Having recently been tipped off about some of my material being on torrent sites, I have sent off a flurry of DMCA take-down notices. Rather surprisingly, the response in all cases was to remove the offending material immediately. This leads me to assume that some of them are running scared of the attention being turned upon them by the authorities. Judging by the number of off-line or blocked torrent sites, it seems to be not without good reason.
Torrent downloading is becoming more hazardous as users, as well as providers, are now being targetted in the latest moves. I think the net is tightening and, as greater controls are implemented, the wild west days could be numbered. When one considers the degree of tracking affored even by consumer programs like Google Analytics, it is frightening to think what detailed information must be available to ISPs and governments; read this for example.
“The Copyright Alert System (CAS), designed to provide notices to consumers if their ISP suspects any illegal downloading, will start rolling out “in the coming weeks.”
Originally announced last year, the CAS will be used to deliver infringement notices from content owners to ISP users that attempt to illegally download copyrighted material. Initial notices are designed to be purely informational, however Internet service providers will take additional action on repeated offenders.”
Read more at ISP Copyright Alert System Launching ‘In The Coming Weeks’ Mobile & Apps.
I’d be very grateful for information regarding the URL’s of any sites offering illegal downloads of my copyright material. I would ask those who feel they must infringe copyright to try to be more selective and choose those who can afford it, like Bill Gates with his alleged £3,356,100,000pa salary. Consider that I need it more as I probably earn less in an entire year than he does during a single visit to the toilet. What’s more, his £6,165.67 per minute earnings assumes he is working 24/7! To make matters worse, I suspect my working week is closer to 24/7 than his.