projekt draco

Latest news

I would like to extend my thanks to those who have passed this page around, who have let more people know what’s happening with RIAA. This page is under constant updates, and I hope you find this page beneficial. So check back for more if you think it does.

Firewall against RIAA Posted : 04 September 2003

You have a firewall to keep out hackers, so why not have a firewall to keep out the RIAA? If you’re running Windows, PeerGuardian does just that.

“Each time you launch PeerGuardian, it downloads the latest list of known RIAA informants and blocks them from connecting to your computer. The list contains hundreds of known IP-address ranges the RIAA has used to catch file swappers.

Does PeerGuardian offer 100 percent protection? No. If an unknown RIAA informant sneaks through, you’re still busted.”

- http://www.techtv.com/screensavers/story/0,24330,3511270,00.html

Look! Something new… I’ve not used it, so please don’t mail in telling me about it, or am I liable for anything that works or doesn’t with this piece of software, I’m just providing some interesting read and download (hopefully). :)

Introduction

I’m sure you’ve heard about it. RIAA is now targetting on individuals sharing files illegally. This is no hoax. It used to be them sueing the P2P companies… but even if one goes down, another will go up; Napster went down, yet another P2P now reigns - Kazaa. So now, maybe if they start to target individuals, it will be more useful. But who’re they kidding? We’re talking about many million users at large.

But still warning letters from ISPs in Singapore have been issued to advise some unlucky users who were caught to stop their illegal file serving or be prepared for legal actions that will be taken against them. And the number of warning letters issued seems to be on the rise.

And recently, I’ve received and read a few such copies of warning letters which I had posted later in this article, from the internet when I was roaming around. And the letters from both SingNet & Pacific Internet had been proven to be authetic.. below are authentication letters from them respectively.

The correspondance from SingNet

Case ID: 512601 (Please reply with original correspondence)

Dear Sir,

Thank you for the feedback and my apology for the late reply.

It true, we did issue notification to users for unauthorized distribution of copyrighted materials.

Should you have any further queries, you may write to me at abuse@singnet.com.sg.

Yours sincerely,

Phay Swee Nguan
Network Security Team (NST)

The correspondance from Pacific Internet

The letter appended below confirms Pacific Internet’s action on our customers who breaches our AUP specifically in downloading copyrighted softwares and motion pictures.

This is a warning email that we send to our customers caught doing such illegal activity.

We hope we have answered your queries. Should you need further assistance, please email us again at abuse@pacific.net.sg.

Best Regards,

Abuse Response Team
Pacific Internet Limited
(Singapore)

So I think it’s time to do something to save yourself if you’ve been doing the bad thing all the while. This is not a joke.

How do they find out?

RIAA is using software which scans for copyrighted files in public directories available to any user of a P2P network, then it will download and log down the information such as time accessed, filename, etc. And also your IP which personally identifies you, and your ISP. A mail will be sent to your ISP, which in turn will mail you a warning letter accordingly. All these evidence will be used to file lawsuit against you. I believe it’s like a "spider" crawling around the web harvesting for e-mails to spam at, but this time it’s another variant scanning for copyrighted (music) files.

Also, someone can potentially sabotage you by sending a mail to the RIAA, with the same information that they need.

Get this straight!

Yes, you probably have heard that there’re P2P softwares claiming to mask the last octet of your IP, and you feel safe using it?

No. There’s absolutely no WAY a P2P software or yourself can HIDE your identity online completely. You’re always opened to the public for sharing your files since IP is the most crucial information on the Internet to transfer files. (How else will the files be sent to you?) And when someone decides to check up on you, you will be be easily exposed.

No doubt about it.

The warned

The following mail was issued by PACNet to one of its users for infringement of copyrights. Sourced from HWZ.

Warning letter from Pacific Internet

We have been informed by a US-based motion picture company that on 27 July 2003, your Pacific Internet account was used to offer unauthorised copies of several motion pictures including:

• Bulletproof Monk
• Catch Me If You Can
• Chicago
• City By The Sea
• Clockstoppers
• Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind
• Daredevil
• Fast and The Furious 2, The
• Inspector Gadget 2
• Just Married
• Lord Of The Rings: Two Towers, The (movie)
• Phone Booth
• Ring, The
• Shanghai Nights
• Super Troopers
• Sweet Home Alabama
• Terminator 2: Judgment Da
• There’s Something About Mary
• We Were Soldiers

As such an alleged act can amount to an infringement of copyright, we request that you refrain from doing so if you had indeed offered such unauthorised copies. Should you continue to do so, we may be compelled to refer the matter to the authorities.

