Have you seen this letter?

[MomK]

I saw this post on: http://www.dslreports.com/forum/sat
Thought I'd copy and share Pretty scarry!

GET OFF WINMX OPENNAP SERVERS ASAP!
Look at the email my ISP got! Please Tell everyone you know. Email to to everyone. I'm getting my DSL shut down because I share files in Winmx

Tuesday, April 02, 2002

New Edge Networks
3000 Columbia House Blvd.
Vancouver, WA 98661 CA

RE: Unauthorized Distribution of Copyrighted Work: Korn

Dear John Masoner:

As you may know, the musical group Korn is currently subject to a recording agreement with Sony Music ("Sony") pursuant to which Sony is entitled to Korn's exclusive worldwide recording services and the exclusive, worldwide right to distribute all audio and audiovisual recordings recorded during the term of that agreement through any and all media, including distribution via the Internet.

We have received information that an individual located at [IP edited out] on your network has offered downloads of the above-mentioned work(s) at the noted date and time through your service. No one is authorized to perform, exhibit, reproduce, transmit, or otherwise distribute the above-mentioned work without the express written permission of Sony., which permission Sony has not granted to the user located at [edited].

The attached documentation specifies the account or username offering this infringing material, the name and size of the file being offered, the number of repeat violations recorded at this specific location, as well as any available identifying information.

We are asking for your immediate assistance in stopping this unauthorized activity. Specifically, we request that you remove the site from your system or (in the case of a peer-to-peer service) disable access to this site; or at a minimum delete the infringing files that have been downloaded.

In addition, we ask that you inform the individual(s) involved of the illegality of his or her conduct and confirm with us, in writing, that this activity has ceased.

You should understand that under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, if you ignore this notice, your company/institution may be liable for any
resulting infringement.

As owner of the exclusive rights to the copyrighted material at issue in this notice, we hereby state, that we have a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by Sony, its respective agents, or the law.

Also, we hereby state that we believe the information in this notification is accurate, and, under penalty of perjury, that we are is authorized to act on behalf of Sony.

The foregoing is not a full recitation of the facts and law pertaining to this matter, and all of our rights and remedies, including the right to recover monetary damages, are expressly retained.

We appreciate your assistance and thank you for your cooperation in this matter. Please contact us at anti-piracy@sonymusic.com should you have any questions.

In your future correspondence with us, please refer to Case ID 56327.

Your prompt response is requested.

Sincerely,

Anti-Piracy Group
Sony Music Entertainment Inc.
550 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10022

------------------------------
Infringment Detail:
Infringing Work: Korn
Filepath: C:\My Music\Korn-Follow The Leader\
Filename: Korn -21- Reclaim My Place.mp3
First Found: 4/2/2002 6:06:01 PM EST
Last Found: 4/2/2002 6:06:01 PM EST
Filesize: 6,388k
IP Address: [edited]
IP Port: 6666
Network: OpenNap
Protocol: OpenNap
Username: mountainman34332

Mod Note: IP address edited out to protect privacy

[napho]

Our own bronxie had this happen not too long ago.

http://www.napsterites.net/undergrou...&threadid=9942

[ssj4_android]

Is it only opennap they're doing this on?

[AweShucks]

I've seen several of these letters and all but one were all from opennap. The other was from WinmX PNP but this was awhile ago. Seems the RIAA targeted some of WinMX's supernodes for a short time but it's been kinda quiet lately. If this keeps up programs/protocals like Filetopia and Freenet which are encrypted and anonymous will become the next wave of the P2P community. Freenet is developing rather slow though Opennap is just too vulnerable for the RIAA's prying eyes

[TankGirl]

Originally posted by ssj4_android
Is it only opennap they're doing this on?

I remember this happening to some Gnutella users too, both OpenNap and Gnutella being easy networks to access with automatic third-party logging tools.

