Brief news items of note for Lifehacker readers, including: iiNet loses piracy case against Dallas Buyers Club, get a free sample of dog shampoo from PINCHme, the best images from Sunday’s blood moon eclipse.
- Bad news, movie pirates: the Federal Court has ordered several Australian internet service providers to hand over the identities of customers suspected of illegally sharing the movie Dallas Buyers Club. The ISPs named in the ruling include iNet, Dodo, Internode, Amnet Broadband and Adam Internet and could potentially see thousands of Australian customers slapped with legal notices from the studio behind the movie.
- PINCHme is one of those marketing firms that give out free samples of products in exchange for customer feedback. This month’s freebie include Paw by Blackmores Classic Care Dog Shampoo and two varieties of Purina Cat Food. Click here to claim your sample.
- If you missed Saturday’s lunar eclipse — the last one until 2018 — Gizmodo has you covered! People from across Australia were able to capture the event in stunning detail. Here are some of their best efforts.
- Westpac’s fingerprint sign-in for online baking is now available for iPad customers. This allows Westpac customers to use the iPad’s Touch ID sensor to securely access their bank accounts. Get the new app here.
Comments
8 responses to “Briefly: iiNet Loses Piracy Fight, Free Dog Shampoo, Blood Moon Eclipse”
And you live in a house with 5 people how do you prove who downloaded what? Or do you just shakedown the person whose name is on the bill?
Interesting new business model:
•make a movie (quality is of no concern)
•release it
•wait the whole 3 seconds until it is pirated
•obtain ip addresses
•demand ISPs hand over what is supposed to be private and confidential information on their customers
•send threatening letter to bill holder demanding an absurd amount of compensation for a crime which hasn’t been proven to have occurred
•offer a lesser compensation amount to make yourself seem partially reasonable although the amount is still hundreds of times any alleged loss
•receive payment
•rinse and repeat
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How does a VPN not help? All your ISP’s logs’ will show is that your connected to a server in X country. The traffic is encrypted. You make sure that the VPN server you connect to is in a country that doesn’t play nice with US law ,etc. Besides do you think these big companies and law firms are going to go through all the red tape of taking not only your ISP in this country but your VPN provider in X country to court. OR are they going to go after the unfortunate people who aren’t concerned about their privacy.
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It’s a tried and true method in the United States, they’re just expanding their audience to include Australia. With the data retention laws and now this, it makes the decision to get a VPN all that much easier.
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@justin_in_the_se
The responsibility lays with the account holder.
From iiNet’s Customer Relationship Agreements….
http://www.iinet.net.au/about/legal/cra/pdf/iiNet-Group-ADSL-Service-Description.pdf
11.2 Any use of the Service at the Premises is your responsibility. The terms of our CRA apply to you and also to anyone else who uses the Service (regardless of whether you give them permission to do so or not).
11.7 You are responsible for providing any security or privacy measures for your computer networks and any data stored on those networks or accessed through the Service. We will not be liable to you in respect of any loss, damage, costs or expenses incurred by you in connection with your failure to provide that security.
11.9 You must take reasonable steps to ensure that others do not gain unauthorised access to the Service through your account. We recommend that you do not disclose your password to others and that you change your password regularly.
And from iiNet’s About copyright page…
http://www.iinet.net.au/about/legal/about-copyright/
iiNet does not volunteer personal details or information relating to customers to copyright holders, unless they obtain a court order which requires us to identify who you are.
One good thing is that any correspondence the producers of DBC wants to send to alleged pirates has to go through the court first. I think it has to go to the specific judge who ruled on this case.
The piracy issue is a farce! If I borro a CD/DVD & copy it for myself to listen or watch l8er then wth is immoral with that?! Nothing! I’m not profiting by selling/hiring my copy for $$$. The “problem” is by torrenting I’m “seeding” as well even though I didn’t have a choice in choosing not to seed. And then somehow I’m responsible for millions of others obtaining copies from my copy?! Insanity! I haven’t profited in “seeding” to others so why should I be punished when I am no more the richer?! Proportional punishment would be simply paying the $15 these films are worth not the 1000s the greedy corporations want to steal from me. 2 wrongs never make a right and just because something is illegal doesn’t make it immoral…