• ISOmorph@feddit.de
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    1 year ago

    I got one of those years ago and never replied. Never heard back again.

    A friend got one some time after that. He got scared and got a lawyer. He phrased a response letter with a reduced payment. He explained to me, that the phrasing is very important. You cannot under any circumstance show guilt for the alleged infringement, because then they come back with a vengeance (demands in the thousands of €). Paying the 900€ would already equate an admission of guilt.

      • ISOmorph@feddit.de
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        1 year ago

        The letter from the lawyer was basically saying, that there is no way that my friend infringed on any copyrights since he acquires all his media legally. Someone had to have hacked in to his wi-fi, and he is willing to pay a couple hundred € for the troubles of the damaged parties.

        That’s enough for those scummy private laws firms. Going against an actual lawyer would cost more than it would net them.

  • Moonrise2473@feddit.it
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    1 year ago

    Normal letter or registered letter?

    If it’s email or normal letter it just goes in the trash without any reply

  • Cevilia (she/they/…)@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    1 year ago

    I’m not from Germany and not a lawyer so take this with a pinch of salt, but they wouldn’t be offering a settlement at such an early stage if they were confident they could successfully sue you. If it were me, I’d ignore them, and if it gets to the point I can no longer ignore them, I’d deny deny deny.

      • CmdrShepard@lemmy.one
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        1 year ago

        How can they prove you downloaded something if all they can see is an IP address? For all you know you accidently left your wifi open and some ruffian driving by downloaded the file.

        Edit: guess I could have read the link first.

        The German Federal Supreme Court decided that every person who owns an internet connection is under an obligation to ensure that it is secured.

      • quandoquando@slrpnk.net
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        1 year ago

        This is old and false information. The incident in the link happened already a decade ago and laws have changed since then.

        The current situation is that they need to prove it was you and not someone else in front of a court, so if you tell them it wasn’t you but someone you know they’d need to open up a court case which is way to expensive for them and that’s it.

        Also what are you on about „citizens reporting on each other“, lol. This is some lawyers who found an easy way to make money. Those exist in every country. Also everywhere „private companies“ (aka lawyers) can make investigations and go prosecute someone. That’s what they’re for.

  • LiamBox@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    1 year ago

    From my page https://liamthebox.github.io/Torrent-With-A-VPN/

    According to Reddit user u/spyfigure: “If you are in Germany, nothing of the first paragraph applies. The lawyers have contacted the ISP, who gave them your details. This happens on the first infraction. The letter you get is including a C&D together with the lawyer invoice of €2000, the maximum allowed by law. You can try to ignore it or fight it, but with limited success. If they are thin in resources, it might happen that the statute of limitations’ time runs out (2 years). You’ll still get threatening letters from the lawyers in the meantime. This is automated, no manpower needed. If they drag you into court, they do it just before the statute of limitations comes into effect. Also, if they want to make an example, they’ll do it. If they see that you have shitload of torrents on iknowwhatyoudownload.com, they are probably trying to punish you. Lesson: Never torrent without a properly protected VPN.”

  • TerdilY@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    1 year ago

    I’ve had 2 experiences with this before. First, I got caught torrenting the flash and got a letter from a law firm asking for a bit more than 1k. At that time I was very young and my dad sorted it by contacting them and getting it “down” to 800€.

    Second, a friend of mine who also used stremio, which at that time we both didn’t have a clue used a torrent add-on got a letter for torrenting a film. Same law firm asking for the same amount. His parents knew some lawyers and I am not sure about this part denied that he torrrented purposely and that it must have been an error. He never paid a cent.

    What I’d say is that you should never pay the full price and definitely either as suggested don’t contact them at all or maybe consult a lawyer. But most important don’t panic and stay calm. I could have probably have saved money if I were more mature and didn’t freak out the way I did.

  • highduc@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    Oof, good luck!

    Maybe somebody who’s dealt with this before will give you some advice.

    Right now I’d say don’t rush paying unless you really have to (maybe it goes away on its own somehow), and if it goes further play stupid as much as you can - you found the movie free on the internet and you got it - why wouldn’t you, it was free. Not your fault it was there. And make it seem you don’t understand the concept of seeding, leeching ,etc.