Media Enforcer Professional
Media Enforcer Pro is the only software that easily lets you find distributors of your material- regardless of what part of the Internet they are using to do it. Web, IRC, Napster, or whatever the flavor of the day - it makes no difference to Media Enforcer Pro.

Features

- Completely modular, capable of searching the parts of the Internet that you need it to.

- Easily manage searches for however many terms you need. All in one interface, all in one click.

- Find out who to contact about a given file by using the new Research IPs feature.

- Easily compare results against previous searches to see distribution patterns develop.

- Media Enforcer Pro includes support for the full Napster, OpenNap, and Gnutella networks. Support for other services can be found on the modules page.

- With compatible services, easily message users that are found to warn about distribution, or simply promote your other material. (Compatible modules currently include Napster, OpenNap, and IRC - with more coming soon.)

Purchasing

Media Enforcer Pro is available for $99 USD. This price includes all v1.x upgrades and priority access to e-mail support.

Modules are available here and range in price from $49 to $99.

- tg

[Smoketoomuch]

Here is a cease and desist letter from CRIA (Canadian counterpart of RIAA) that was sent to OpenNap service. I post this because of the stylish reply that was sent back:

July 5, 2001 VIA E-MAIL:



WITHOUT PREJUDICE



WorldWithoutWire.com

253 King St. N

Waterloo, ON NJ2 2Y8



Dear Sir/Madam:



The Canadian Recording Industry Association ("CRIA") represents all of the major record companies and leading independent labels in Canada. In all, the CRIA members represent in excess of 90% of all sound recordings manufactured, distributed and sold in the Canadian market. CRIA is the national group of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry ("IFPI"), an International trade association representing the recording industry, with more than 1,400 independent and multinational record company members and 45 National groups.



CRIA is writing to inform you that a 'Napster-like' service providing peer-to-peer links and allowing the widespread transmission and reproduction of copyrighted music files is being hosted or otherwise made available on your Internet service at the IP address 209.162.224.73.



The Napster-like service hosted or otherwise made available on your Internet service indexes, allows searches of, and makes accessible many links to music files residing in the file libraries of users connected to this system. This promotes and assists large-scale Internet transmission and

copying of music files between users.



This system, which was investigated on 03/07/01 at 4:24:00 PM GMT, offers extensive directories of downloadable digitally encoded files containing copyrighted sound recordings. At the time of CRIA's investigation, approximately 252 users were, via this Napster-like service listed at the IP address above, making available on the Internet, uploading and downloading approximately 95262 files containing recorded music. According to our investigation, it appears that the vast majority of these sound recordings are owned by our member companies. This activity is not authorized by the copyright owners or their agents and is contrary to the law.



The system provided at the IP address listed above is almost identical to the system of Napster Inc. You may be aware that the United States Circuit Court for Ninth Circuit recently found that the Napster service knowingly encourages and assists widespread copyright infringement and, in doing so, directly affects the legitimate market for copyrighted works. The trial court has issued preliminary injunction against Napster. You may obtain a copy of the Ninth Circuit decision at http://www.riaa.com/pdf/napsterdecision.pdf.



On the basis of the Napster decision, Internet service providers in the US have voluntarily been blocking access to similar Napster-like services, upon receipt of a notice like this one from the US recording industry association. Blocking access to Napster-like services not only reduces the service provider's exposure to liability, but also helps them secure compliance with their own terms of service with their customers. Many service providers' terms of service specifically prohibit users from operating a server such as those required for Napster-like services, in order to avoid the bandwidth and speed problems that high-volume sites like these generate.



We therefore request that you immediately remove or block access to the infringing material offered via this server, which can be accomplished most effectively by blocking access to 209.162.224.73. We also ask that you inform the server operator that you have blocked access to his/her server by reason of the copyright infringement that it is facilitating, and confirm to CRIA that this activity has ceased.



You may contact me at CRIA Internet Anti-Piracy, 890 Yonge Street, Suite 1200, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3P4, or e-mail antipiracy@cria.ca, to discuss any aspects of this notice or the service in question. We look forward to your response.