The following is an extract of the report that was submitted to us:

Date of Infringement: 7/27/2003 9:00:35 PM GMT

We have received information that you are providing Internet access to and
possibly hosting;

dcc://*****(galaxynet)@xxx.xx.xxx.xxx/

However, if you had not engaged in such activity and suspect that your account is being used without your knowledge or authorization, please contact our helpdesk at 6336 6622 immediately.

At this juncture, we wish to assure you that Pacific Internet is committed to maintaining the privacy of its subscribers and that we do not monitor the Internet usage of our subscribers. In view of the above, we wish to state that any information relating to the alleged offer of the copyrighted material originated from the US-based motion picture company. You may wish to know that Pacific Internet has not revealed any of your
information to the motion picture company.

If you have any queries pertaining to the above, please do not hesitate to contact us at abuse@pacific.net.sg.

Thank you.

Best Regards,

Abuse Response Team
Pacific Internet Limited
(Singapore)

The ISP will reveal his identity if he continues in his wrongdoings. And yes, ISPs can determine who you are by just checking their records against the information, such as your IP and time of connections. This user was serving on IRC the files(which is alot ~20 movies) mentioned in the mail. If you’re serving illegal files anywhere, you can get caught.

So what actually happens if you get caught?

Firstly, RIAA will send complaints to your ISP reporting your actions that cause copyrights infringement providing the information of illegal files, ip, time and more listed below in the mail.

Warning letter from SingNet

Notice ID: xxxxxxxxxxxxx

25 Jun 2003 01:24:46 GMT

Universal City Studios Productions LLLP and its affiliated companies (collectively, "Universal") are the exclusive owners of copyrights in many motion pictures, including the motion pictures listed below.

It has come to our attention that SingNet Pte Ltd is the service provider for the IP address listed below, from which unauthorized copying and distribution (downloading, uploading, file serving, file "swapping" or other similar activities) of Universal?s motion picture(s) listed below is taking place. We believe that the Internet access of the user engaging in this infringement is provided by SingNet Pte Ltd or a downstream service provider who purchases this connectivity from SingNet Pte Ltd.

This unauthorized copying and distribution constitutes copyright infringement under applicable national laws and international treaties. Although various legal and equitable remedies may be available to Universal as a result of such infringement, Universal believes that the entire Internet community benefits when these matters are resolved cooperatively. We urge you to take immediate action to stop this infringing activity and inform us of the results of your actions. We appreciate your efforts toward this common goal.

Please be advised that this letter is not and is not intended to be a complete statement of the facts or law as they may pertain to this matter or of Universal?s positions, rights or remedies, legal or equitable, all of which are specifically reserved.

Very truly yours,

• Aaron Markham
• Manager of Internet Anti-Piracy,
• Worldwide Anti-Piracy Operations
• VIVENDI UNIVERSAL ENTERTAINMENT.
• 100 Universal City Plaza
• Universal City, CA 91608
• tel. (818) 777-3111
• fax (818) 866-6339
• antipiracy@unistudios.com

*pgp public key is available on the key server at ldap://keyserver.pgp.com

Notice ID: xxxxxxxxxxxxx

• Title: Bruce Almighty
• Infringement Source: BitTorrent
• Initial Infringement Timestamp: 22 Jun 2003 01:08:49 GMT
• Recent Infringment Timestamp: 22 Jun 2003 01:08:49 GMT
• Infringer Username: None
• Infringing Filename: Bruce.Almighty(CTP).DivX.TS.DaDuck
• Infringing Filesize: 645615191
• Infringers IP Address: 220.xxx.xxx.xxx
• Infringers DNS Name: N/A
• Infringing URL: 220.xxx.xxx.xxx:xxxx/Bruce.Almighty(CTP).DivX.TS.DaDuck

• Title: 2 Fast 2 Furious
• Infringement Source: BitTorrent
• Initial Infringement Timestamp: 22 Jun 2003 02:06:10 GMT
• Recent Infringment Timestamp: 22 Jun 2003 02:06:10 GMT
• Infringer Username: None
• Infringing Filename: 2.Fast.2.Furious.(TCF).DivX.TS.DaDuck
• Infringing Filesize: 722749015
• Infringers IP Address: xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
• Infringers DNS Name: N/A
• Infringing URL: xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:xxxx/2.Fast.2.Furious.(TCF).DivX.TS.DaDuck

As you can see from the above, the title of the movie, the source where the serving happens, filename, filesize, IP address, can all be retrieved from BitTorrent sharing. All these can serve as evidence against you if RIAA wishes to take actions against you.

And what SingNet will do, is to inform you of what they have received. And the actions you should take to prevent yourself from getting into deeper troubles.

First letter of warning.

