ISP Flagged me for downloading game

[twistedmetalplayer21]

./closethread this got out of hand... I regret bringing up.

[Nosdracir]

So, I got a new computer, very nice high end desktop.
I download LOTRO, and LOTRO BETA.
I get email from ISP 3 days later (today) If alleged copyright infringment/illegal pirate downloading VIA Warner Bros.
Thank you Turbine, thank you very much. I called and told them I did no such thing and I downloaded LOTRO which is owned by WB. They won't believe me. When I said I downloaded the game they thought I got it illegally. I told them how can I get something from the website of the owners and it be illegal. Thanks though, now i have a strike on my account.

Not clear whether WB reported you or if your ISP is just so incompetent that they decided this on their own.

You need to show your ISP that LOTRO software is a free download provided by a division of WB. Send them the link to the download page to show this. If you get no satisfacation that way, then write letters (better than emails, people sit up and take notice of snail mail these days) to local newspaper, state consumer organization, state cable/ISP regulator, etc. explaining the injustice. Raise a polite stink, in other words. Keep mails as brief as possible. Short writings get read.

[SapienChavez]

this doesnt pass the smell test.

lotro beta? where did you download from (its not available here, on this site... im not seeing it. link it for me, please)? wouldnt a beta be like 8-9 yrs old? would it even work? do you mean the bullroarer client?

now, if you DL the game from THIS site and got flagged... i would not stop here! i would take this up the ladder. I would even call the police if it came down to it. I could see the machinations of WB's "giantness" flagging a FREE game as stolen IP. that part does jibe. the rest of your story doesnt, to me.

share the letter

share the download link

all i have is your word... and that isnt adding up. sorry to diss you.

[Valamar]

So, I got a new computer, very nice high end desktop.
I download LOTRO, and LOTRO BETA.
I get email from ISP 3 days later (today) If alleged copyright infringment/illegal pirate downloading VIA Warner Bros.
Thank you Turbine, thank you very much. I called and told them I did no such thing and I downloaded LOTRO which is owned by WB. They won't believe me. When I said I downloaded the game they thought I got it illegally. I told them how can I get something from the website of the owners and it be illegal. Thanks though, now i have a strike on my account.

You need to retain a lawyer and file a complaint against the ISP and WB.
This may sound drastic, but the Legal system is stacked against you.
As a private individual your ISP considers you guilty until YOU prove herself innocent.

[twistedmetalplayer21]

Not clear whether WB reported you or if your ISP is just so incompetent that they decided this on their own.

You need to show your ISP that LOTRO software is a free download provided by a division of WB. Send them the link to the download page to show this. If you get no satisfacation that way, then write letters (better than emails, people sit up and take notice of snail mail these days) to local newspaper, state consumer organization, state cable/ISP regulator, etc. explaining the injustice. Raise a polite stink, in other words. Keep mails as brief as possible. Short writings get read.

I called the ISP, they said WB sent the letter.

this doesnt pass the smell test.

lotro beta? where did you download from (its not available here, on this site... im not seeing it. link it for me, please)? wouldnt a beta be like 8-9 yrs old? would it even work? do you mean the bullroarer client?

now, if you DL the game from THIS site and got flagged... i would not stop here! i would take this up the ladder. I would even call the police if it came down to it. I could see the machinations of WB's "giantness" flagging a FREE game as stolen IP. that part does jibe. the rest of your story doesnt, to me.

share the letter

share the download link

all i have is your word... and that isnt adding up. sorry to diss you.

Lotro BETA client, Bullroarer, go to the server forum and you will see the download link for it. You can test future updates when available, or future expansions if gotten a closed beta invite.

[twistedmetalplayer21]

You need to retain a lawyer and file a complaint against the ISP and WB.
This may sound drastic, but the Legal system is stacked against you.
As a private individual your ISP considers you guilty until YOU prove herself innocent.

I do want to note with this statement above I am not being fined, or have to pay a fine. They sent me a warning letter about this "illegal game download". I called in and they simply told me WB sent the letter and they don't care about what i say.

[Nosdracir]

I called the ISP, they said WB sent the letter.



Lotro BETA client, Bullroarer, go to the server forum and you will see the download link for it. You can test future updates when available, or future expansions if gotten a closed beta invite.

OK...

- Ask your ISP to send you a copy of the letter they received.
- If the letter specifically identifies LOTRO and LOTRO Beta client to be what you downloaded, then WB lawyers are wrong, but you may need to get a lawyer to draft a response to them.
- If the letter does not identify what you downloaded, then again, you may need a lawyer to respond to find out what the heck they're accusing you of doing.

This could easily be a case of WB having (new?) software to detect illegal downloads, or a new consulting company which provides this info, and the info is bogus. If that's the case, we may see more of these cropping up.

[Polymachos]

So it wasn't the ISP which flagged your downloads, but Warner Brothers?