CRIA Internet Piracy Investigator

and now the reply that made me

WITHOUT PREJUDICE

Dear CRIA Internet Piracy Investigator:

Recently we received the attached form letter from your organization, as forwarded to us by our ISP, WorldWithoutWire.com. We understand that recently you connected to our OpenNap server at 209.162.224.73:8888, collected some statistics, and are now asking us to stop offering this service to the public.

We are sorry to hear that you found users publishing material copyrighted by your members through this service, but as OpenNap is simply an indexing/search facility for material hosted elsewhere (we don't host any of the files we index), we are not infringing on any of your, or anyone else's copyrights. If, while using our service, you find evidence of copyright infringement, we would first suggest that you bring up the matter directly with the users offering the copyrighted material for download.

We are unwilling to stop offering this valuable service to the public, as you ask, simply because some users may have submitted copyrighted material they are hosting to the index. OpenNap, unlike the once-popular Napster service with which you are familiar, is a _general purpose_ P2P search engine, which lets users search for any type of file (including documents, programs, source code, images), not just recorded music. It is for this reason that we are reluctant to let one potentially infringing use of the service, which is present in all general purpose search engines such as Google.com or Altavista.ca, deprive all our users of OpenNap's substantial non-infringing uses.

It seems your main rationale for asking WorldWithoutWire to block access to our server is the precedent set by the recent Napster Inc. "decision". Like you, we also follow the Napster Inc. proceedings with great interest. We are aware that the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals partially upheld the preliminary injunction against Napster Inc. While we disagree with this decision, we find it essentially irrelevant to our present situation. The preliminary injunction was issued against Napster because of "contributory infringement" of the copyrights held by members of your US counterpart, the RIAA. Perhaps you were unaware that contributory infringement is a concept not present in the Canadian Copyright Act? This crucial difference between U.S. and Canadian law means that while the transmission of copyrighted material published or found using "Napster-like" services may be prohibited, operating such a service in Canada is certainly not. To summarize, we will not stop running the OpenNap service because of a PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION issued in a considerably DIFFERENT CASE, in ANOTHER COUNTRY with substantially DIFFERENT COPYRIGHT LAW. However, as the operator of the service, we again encourage you to act in defense of your members' rights by directly contacting the users who are actually sharing your copyrighted material.

Thank you for your correspondence, and good luck with your future investigations,
CGC Systems Staff

I don't remember where I found this, (was around october/november last year), but I liked it so much I saved it on my puter...

[DJHyperbyte]

I am owner of an OpenNap network myself (MasterNap) and I have seen quite a lot of users talking about these letters. From what I've seen it was 'Korn' that was complained about in most cases, and also mostly by Canadian people.

So erm... Un-share Korn?

[TankGirl]

Welcome aboard, DJHyperbyte, it's great to have an OpenNap activist like you with us!

I think your advice is good. If Korn is something that the copyright nazis are particularly scanning at the moment, better unshare it. Less publicity for the band but that's their loss.

- tg

[HAL9000]

Hello DJHyperbyte,

I saw you at Slava forum

welcome to the Napsterites

[ssj4_android]

Luckily I don't like Korn.

[JackSpratts]

great letters sm2, welcome to nu DJHyperbyte!

- js.

[twinspan]

it was Korn files that got Bronxie in trouble, wasn't it?

Personally my reaction would be to share them even more, rather than reward these bastards (RIAA/CRIA) by removing them, but then I don't even like that band...

Anyone sharing, um, "c0rn" on AG BTW?

[DJHyperbyte]

Thank you all very much for the warm welcome.

TankGirl:
I think your advice is good. If Korn is something that the copyright nazis are particularly scanning at the moment, better unshare it. Less publicity for the band but that's their loss.

You do have a point there. If Korn turns out to have connections with operations, such as RIAA, CRIA, Mediaforce etc, I might even consider adding the word 'Korn' to the blocked files list, so nobody will be able to share Korn.

