Film and TV studios are suing BitTorrent users in Canada for illegally downloading movies and TV shows. The production houses are taking this step to try and decrease the availability of their content online.
However, to avoid getting caught and sued, many who download the copyrighted content will use a VPN service for torrenting which can effectively hide their IP Address, making it difficult to prevent.
Movie Houses File Lawsuit Against BitTorrent Users in Canada
Movie production houses are suing Canadians for illegally downloading films and TV shows. A privacy lawyer in the country, David Fraser, revealed that people who receive registered mail from movie studios looking to sue them for illegal content downloads should take the issue seriously. Ignoring such a letter could prove very costly.
Fraser, during an interview with CBC Radio’s Mainstreet earlier this week, stated that the movie houses could get a default judgment against suspects and charge as much as $5,000 for downloading their content. The film studios have been taking action against people downloading shows and movies illegally for some time now. The suspects are targeted and tracked through their internet service providers (ISPs).
According to the Copyright Modernization Act in the country, ISPs have to trace the IP address of those downloading movies illegally. Fraser revealed that the letters are targeted at users of BitTorrent.
BitTorrent, which is now owned by blockchain company TRON, allows users to download movies and TV shows from different sources available on the platform. Fraser pointed out that when a person uses BitTorrent, they are also one of the 50 people sharing it, which means that they are exposing their IP address to anyone who wishes to see it. This includes movie studios that hire firms to trace user IP addresses that are downloading and sharing their content.
Studios Get Your Names and Addresses Legally
Once the studios get a user’s IP address, they usually proceed to sue the unknown suspect associated with the address. They then obtain a Norwich order via the Federal Court of Canada against the ISPs to get the users’ name and address.
Fraser confirmed that his firm had been contacted by some people who have received such a letter. While it may seem sketchy, Fraser added that the mail is legitimate. When sending the letters to users, movie studios address them to “John Doe.” While the letters might read John Doe, they are definitely intended for the suspect.
The suspect is given roughly a month from the day of receiving the letter to file a defense. Failure to do so will see the studios obtain a default judgment and collect damages afterward.
Twitter Users Recommend VPNs in Response
Those who are being sued for illegally downloading content might have been able to avoid so if they had used a virtual private network state some Twitter users. Thomas Hall, while tweeting about this announcement, encouraged people to always to use a VPN server when browsing, adding that it is trump proof.
ALL-WAYs use a VPN Server on webrowsing, it is TRUMP proof. or just buy your stuff.
"Film, TV studios filing lawsuits against Canadian BitTorrent users"https://t.co/p4singTXhv— Thomasso Hall (@Thomasso01) April 17, 2019
VPNs allow users to shield their online activities from their internet service providers, enabling them to access and download content from BitTorrent without them knowing. However, the best advice for avoiding a situation like this would be not to download illegal copyrighted material in the first place.