Bummer. Obviously, one hand of that company doesn't know what the other one is doing.

This logical absurdity reminds me of the Curiosity debacle...
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2...-from-youtube/

or this one...
http://www.mtv.com/news/1667242/lady...ube-suspended/

looks like these white collars need a walk in the daylight, to get their minds set back to some normal state.


Greetings, Polymachos

[danno8]

OK...

- Ask your ISP to send you a copy of the letter they received.
- If the letter specifically identifies LOTRO and LOTRO Beta client to be what you downloaded, then WB lawyers are wrong, but you may need to get a lawyer to draft a response to them.
- If the letter does not identify what you downloaded, then again, you may need a lawyer to respond to find out what the heck they're accusing you of doing.

This could easily be a case of WB having (new?) software to detect illegal downloads, or a new consulting company which provides this info, and the info is bogus. If that's the case, we may see more of these cropping up.

Illegal downloads of free software? How could ANY download of LotRO be illegal when it is completely free to download and install. All Turbine would care about is your account, or if you tried to install some kind of bogus product key or some such.

Again, you can download and install LotRO on as many computers as many times as you like without paying a dime. How/why would WB even monitor it?

This makes no sense.

[Frelorn]

What ISP are you using?

[Beaniemooch]

So, I got a new computer, very nice high end desktop.
I download LOTRO, and LOTRO BETA.
I get email from ISP 3 days later (today) If alleged copyright infringment/illegal pirate downloading VIA Warner Bros.
Thank you Turbine, thank you very much. I called and told them I did no such thing and I downloaded LOTRO which is owned by WB. They won't believe me. When I said I downloaded the game they thought I got it illegally. I told them how can I get something from the website of the owners and it be illegal. Thanks though, now i have a strike on my account.

My first thought is are you sure it was your actual ISP contacting you, or was it a scam company posing as them? If you provided any personal information about the game I'd suggest changing your passwords and such. I've downloaded the game so many times on so many computers it's rather funny when I start counting and Comcast has never once complained. Did you contact the company independently, or did you use the contact information in the "official email" they sent you? I highly doubt Warner Bros. reported you - I smell a fish.

[Dmira]

Illegal downloads of free software? How could ANY download of LotRO be illegal when it is completely free to download and install.

While this is not the case for the OP, I downloaded a freeware program through torrent and was flagged by my ISP. I was told the company flagged the download. Personally, I believe the ISP (AT&T) was monitoring torrent downloads and flagged mine. The email I received was just a warning and no action was taken. But the threat was there. I immedately subscribed to a service that hides my IP address, not because I plan to do anything illegal, but because I cannot afford to lose my Internet service.

[SapienChavez]

then thats jacked man. sorry for your trouble!

[Mirthgar]

So, I got a new computer, very nice high end desktop.
I download LOTRO, and LOTRO BETA.
I get email from ISP 3 days later (today) If alleged copyright infringment/illegal pirate downloading VIA Warner Bros.
Thank you Turbine, thank you very much. I called and told them I did no such thing and I downloaded LOTRO which is owned by WB. They won't believe me. When I said I downloaded the game they thought I got it illegally. I told them how can I get something from the website of the owners and it be illegal. Thanks though, now i have a strike on my account.

We're going to look into this, but we'd ask that you provide some more info via putting in a tech support request here for follow up.

[Nosdracir]

Illegal downloads of free software? How could ANY download of LotRO be illegal when it is completely free to download and install. All Turbine would care about is your account, or if you tried to install some kind of bogus product key or some such.

Again, you can download and install LotRO on as many computers as many times as you like without paying a dime. How/why would WB even monitor it?

This makes no sense.

No sense at all, which is what makes me think this could be a false positive caused by defective detection software or a defective third party detection company. WB lawyers just get a list and send out form letters. No human analysis is done on the data. Nobody looks to see "Oh, the OP was downloading software that we provide for free download. That's legitimate. No problem."

[danno8]

While this is not the case for the OP, I downloaded a freeware program through torrent and was flagged by my ISP. I was told the company flagged the download. Personally, I believe the ISP (AT&T) was monitoring torrent downloads and flagged mine. The email I received was just a warning and no action was taken. But the threat was there. I immedately subscribed to a service that hides my IP address, not because I plan to do anything illegal, but because I cannot afford to lose my Internet service.

Wow, that's awesome. It's like buying a case of beer and finding a note on your car from the police saying they are watching you just to make sure you don't drink 'n drive.

If it were me I would escalate the heck out of the situation until I got an apology from my isp. But then again I live where there are several internet options and the isp's really don't want to lose your business.

[Snowlock]

OP you can google this and you'll see lots of info on it too... WB seems to be initiating this against "pirating" any/all of their media and I'm going to guess your ISP might be comcast because a lot of complaints are coming from there it seems. General consensus is disregard it. You're not going to get sued and contesting it would only draw attention to yourself. Again that's general consensus, your mileage may vary. There also this "six strikes" rule that I've read about that May or may not pertain. But seems like it's nothing to worry about.