For the ones who wondered why the link in my signature doesn't work... We are moving nameservers on our masternap.net because we had 1.000.000 hits on the old one (ZoneEdit) which doesn't allow that much hits (crap).
The moving is expected to be finished today or tomorrow.

In the maintime you can use http://www.opennap.cc
For any other questions you can always e-mail me: djhyperbyte@masternap.net (but wait until masternap.net is back - else you'll get everything returned).

[Mowzer]

Lots of letters like that have been going around.

Here in canada there is a push by a french group to spam IPs as being "Copy right holders"

"Step 1) Each person finds as many IP addresses as possible for dialup/dsl/cable connections on his/her ISP.
One way to do this is to do a reverse lookup on one's current IP. If the current IP, say, reverse-lookups to "dsl.43.worldnet.com.au", then one can do lookups on all hostnames of the form "dsl.nn.worldnet.com.au",
and get a list of IPs.

Another way is to scan local newsgroups for emails sent from subscribers to one's own ISP, and get the IP addresses.

Step 2) Each person sends this list of IP addresses to everyone else in the group.

Step 3) On receiving IP lists of other group members, each group member then sends letters to the other group members' ISPs saying "I'm an independent
recording artist/movie producer/author/software developer, and on using the Media Enforcer/Gnutella/Napster program, one of your users at IP address 'nn.nn.nn.nn' on 'hh:mm:dd', dd-mm-yyyy' was offering a copy of my work for download. I call upon you to take immediate steps to end this flagrant
breach of copyright, or else legal action ...."

Each letter would need to be sent several times, each time for only one particular IP address.

The end hope the group is trying to get is to make ISP's grow tired of investigating the complaints. I dont think that is to bright of an idea though. The crazy french.

Like it or not though there are people out there scanning ya, looking for piracy. The programs such as Media Enforcer will auto send letters to a ISP.

Next the RIAA will be renting time on the FBI's Carnivore.


I wish there was a more of a push to come up with open source apps that will help fight the scanning. Oh well.

Heres a run down from the Media Enforcer module page...

"As a user of Media Enforcer Pro, you know you can search Napster, OpenNap and Gnutella. But did you know you can extend the same ease of use and power to the rest of the Internet? There are always new modules in development, so check back here if the one you need isn't available yet. You may also feel free to make a suggestion for any future module.


Web
The Web is a vast place full of strange links and files. It is tough to gather distribution information into one centralized place, and quickly.
This module configures itself dynamically to search and crawl the latest sites. Just install, enter your search terms, and let the results come in.



IRC
Internet Relay Chat is a collection of chat rooms that not many people know about or consider, but there are thousands of files distributed in them each and every day.
Pick a network to search and go. Or tell it exactly what network and channels to visit. Either way, it is a very powerful tool.



FTP
FTP servers run as file repositories that contain large amounts of...everything. From the hit music single to the classic audiobook, chances are good that many FTP sites distribute them.
You can find them quickly and easily using this module. Point, click, and you're there.



iMesh
iMesh is a service similar to Napster- except that it allows easy distribution of any kind of media.
Now it is easier to watch distribution on iMesh than ever.



Kazaa / Music City
Kazaa is another service similar to Napster, allowing peer-to-peer distribution of any kind of media.
No configuration is necessary, just install the module and go."

Thats what you do if you have Media Enforcer pro you get addtional moduales for what ever network you want to target, and install em and start scanning.

Finally I will closes this off with a documment regarding the creator of media Enforcer Pro, and a spat he had with a cyber squatter.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DECISION

Travis Hill v. Needalife.com

Claim Number: FA0008000095345

PARTIES

The Complainant is Travis Hill, Provo, UT, USA ("Complainant"). The Respondent is Needalife.com, Phoenix, AZ, USA ("Respondent").

