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Concern in the UK is high after last month's leak involving PlusNet, another British ISP, where unencrypted user data was released. Customer names and addresses were matched with pornographic content that was allegedly downloaded by subscribers. The data was found in an email from ACS Law, one of the UK's top anti-file sharing firms, which seeks to use the IPs to target and prosecute users who downloaded content illegally. An investigation is already underway to determine if ACS Law's security (or lack thereof) was at fault for the leak. Furthermore, a coordinated legal response has been launched by consumers who feel the firm has wrongly targeted them as copyright violators, an action that could be classified as harassment.
Obviously BT and PlusNet want to put the concerns of their subscribers to rest. The UK Guardian reported, "Most, if not all, of the internet service providers served with court orders brought by ACS:Law have now said they will challenge the obligation to disclose customer data to law firms, prompting fresh spotlight on the disputed evidence-gathering techniques used to prove that a broadband user has shared copyrighted material." Pretty interesting considering the US government's recent push to require built-in backdoors for monitoring user activity, although the focus is more on criminal behavior and not piracy control.
User Comments: 3
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matrix86 said:
The ISP challenged anti-P2P groups saying that accusations of illegal file sharing needs to have "some basis" and that blindly releasing user data undermines subscriber confidenceCan I get an AMEN!?!?! I know some people are against file sharing, and I have no problems with those people, but just like anything else, I think you need some basis for a warrant to have this information released. Just like police can't get a search warrant for a house just because they suspect someone for doing something. They have to have some sort of basis for their accusations. And it should be the same here for our online privacy as well.
I know the arguments...
~if you do something ilegal, you should be caught and pay the price
~if you weren't doing anything wrong to begin with, why be worried about this at all?
Same ol thing that always pops up. Fact of the matter is, nobody should be able to just walk in to private life without some sort of basis for doing so. Some sort of proof that says "hey, look at this...this looks fishy...can we investigate a little more into this?"
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+1 There is a word for a society where the people in charge have comlete control of everything including your private life, so +1 for knocking them bastard leach law firms (the whole spectrum) back a peg or two.
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Now I'm Glad to Be with BT
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