Quote: (02-26-2013 07:11 AM)Faust Wrote:
I work with computers as part of my job. Won't say any more than that, but here's a little more info for you guys. I assume most people on this board are pretty technically inclined, but if you're not maybe I can break this down a little. This link provides some more detailed info than the CNN/Yahoo stories.
http://blogs.computerworld.com/internet/...ix-strikes
Computerworld is a pretty reputable site, if I remember right, and here's the product it says they're using to watch for pirated content, a product called MarkMonitor:
https://www.markmonitor.com/download/ds/...Piracy.pdf (Note that the PDF claims the program monitors file locker programs. However, multiple sources in the computerworld article say that that functionality won't be used for this. It's torrents only.)
Here's how a torrent monitoring application works, simplified for non-techies.
1.) You download and run a torrent to download "Debbie Does DP 9."
2.) When you run a torrent, you're getting the data for the file from everybody else who is connected to that torrent. This means everybody else has to know your IP (A number that uniquely identifies your computer on the internet) to know where to send the porn.
3.) MarkMonitor downloads and runs the same torrent. When they do, they automatically get a list of every IP that is currently connected to it.
4.) MarkMonitor doesn't know what person is using that IP, they just know what it is. Only your internet provider knows. So they write down the IP and send it to your internet provider, with a note saying "He's been a bad, bad man."
5.) Your provider sends you to internet time-out.
As you can see, this is a fairly trivial process. No expensive hardware or giant databases required. So I imagine this is all they'll be doing for the forseeable future, and the Computerworld article backs this up. Now when you use a VPN, you're connecting to the torrent via a different IP. So your uh, viewing habits... can't be traced back to you. Instead of your IP, MarkMonitor will see the VPN's. There are ways to find out who was using a VPN at a certain point in time, but they're expensive, time-consuming, and difficult, and simply not feasible on a national scale. So if you're using one, you're safe.
Personally, I wouldn't worry too much about this. Almost everybody with internet access pirates stuff, especially the people who pay for expensive, upgraded connections. If I'm a Time Warner customer, and they kick me off the internet, I'm going to stop paying 100$ a month for cable. And do you think the MPAA is going to pay them anything? Heck no. So that's 100$ a month they lose, and some other company gains. So they're doing the bare minimum required to keep copyright owners from going to congress and demanding a giant, expensive monitoring solution. Notice that even if you get six-strikes, all it does is slow your connection for 2 days. Then nothing at all happens. Not a thing. You're not banned from the internet, you're not fined, and the FBI doesn't come to your door and haul you away in the night.
So take a deep breath, 'cause nothing will come of this. You might get a nasty letter.
Just don't download "Debbie does DP 9" when you're on somebody else's connection, 'cause if they get that nasty letter they'll probably have some questions for you.
^Thanks for posting the article.
It was good to know the following since I mostly only visit streaming sites:
Quote:Quote:
4. Switch over to a streaming site without downloading movies. ICE may take it down, but you won’t be targeted by the Copyright Alert System. Torrent Freak reported, “The copyright alerts only target a subgroup of online pirates, namely BitTorrent users. The millions of users of file-hosting services, Usenet and streaming sites are not going to be affected.”