REGISTRAR AND DISPUTED DOMAIN NAME(s)

The domain name at issue is "MEDIAENFORCER.COM", registered with Dotster, Inc.

PANELIST(s)

The Panelist certifies that he has acted independently and impartially and to the best of his or her knowledge, has no known conflict in serving as the panelist in this proceeding.

Judge Ralph Yachnin, as Panelist.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Complainant submitted a Complaint to the National Arbitration Forum ("The Forum") electronically on 08/02/2000; The Forum received a hard copy of the Complaint on 08/02/2000.

On 07/26/2000, Dotster, Inc. confirmed by e-mail to The Forum that the domain name "MEDIAENFORCER.COM" is registered with Dotster, Inc. and that the Respondent is the current registrant of the name.

On 08/08/2000, a Notification of Complaint and Commencement of Administrative Proceeding (the "Commencement Notification"), setting a deadline of 08/28/2000 by which Respondent could file a Response to the Complaint, was transmitted to Respondent via e-mail, post and fax, and to all entities and persons listed on Respondent's registration as technical, administrative and billing contacts by e-mail. It was also e-mailed to postmaster@mediaenforcer.com.

On August 24, 2,000, pursuant to Complainant's request to have the dispute decided by a Single Member panel, The Forum appointed Judge Ralph Yachnin, as Panelist.

RELIEF SOUGHT

The Complainant requests that the domain name be transferred from the Respondent to the Complainant.

PARTIES' CONTENTIONS

A. Complainant

The mark MEDIA ENFORCER is the name of the Complainant's software product. It protects the rights of artists and other media producers against illegitimate copying through peer-to-peer networks, such as Napster network.

The mark is the subject of a pending application for registered status with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

The mark serves as the logo by which a Utah company is known, and of which the Complainant is the sole member.

The mark has been in heavy use previous to the registration of the subject domain name.

The mark will be used in the future to identify related software products.

The domain name "MEDIAENFORCER.COM " is identical to or confusingly similar to the Complainant's mark "MEDIA ENFORCER", except that there is a space between "MEDIA" and "ENFORCER" in the Complainant's mark and not in the Respondent's domain name, and the added "COM" in the Respondents domain name.

Respondent has no rights in the domain name as it does not reflect names by which the Respondent is known, Respondent is not using the domain name with a bona fide offering of goods or services, and Respondent is using the domain name to tarnish the Complainant's name.

Respondent used an invalid phone number when registering the domain name.

Respondent allows advertising on the site, generating income based on recognition of the mark alone.

Respondent registered the domain name following press coverage of the mark in question.

B. Respondent

The domain name "MEDIAENFORCER .COM" is being used to criticize the invasive nature of the Media Enforcer software, using parody, actual facts and views of others. This satisfies the "fair Use" clause under Copyrights, Title 17, section 107.

MEDIAENFORCER.COM is providing a bona fide offering of goods or services. MEDIA ENFORCER is an application which targets Napster and Gnutella users. Respondent is using the domain name to inform others of the existence of MEDIA ENFORCER and its invasive nature of this application.

The domain name MEDIAENFORCER,COM was not registered and used in bad

faith because (1) It was registered after Respondent found the existence of

MEDIA ENFORCER for the purpose of sharing Respondent's views and informing

the public of the product; (2) MEDIAENFORCER .COM is a non-commercial site

which criticizes the MEDIA ENFORCER software; (3) MEDIAENFORCER.COM was

specifically designed to avoid confusion with Complainant's site; (4) The link to Complainant's site was not put in place until Respondent obtained a lawyer's approval; (5) MEDIAENFORCER.COM is not used for commercial purposes and does not generate revenues, but to obtain a free domain hosting Respondent had to go to Hypermart which required their ad banners be displayed in exchange for free hosting; (6) As to the invalid phone line, respondent did not have a personal phone hence Respondent was unable to provide a telephone number.

