Data protection Act/p2P?

[peachey]

Data protection Act/p2P?

I hear that several people have been 'done' for sharing files etc/copyright violatons etc

so how does the legal team who do the suing find out the address of the offender using the IP address?


surely any information handed out identifying anyone is a breach of this act - if not, what's the point ot the act?

[downquark1]

I would have thought this would be a copyright violation, not something for the data protection act. If something is in the public domain for purchase it isn't 'protected'

Unless they were sharing private or sensitive data.

Originally Posted by peachey

Data protection Act/p2P?

I hear that several people have been 'done' for sharing files etc/copyright violatons etc

so how does the legal team who do the suing find out the address of the offender using the IP address?


surely any information handed out identifying anyone is a breach of this act - if not, what's the point ot the act?

The DPA doesn`t matter if the person requesting the information has raised an Anton Pilar order.

[peachey]

hmm thought so

the DPA act is effectively useless then

[ian@huth]

Originally Posted by downquark1

I would have thought this would be a copyright violation, not something for the data protection act. If something is in the public domain for purchase it isn't 'protected'

Unless they were sharing private or sensitive data.

I think what Peachey is getting at is the finding out the details of the user of a certain IP address at a certain time could be a breach of the DPA not that file sharing itself is a breach.

[Russ B]

Hmmm, where's Fraz when you need him

[peachey]

Originally Posted by ianathuth

I think what Peachey is getting at is the finding out the details of the user of a certain IP address at a certain time could be a breach of the DPA not that file sharing itself is a breach.

yeah - pretty much!

also, until the file is actually totally 'shared' and downloaded
the offence has not been totally committed

by this rationale, and given my understanding of it those doing the investigations use the same p2p software as the so-called offenders
- how can they say they are any different than any other p2p sharer?
Indeed any p2p sharer could say he was doing his/her own investigations to pass on to the appriopriate authorities


and if they did not download the whole file - how did they know the whole file was actually being shared? etc

Originally Posted by peachey

yeah - pretty much!

also, until the file is actually totally 'shared' and downloaded
the offence has not been totally committed

by this rationale, and given my understanding of it those doing the investigations use the same p2p software as the so-called offenders
- how can they say they are any different than any other p2p sharer?
Indeed any p2p sharer could say he was doing his/her own investigations to pass on to the appriopriate authorities


and if they did not download the whole file - how did they know the whole file was actually being shared? etc

I`m not sure where you are coming from on this one. If you read the copyright statements on films they typically refer to distribution in part or in whole. Theoretically all you would need to do is to share a single frame of the material in question and you would be in breach of copyright.

[ian@huth]

Originally Posted by peachey

yeah - pretty much!

also, until the file is actually totally 'shared' and downloaded
the offence has not been totally committed

by this rationale, and given my understanding of it those doing the investigations use the same p2p software as the so-called offenders
- how can they say they are any different than any other p2p sharer?
Indeed any p2p sharer could say he was doing his/her own investigations to pass on to the appriopriate authorities


and if they did not download the whole file - how did they know the whole file was actually being shared? etc

I would say that the investigators were using p2p software, which in itself is legal to do, and using copyrighted material which they have the copyright holders permission to use.