downloading the movie.
The ISPs argued it was a breach of privacy and that the company intends to use a practice known as "speculative invoicing".

Justice Nye Perram ordered the ISPs had to hand the contact details over, but said the details could not be made public and any letter sent to the customers had to be vetted by him.
Dallas Buyers Club LLC claimed it had identified 4,726 Australian IP addresses where the movie was illegally downloaded.

"They are to submit to me a draft of any letter they propose to send to account holders associated with the IP addresses which have been identified," Justice Perram said.
Justice Perram highlighted the "need to provide deterrence" against file sharing.
"It is not beyond the realm of possibilities that damages of a sufficient size may be awarded," he said.

The ISPs had argued that the value of each copy of the film was less than $10 and it was "simply not plausible to think that the applicants would seek to recover such sums".
Outside court Dallas Buyers Club LLC's lawyer Michael Bradley said it was a step towards stamping out illegal downloads.

"Australia is one of the jurisdictions with the highest rate of unauthorised downloading and this is a first step from a copyright owner to try to change that balance," he said.
iiNet 'very happy' with judgment

In a statement iiNet said its stance against Dallas Buyers LLC has ensured the details of the customers would only be handed down under strict conditions and had shone a light on speculative invoicing.

"By going through the process we've been able to ensure that our customers will be treated fairly and won't be subjected to the bullying that we have seen happen elsewhere," iiNet chief executive officer David Buckingham said.

Media player: "Space" to play, "M" to mute, "left" and "right" to seek.


Video: Dallas Buyers Club decision could be 'scary and intimidating' for some consumers (7.30)
"We're very happy with Justice Perram's judgment and his balanced approach to both the studio's and consumers' rights."
He said the company could only use the details to sue customers, which he believed was unlikely as the cost of legal action would outweigh any potential gains.
"Letters issued by the rights holders will be reviewed by the judge to ensure they are not threatening, providing a significant safeguard for our customers," he said.
"As a result, the ruling will put a major dent in the process and business case behind speculative invoicing, since the financial returns could be outweighed by the costs of legal action."
Mr Buckingham said iiNet were advocates of legitimate content being made available to the Australian market at the same time as it was released elsewhere in the world for a reasonable price.
The case has been listed in the Federal Court for further orders to be made on April 21.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-...-isps-must-hand-over-customer-details/6375358

why the fark download a 2013 movie?

there was a previous case the odex saga sound 2007. During that period singtel gave over their customers ip addresses to odex and they got the lawyers letters while starhub and pacnet didn't. Some of the subscribers that got the letters decided to simply settle with odex instead of going to court and just pay I think a few thousands in fines there was quite a line of people that went to their office to pay the fines. I don't think odex win the court ruling so I am sure those who paid the fines regret doing so you can google it

Jah_rastafar_I said:

there was a previous case the odex saga sound 2007. During that period singtel gave over their customers ip addresses to odex and they got the lawyers letters while starhub and pacnet didn't. Some of the subscribers that got the letters decided to simply settle with odex instead of going to court and just pay I think a few thousands in fines there was quite a line of people that went to their office to pay the fines. I don't think odex win the court ruling so I am sure those who paid the fines regret doing so you can google it

Click to expand...

http://www.mediafire.com/view/350azi3hj3kjgaw/Odex_Pte_Ltd_v_Pacific_Internet.pdf

"Speculative invoicing (also known as ‘volume litigation’ and ‘pay-up-or-else’) involves a firm sending large volumes of letters. Each letter contains a demand for cash, accompanied by an allegation that the letter-writer’s copyright has been infringed. The monetary demand is usually presented as a settlement which is, they say, at an appropriate level to make good the potential losses incurred by the copyright owner. The letter will threaten the recipient with court action and potentially massive costs should they not accede to the request to settle swiftly at the level stated.

There are a few universal features to these letters:

1. they are almost always sent to a person that has not infringed the copyright
2. the settlement figure proposed is almost always ludicrous (typically ten times higher than might be expected had an infringement of copyright actually taken place)
3. there will be a COMPLETE lack of any evidence to support an accusation of copyright infringement against the letter recipient
4. they feature a heavy preponderance of ‘doublespeak’ (for example, letters will appear to state a strong likelihood of impending court action and high costs should the recipient not settle, but in fact such claims are carefully stated using terms which disguise the remote possibility of such an event taking place; viz, ‘in the event that it becomes necessary’ ‘it may become necessary’ ‘consequences against you could follow’)

The letters rely partially on a recipient’s naivety of law, but mostly on fear. They are wholly unpleasant as, one could logically conclude, must be the people who choose to send them.

It’s believed that the first edition of this superb publication enabled thousands of innocent account holders to avoid paying settlements to the infamous ACS:Law, eventually resulting in that company’s collapse and the bankruptcy of its operator."

http://digiex.net/attachments/downl...lative-invoicing-handbook-second-edition.pdf?

Why download when you can watch in full HD at movietube.com ?

my argument is this, they downloaded the torrent from a source, has the source been caught as well? who knows if this is a setup by the dallas company, it may be they themselves who uploaded it, who knows...right? these 500 should bind their money together to fight this case. besides, i dun believe in paying for stuff on the internet, it should be free if it is there for sharing and download. think about it, it not warped logic and the 500 shouldn't be intimidated by it.

500+ sinkies tua kee liao Land of the Free do not allow Freedom to download

MORE than 500 people in Singapore have allegedly downloaded Oscar-winning film Dallas Buyers Club illegally over the Internet, and now they may have to face the music.

United States company Dallas Buyers Club LLC, which owns the film rights, wants compensation.

Acting on its behalf in Singapore - as part of its global campaign - is local law firm Samuel Seow Law Corporation.

The film studio has apparently identified more than 500 Singapore IP addresses - from subscribers of the three major Internet Service Providers (ISPs) Singtel, StarHub and M1 - where the movie was illegally downloaded.

Over the weekend, the law firm reportedly started sending letters to Internet users here asking for a written offer of damages and costs within three days of receiving the letter.

It is not known how many have responded to the letter.

The 2013 film is based on the true story of an American's quest to treat HIV in the mid-1980s. It won three Academy Awards, including Best Actor for Matthew McConaughey and Best Supporting Actor for Jared Leto.

Intellectual property lawyer Cyril Chua of ATMD Bird & Bird said that the film studio may sue a few individuals here to scare people into paying the settlement fee, which is not made public.

Lawyer Bryan Tan, a technology partner at Pinsent Masons MPillay, said that those who received the letters of demand should seek legal advice.

"There are penalties for infringers if this goes all the way," he said.