FINDINGS

The domain name "MEDIAENFORCER.COM " is identical to or confusingly similar to the Complainant's mark "MEDIA ENFORCER", except that there is a space between "MEDIA" and "ENFORCER" in the Complainant's mark and not in the Respondent's domain name, and the added "COM" in the Respondents domain name.

The mark is the name of Complainant's software product, which is used to stop copying of artists works through networks such as Napster.

The mark is the subject of a pending application for registration with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, has been used in the articles of a company of which Complainant is the sole owner, has served as the logo by which the product and company has been known, and as Respondent admits, has been used by the Complainant and known by the Respondent to have been used by the Complainant prior to the registration of the domain name by the Respondent.

The Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in the domain name because it does not in any way reflect names by which the Respondent is commonly known, is not used in connection with a bona fide offering of goods or services, and Respondent is using the name to tarnish the Complainant's mark.

The Respondent used a false telephone number (620-000-000) in its application for the domain name. rather than set forth that it had no telephone number.

Respondent registered the domain name MEDIAENFORCER.COM to prevent people from gaining access to the Complainant.

Although Respondent does not gain revenue from the domain name site, it does have advertising on the site which provides income to the host who owns the site. Hence the use of the domain name does provide income through its use.

DISCUSSION

Paragraph 4(a) of the ICANN Uniform Domain Name Dispute Policy ("Policy") requires that the complainant must prove each of the following three elements to obtain an order that a domain name should be canceled or transferred:

(1) the domain name registered by the Respondent is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in which the Complainant has rights;

(2) the Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the domain name; and

(3) the domain name has been registered and is being used in bad faith.

Identical and/or Confusingly Similar

The domain name "MEDIAENFORCER.COM " is identical to or confusingly similar to the Complainant's mark "MEDIA ENFORCER", except that there is a space between "MEDIA" and "ENFORCER" in the Complainant's mark and not in the Respondent's domain name, and the added "COM" in the Respondents domain name.

Rights or Legitimate Interests

The domain name in dispute suggests some affiliation or connection of the Respondent with the Complainant, when in fact there is no such affiliation. The Respondent is using the domain name to misleadingly divert people who are attempting to contact the Complainant's. This is one fact that distinguishes this case from UDRP precedent. In Compusa Mgmt. Co. v. Customized Computer Training (FA 95082 (Nat. Arb. Forum, Aug. 17, 2000), the Complainant failed to show that there was any disruption in Complainantís business when the Respondent registered stopcompusa.com and bancompusa.com and posted negative comments on the sites. The Respondent knew before obtaining the domain name that it was in fact the Complainant's mark, but used it in spite of that. Lastly, the Respondent has never been known to use the domain name MEDIAENFORCER.COM, or any similar name, prior to registering that name as a domain name.

Furthermore, the fact that Respondent advertises on the site constitutes commercial use, and thus negates his claim that it is making a "fair use" of the site. See Bally Total Fitness Holding Corp. v. Faber, 29 F.Supp.2d 1161, 1167-68) (C.D. Ca. 1998) (stating that a domain-name registrantís rights may be outweighed if the trademark holder can show commercial use and tarnishment); Cabelaís, Inc. v. Cupcake Patrol, FA 95080 (Nat. Arb. Forum Aug. 29, 2000).

Registration and Use in Bad Faith

The circumstances show that the Respondent obtained the domain name, not for the purpose of using it in connection with a bona fide offering of goods and services, but to tarnish the Complainant's mark. The domain name was further registered by the Respondent in bad faith in that the application for same contained a false telephone number. The domain name was obtained for the purpose of causing people who were seeking the software and organization of the Complainant to be diverted to Respondent's site.

DECISION

THE UNDERSIGNED DIRECTS THAT THE DOMAIN NAME "MEDIAENFORCER.COM" REGISTERED BY THE RESPONDENT NEEDALIFE.COM BE TRANSFERRED TO COMPLAINANT TRAVIS HILL.

___________________________________________
Ralph Yachnin, Panelist

Dated: August 30, 2000