Virgin Media sent letters to file sharers.

[cat666]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7486743.stm

 

 

 

Basically the proposal is if you get warned 3 times about file sharing then you're booted off the network.

 

 

 

Very silly idea if you ask me. The file sharers will just adapt there methods or go to an ISP who won't ban them. Anyone with a degree of computer knowledge can use a jump site, a site not based in the UK and therefore not under the juristication of the BPI. The ISP's would not be able to track/ban the sheer number of IP addresses which could be used and therefore would be in a worse situation than they are now.

[Mamong]

I wonder if encrypted sharing would still work under this.

 

 

 

Most will probably just switch ISP's if they do file share though, bit of a dumb idea unless it is adopted across the board by all ISP's.

[blackrainbow]

I was just reading that news report a few minutes ago as I'm on Virgin Media broadband. However, as I don't make many downloads I was viewing the story from a different angle. As most will know there are some factors which can affect your internet speed, such as closeness to the exchange, the amount of people sharing the same exchange, the weight of traffic etc. So if less people on your exchange are downloading films you should in theory get less lag when playing online. So this should be good news for those who like to play online a lot, not so good news for those who like to download copyrighted material for free.

[cat666]

I was just reading that news report a few minutes ago as I'm on Virgin Media broadband. However, as I don't make many downloads I was viewing the story from a different angle. As most will know there are some factors which can affect your internet speed, such as closeness to the exchange, the amount of people sharing the same exchange, the weight of traffic etc. So if less people on your exchange are downloading films you should in theory get less lag when playing online. So this should be good news for those who like to play online a lot, not so good news for those who like to download copyrighted material for free.

 

 

 

Not true with Virgin as they use cable not ADSL. ADSL speeds depend on distance from exchange but with cable it should be a fixed speed. Obviously where you are downloading from factors, as does what else your connection is being used for.

 

 

 

Virgin do have a speed cap though, which they have recently been told off for not advising people of. Basically if you download lots at peak times your speed gets cut in half.

[Jernlov]

I can see this being used against anyone using P2P, whether it be for illegal purposes or not.

 

 

 

I'm not on Virgin, never have been, never will be, but the whole prospect is ridiculous. People who download stuff like Linux distros and various other free-to-share applications will get letters regardless and those who pirate probably won't.

 

 

 

Virgin will lose customers, but this is coming from the company that said 'net neutrality is a load of b______s', so I don't care.

 

 

 

Screw Virgin and all they stand for. I have little respect for companies that make such claims, and that includes my own ISP. Too bad the only ISPs around here share Virgin's views.

[Latinoking]

Virgin wanted to look nice, but there are legal P2P, because it helps websites.

 

 

 

I mean I know a lot of people who download Pure Pwnage episode through P2P.

 

 

 

Good thing, I don't got them. :ugeek:

[DaN]

What we really need is a law that prevents media companies from having any involvement in communications.

[@Dan3HitU]

Other companies have already said they won't send letters out, and VirginMedia have said they won't punish you in anyway, they're just sending letters out for no reason.

 

 

 

Also, did you know:

 

You can actually sue them for watching what you download/view, as in the terms and conditions there is a privacy policy which they're breaking.

 

 

 

My local ISP company (Karoo) I can't get any other because they won't let BT/others in.

 

Anyway, they "caught" me torrenting a file (which I named as a movie) when it wasn't even a movie and they banned me from using their services.

 

My mum had no idea what was going on so I gave them a ring and asked to speak to someone in charge.

 

 

 

Oh behold I mentioned the privacy policy and they accepted me straight back onto the network =D>

 

 

 

If you get caught in these predicaments you just need to know what your rights/laws are and what you're (or they) are actually doing to windle around them.

[InkofDeath]

Virgin is trying to take a step ahead, and pull all the other ISP's with them in screwing our internet. When virgin takes the next step, and loses all it's customers, that will be a great example for other ISP's.

[cat666]

Virgin is trying to take a step ahead, and pull all the other ISP's with them in screwing our internet. When virgin takes the next step, and loses all it's customers, that will be a great example for other ISP's.

 

 

 

Trouble is you can't switch from Virgin easily. They use cable and not ADSL.

 

 

 

If you leave you need to buy a new router and pay BT over £100 to install a new line!

[Jernlov]

I'm hoping to sign up to UKFSN next year to get away from Tiscali, BT, Virgin and all of their continued attempts on peoples' privacy.

 

 

 

It disgusts me. (in before 'you rent a line from them, they can do as they please')

 

 

 

3_Hit_U, that's exactly what I would've done in your situation. You're lucky due to Karoo being a pretty small company, though.. I seriously doubt Tiscali would let me talk to anyone if I'd been banned for filesharing/whatever. They just put you through to India/Pakistan and let someone who barely speaks English tell you that 'they can do nothing'.

 

 

 

And since we're on the topic of privacy infringement: https://nodpi.org/

 

 

 

Dear God. Its come down to this?

[@Dan3HitU]

SilverSword - You can sue Tiscali btw, my friend threatened too as all their installation software that you have to install (eg: their drivers I think it is) have spyware (i'm sure it was spyware) on them lol.

[DaN]

The problem with ISPs is that you have a limited choice.

 

 

 

If you wish to distribute illegal content you can find many providers that exist outside the jurisdiction of the country who's laws your trying to break and host the content from there.

 

 

 

But when you try to access content yourself you are limited to the providers in your area, if they are all against you then your screwed.

[OldJoe]

Hmm, i never knew internet was so different in U.K from Sweden.

 

Companies hiding spyware in their drivers? Wow! That's insane. That can't be legal, can it?

 

I've also seen you have limit's on speed sometimes during the time of the day, i haven't heard this from any of my friends in other countries (including my country). Although i'm on adsl, i have full speed anytime. Although cable would be better, of course, it costs quite a bit here.

 

Don't know if anyone outside of Sweden has heard it, but a new law here called "FRA" (Defense forces Radio Place), so they can legally monitor every electronic call (email, phones, internet.. etc).

 

But some internet-provider companies here has already started encrypting their nets to keep their users privacy.

[Jernlov]

There's no spyware in Tiscali's equipment. I've had no problems with my ISP looking in on me since I signed up to their dial-up service in 2005. No letters, no warnings.

 

 

 

And OldJoe, I heard about the FRA law. Good on the ISPs for protecting their customers' privacy.

[DaN]

In Australia we have consumer protection laws that prohibit the type of activity you get in the UK