CyberLaw Blog

Archive for July 3rd, 2008

Virgin admits disconnection threat mistake: “Virgin Media has said that a threat sent out to 800 of its customers that they could be disconnected from the internet because of alleged copyright infringement was a mistake.”

(Via OUT-LAW News.)

Google blurs faces to protect privacy in French StreetView: “Google has chosen to blur the faces of people caught on camera by the French edition of its StreetView service.

(Via Macworld.)

The decision is available through cyberlaw.org.uk as a PDF file.

Judge Orders Google to Turn Over YouTube Records: “The order raised concerns that the online video viewing habits of tens of millions of people could be exposed.

(Via NYT > Technology.)

Google’s controversial Street View hits the UK: “Google’s Street View photography cars have been spotted on the streets of London. The company started its first European data gathering for the service in April in Italy.”

(Via OUT-LAW News.)

Games firm wins rulings against British BitTorrent users: “A London court has come down in favour of a games publisher in four cases in which it claimed that the users had been illegally downloading and sharing computer games on the internet.”

(Via OUT-LAW News.)

Analysis: Pending a Telecom Immunity Vote, Spy Ruling Lacks Muscle: “A federal judge’s ruling late Wednesday appears to favor lawsuits challenging the Bush administration’s once-secret eavesdropping program. But a closer look reveals the 59-page decision has little muscle. And that muscle might only flex if Congress does not adopt an immunity bill for telecommunications companies being sued for assisting the administration.

(Via Wired News.)

Virgin Media sends warning letter to file sharers - Computeractive

Disconnection threat an ‘administration error’, says internet provider
Andrea-Marie Vassou, Computeract!ve 03 Jul 2008

Virgin Media has sent around 800 letters to customers warning them to stop sharing music on file-sharing sites.

The letters are part of a 10-week campaign the internet service provider (ISP) is running in conjunction with the recording industry body, the BPI.

Virgin said the letters, which list the track that has been both uploaded and downloaded, along with the date and time, would help educate users on the possible penalties people face.

However, the envelope for the letters has a threat to disconnect repeat offenders printed on them.

Virgin denied it was the start of the company implementing a three-strikes system. This is where users of file-sharing networks get two warning letters to stop them downloading or uploading music or movies. If users persist their broadband service is disconnected. It has been adopted in France and is something that the BPI is pushing for UK ISPs to sign up to.

A spokesman for Virgin Media said: ‘The letters should have been sent out in a plain envelope and the printed warnings were an administration error.

‘This is about education. We make no assumptions about who is at fault. It may be someone in the family or someone illegally using their Wifi connection, ‘ he said.

Virgin Media is given people’s information by the BPI, which monitors file-sharing networks. It initiates a track to download from the IP address of the file sharer it is watching. It then sends the information to Virgin, which can identify the customer concerned from the IP address.

The BPI said there was no ‘spying’ involved in the collection of data. It said in a statement: ‘The evidence collected by the BPI is in fact made available by any uploader to in the normal course of using a P2P (filesharing) network. Nor does the process raise ‘data protection issues’.

However, privacy groups are concerned and point out that the scheme could have unintended consequences for Virgin.

Dr Yaman Akdeniz, director for the Cyber Rights Group, said: ‘Virgin is sending out these threatening letters which will upset lot of people.

‘These threatening ‘Big Brother is watching you’ tactics will only push users to other ISPs rather than acting as a useful educational tool.’”

Google must divulge YouTube log: “Google must hand over the log holding details of every user who has watched any video on YouTube, a US court rules.”

(Via BBC News.)

Virgin Educates File-Sharers with Mistaken Envelops: “There seems to already be a bit of a hiccup in Virgin Media’s campaign to educate file-sharers. Last month, Virgin Media and the BPI joined forced in an effort to educate those suspected of uploading on P2P networks. This effort involved Virgin Media sending letters from both Virgin and the BPI informing suspected P2P butt pirates the dangers and alternatives to their activities. Virgin assured the Internet community that this was not part of a ‘three strikes’ policy to disconnect users.”

(Via Slyck.com File-Sharing News And Information.)

America wakes up to the surveillance society: “

Who watches the watchmen’s mobile phone?

Civil liberties groups in the US are demanding that the Department of Justice cough details of its use of mobile phone tracking - particularly how often it’s done so without probable cause of a crime being committed.…

“

(Via The Register - Public Sector.)