[KM3161]

I'll play Devils's Advocate here.

Weren't you the one that just posted recently that you wanted to create youtube videos of you leveling from 1-100 and make money from them?
You posted that, perhaps they saw that post-then downloaded the game. so now they "accuse" you of illegal downloading. Then you will make your videos and money off them paying zero royalty's. so they take you to court, fine the #### outta you and they make money off you. according to them you were "warned" and went ahead anyway. It would cost you thousands of $ to prove your not guilty so instead you take the settlement and they have seized your nice new computer, collected a few thousand $ off you. made their "example" out of you etc..etc..

Never trust Big Brother


but personally I think that WB or someone just screwed up and you have nothing to worry about.

[Octaviane]

I smell a rat, sounds like a scam to me.

[SabrielofLorien]

OP you can google this and you'll see lots of info on it too... WB seems to be initiating this against "pirating" any/all of their media and I'm going to guess your ISP might be comcast because a lot of complaints are coming from there it seems. General consensus is disregard it. You're not going to get sued and contesting it would only draw attention to yourself. Again that's general consensus, your mileage may vary. There also this "six strikes" rule that I've read about that May or may not pertain. But seems like it's nothing to worry about.

Never ever disregard a legal demand.

If it's a scam, that needs to be determined. If it's true, it seems like Turbine is already checking on the details. Even if it's just a fishing expedition on WB claiming and is in error - this needs to be retracted. It can cause a lot of problems down the road if not. This sort of thing follows you like a bad coin and it can affect everything you do forever more. It's part of the loss of privacy and the Right To Be Forgotten fight.

There's no way you want some future employer doing a Google search or using a search service agency to trawl through everything you ever said or did on the internet, your FB posts and rants and trolls, your chat logs and all the other minutia of your life and pull this out: You ILLEGALLY downloaded something? No job for you...

The USA Military now searches all of the above prior to awarding officer promotions and demoted several high ranking officers based on some unfortunate FB posts.

Better to get it retracted ASAP.


fwiw: I had the same kind of boiler plate copyright infringement take down letter of a YouTube of my mother. Needless to say, they didn't own the copyright on her. Never mess with Mothers.

[Valamar]

Never ever disregard a legal demand.

If it's a scam, that needs to be determined. If it's true, it seems like Turbine is already checking on the details. Even if it's just a fishing expedition on WB claiming and is in error - this needs to be retracted. It can cause a lot of problems down the road if not. This sort of thing follows you like a bad coin and it can affect everything you do forever more. It's part of the loss of privacy and the Right To Be Forgotten fight.

There's no way you want some future employer doing a Google search or using a search service agency to trawl through everything you ever said or did on the internet, your FB posts and rants and trolls, your chat logs and all the other minutia of your life and pull this out: You ILLEGALLY downloaded something? No job for you...

The USA Military now searches all of the above prior to awarding officer promotions and demoted several high ranking officers based on some unfortunate FB posts.

Better to get it retracted ASAP.


fwiw: I had the same kind of boiler plate copyright infringement take down letter of a YouTube of my mother. Needless to say, they didn't own the copyright on her. Never mess with Mothers.

This hits the nail right on the head.

It is WELL KNOWN in the Legal Profession that "illegal downloading" is a cash-cow for Law Firms. They send out letters, which on one contests, and then they collect their fees. There is ZERO check by anyone anywhere in the Legal System on the legitimacy of those letters. ISPs cower in fear of any kind of Legal Action because they operate on such thin margins that they cannot afford their own legal counsel and simply "pass the buck" -- claiming it's not our fault. The Major ISPS - ATT, Verizon, etc. operate in collusion with those Lawyers and others who profit mightily from these "guilt by implication" accusations.

The Real Estate profession used to have a "Confession of Judgment" clause that said if you are late with your rent, you plead Guilty to any charges the landlord wishes to bring against you. Even though the courts have held these Confession of Judgement clauses to be illegal, the courts do NOT penalize any lawyer who participates in their use and so the abuse continues.

[Nuth_KM]

sounds like an incompetent ISP. Change your internet provider.

[Snowlock]

Never ever disregard a legal demand.

This hits the nail right on the head.

So, without knowing specifically what the letter says, you are advocating the OP does what? Hire a lawyer to dispute a warning letter that WB is not taking action against? Or maybe just worry him senselessly over something that the preponderance of evidence says will amount to nothing? Sounds rather alarmist and reactionary, and not just a little bit tinfoil hat worthy.

[twistedmetalplayer21]

We're going to look into this, but we'd ask that you provide some more info via putting in a tech support request here for follow up.

Update: I talked with my ISP and they took the strike off fixing things. Don't ask me how I got a phone call today saying so.



./closethread