Case ID: xxxxxxxxxxxxx(Please reply with original correspondence)

Dear Sir/Miss (xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx),

The Abuse desk has received complaint of Internet-abuse traced to have originated from your SingNet account. Please see below report of unauthorised distribution of copyrighted motion pictures.

SingNet views online activity contrary to the SingNet AUP seriously.
http://www.singnet.com.sg/misc/aup.html

Cease all net-abuse activities originating from your SingNet account.

The details of the incident have been logged and action in accordance with the SingNet AUP will be taken if any future incidents are traced to your account.

For a complete set of Netiquette guidelines, surf to http://marketing.tenagra.com/rfc1855.html

Please find a sample of the net-abuse report sent to SingNet and the corresponding log file entries below.

Enquiries and/ or explanations can be directed to me directly.

Should you have any further queries, you may write to me at abuse@singnet.com.sg.

P.S. The below report is sent to us by Universal Motion Pictures.

Yours sincerely,

Mavis Ngiam
Network Security Team (NST)

If you receive something similiar to this, maybe it’s time to halt your kind sharing.

The fine could range from a few thousands dollars - a few hundred thousands to even serving jail terms, or both if you continue when you’re already warned.

What should I do now?

If you do not serve/share large quantities(at your own discretion, I don’t know.) of illegal files on any P2P networks such as Kazaa or BitTorrent, or on IRC, assume you’re safe. (Illegal files should include MP3 files.)

In case you do serve/share online, maybe you will wanna stop, at least for now. If you think you’re not so unlucky, then so be it.

But if you only download without uploading, maybe you aren’t at much risk currently. Because RIAA is targetting those who’re sharing and serving, and their purpose is to stop them from uploading so when there’s no uploading, there will be no downloading. But who knows when they will change their strategy when they discover what they’re doing probably won’t work. So just be careful.

If you wish to check if you’re wanted by the RIAA(hopefully not!), http://www.eff.org/IP/P2P/riaasubpoenas/ has a list of offenders’ IPs, but I believe you won’t be able to find any reliable information if you’re on dial-ups or with dynamic IPs(which means ips which change whenever you re-dial).

Remember!

Don’t upload with your P2P programs - (re)move all the files in the shared folders so you won’t share.

Something you shouldn’t miss out, sorry I’ve forgotten to post this when I wrote this page. This page will show you how to fight for freedom of downloading music online! Fight for your rights, join the EFF in making P2P legal, and artistes paid. This is what you really should do. All of us!

External link : http://www.eff.org/share/

But there are more than 60 million people in the United States alone who use file sharing–more than the number of people who voted for our current President. If we all band together and stand up for our rights, we can change the law.

- quoted EFF

Will it end?

There was a period of time, when video recording of shows aired on the television networks in (some countries) was considered illegal because of infringement of copyrights. Although video tapes are no longer as widely used as before, they were allowed to video tape shows (like you did years ago!).

I don’t know the exact details, maybe my memory is failing me and I could be wrong but it happened too long ago and I can’t find information on the web to support my statement. But I would like to say, maybe this fight against copyrights will peace down, but don’t expect it to be soon. Still I would like to add on, I am not a representative of RIAA, so I don’t know their plans. I just wish to give you an idea of what happened previously with similiar cases.

Who knows, maybe the next file sharing kingdom will begin with a 120GB external hard disk.

Privacy VS Piracy

The big question would be - wouldn’t they be invading our privacy if they could just see what we do online?

No. According to the 2 mails I put above (and only these 2 mails), you can see that those 2 persons are caught because they’re serving to/sharing with the masses(BitTorrent & IRC). Their files are listed for the public to see… and since anyone can see, why not the RIAA’s scanning software? So this is not an invasion of privacy, yet.

But I believe if RIAA asks for identities of the users who went against their copyrights, that’s invading users’ privacy. But I don’t know the laws well(which I am sorry for not doing enough research on), but this might help you decide.

Pacific Bell Sues Recording Industry for Customer Privacy - http://www.eff.org/IP/P2P/20030731_eff_pr.php

Nevertheless, if one day should they invade into your privacy to see what you are doing, you can safely assume from now onwards, Piracy is above Privacy.

Think!

Think : Piracy is probably above privacy.

Want more?

Many people claimed to download mp3s just for evaluation purposes to see
if its worth buying the albums. Although I don’t do that, I believe that’s
the right attitude. No one likes to buy an album if there’s nothing good
about it! For example, Jay’s new album Ye Hui Mei, I think it’s something
many of his fans will buy, instead of simply downloading it. Why? It’s simply
finger-licking good. Oops.

A site that you might find useful not to get sued : http://www.eff.com/IP/P2P/howto-notgetsued.php