Posts Tagged ‘extortion’

A mysterious company using the name "Internet Copyright Law Enforcement Agency" is sending letters to home addresses of alleged BitTorrent users, asking them to pay a settlement fee of hundreds of dollars or face jail time. The outfit claims to work with law enforcement and says it protects the rights of popular artists such as Skrillex and Cee Lo Green . The sophisticated scam ... Full story

Despite intervention by the Open Rights Group, an adult movie company in the UK has been given the green light to hugely expand its anti-piracy operations in the UK. The Court of Appeal told Golden Eye, a company connected with the Ben Dover porn brand, that it can start sending out thousands of cash demands to individuals suspected of sharing not only their works online, ... Full story

Mass-BitTorrent lawsuits continue to sweep across the United States and for the first time a software company has joined in on the action. Canadian company reFX Software has sued nearly 200 alleged BitTorrent users for distributing their audio software. The defendants include consumers on residential connections as well as students or employees of Webster University and the University of Central Missouri.Source: First Software ... Full story

A landmark order by a Pennsylvania District Court judge may become the turning point for the many mass-BitTorrent lawsuits that are sweeping through the United States. For the first time in these cases a copyright holder has been ordered to go to trial, instead of settling with the alleged file-sharers for a few thousand dollars. This will be the first time that BitTorrent-related evidence will ... Full story

A German law firm will hit a new low next week, even for companies engaged in the file-sharing settlement letter business. The company says that from September 1st it will begin publishing the details of individuals it claims have infringed their clients' copyrights by sharing hardcore pornography online. To make matters worse, they're threatening to target churches, police stations and Arabs first. Neither the Pirate ... Full story

Police in Sweden are warning Internet users not to send money to criminals trying to extort money from alleged file-sharers. The sophisticated scam began when unsuspecting cell phone users browsed an infected website which somehow extracted information from their devices. This was followed up by a mailed allegation of copyright infringement and a cash demand for between 90 and 195 euros to be paid into ... Full story

Porn companies attempting to track down alleged file-sharers with the aim of extracting cash settlements have managed to incur the wrath of judges in both New York and Columbia. In separate ongoing cases, adult studio plaintiffs ordered Comcast and Cablevision to provide them with the identities of alleged BitTorrent users against instructions issued by the court, which in one case were put in place specifically ... Full story

One of the many alleged BitTorrent users to fall victim to copyright trolls in recent years has launched an impressive counterattack against a plaintiff who accused him of downloading an adult movie. Jeff Fantalis of Louisville wants millions of dollars in damages for defamation, emotional distress and invasion of privacy, plus a prominent retraction in a local newspaper. Fantalis further asks the court to rule ... Full story

After months of uncertainty, broken promises and despair, the world's biggest independent heavy metal label has ended its quest to force settlements from alleged music sharers in the United States. World Digital Rights, the copyright troll outfit hired by the Nuclear Blast label to hunt down and threaten fans of the band All Shall Perish - even without the band's permission - have now thrown ... Full story

A lawsuit against fans of the metal band All Shall Perish has faltered after it was revealed that the copyright troll plaintiff in the case has failed to register the required copyrights. World Digital Rights are pursuing BitTorrent users on behalf of Nuclear Blast, the band's record label, but the band say they are absolutely against the process. Their manager told TorrentFreak this week that ... Full story