Shut Down For Pirating Your Own Content?
from the clueless-ISPs dept
Everyone knows that plenty of content that is transferred using BitTorrent is perfectly legit, right? Apparently not the bright folks at 1and1 Internet, one of the world's most popular hosting firms. According to Boing Boing they sent a cease and desist letter to a website owner, claiming he was guilty of copyright infringement for hosting torrents of his own films. Once again, it looks like a clueless company is associating the protocol BitTorrent, with the activity of distributing unauthorized material. I wonder where they got that idea? Update: The company is now claiming the policy is in place partly for legal reasons, but also because BitTorrent uses up too much bandwidth, suggesting they have no clue how BitTorrent actually works, as that's exactly what BitTorrent is designed to avoid.
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too much bandwidth - how about http?
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1&1 Internet Statement on the Use of BitTorrent
1&1 Internet Statement on the Use of BitTorrent©
In recent days a 1&1 Internet support agent incorrectly informed a customer that the use of BitTorrent© on certain 1&1 systems is not permitted. The support agent's statement was based on a misinterpretation of company policy and an incorrect analysis of available data. When it was determined that the customer was erroneously advised, the situation was rectified and the customer was notified that the use of BitTorrent is allowed.
1&1 deeply regrets any confusion this mistake has caused. To better address customer concerns on this matter in the future, we are in the process of updating the “Q&A” section of our Website to include detailed information clarifying the use of BitTorrent with our various hosting packages.
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