are YOU being watched?

Jasta85 · Post by **Jasta85** » Mon Aug 11, 2008 11:27 pm

i was chatting with my cousin just now who is also an anime fan, and he told me that he got a call from his cable company saying that they've detected him downloading illegal japanese cartoons on his computer and that there are copyright issues and he needs to resolve them in 48 hours or they will cut service.

now, my cousin does download fansubs (as do i) but he tends to use IRC and bittorrent whereas i use direct download and FTP. the first question that popped into my head is "who the heck is monitering anime downloads and pressuring cable companies to crack down on downloaders?". my cousin also has not downloaded any liscenced anime so there shouldnt be any copyright issues in the first place.

i'm also trying to figure out if this is a one in a million case where they randomly pick a downloader and punish him, or if someone is going to actually try and start doing something about downloaded anime in general.

so, just putting this out, be careful where you choose to get your anime from. someone may be watching.

Lyrs · Post by **Lyrs** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 12:17 am

they typically do that when you're using your promised bandwidth with massive downloads (ie bittorrent) but within the limits of what you signed up for. there's a lot of legal issues surrounding this, but given the fact that they are fairly dishonest in how they sell their service and protect their customer's privacy, it'd be best to do your part instead.

tell your cousin to use encryption.

LeapofFate · Post by **LeapofFate** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 12:37 am

o____O.

Thanks for the heads-up.

What cable company is it?

Just curious.

Ishbalan · Post by **Ishbalan** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 12:45 am

That exact thing happened to me last year.
We ended up just apologizing and saying that it wouldn't happen again.

I then switched to uTorrent, which auto-encrypts the files. No problems since.

Time Warner Cable

76 · Post by 76 » Tue Aug 12, 2008 11:02 am

That can't happen with wireless....can it? O.O

Utorrent all the way! (If I can get around my admin to forward the ports...>_>)

Sukunai · Post by **Sukunai** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 11:38 am

To my knowledge, an invasion of privacy trumps any form of digital theft in Canada.

And unless they have usurped your right to privacy in the case of Canada, how precisely they would be able to know what you were doing online is a good question.

Which is a good example of how the US is not always the most free place on the planet.

LivingFlame · Post by **LivingFlame** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 4:21 pm

From what I hear, Time Warner is notorious for this sort of thing. I've never gotten such a call and I use BitTornado (PC) and Transmission (Mac) over Verizon FiOS.

76 · Post by 76 » Tue Aug 12, 2008 7:18 pm

Streaming sites FTW?

This sort of thing reminds me of that police department that used a keylogger to catch a pedo. Though I can't remember any details -I remember that there was allot of controversy over it.

I wonder why this is just coming to light if others have already experienced it. Or is it not as new to you as it is me?

LivingFlame · Post by **LivingFlame** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 10:16 pm

The concept itself is not very new to me. I mean, just look at the RIAA's history. =\

NelTu · Post by **NelTu** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 11:33 pm

Wow that suck but I dont think they are allowed to spy on your cuz like that.