Verizon -- Who Promised Not To Do This -- Says It's Kicking Accused File Sharers Off The Internet [Update: Or... Maybe Not]
from the that-doesn't-seem-right dept
This one seems odd. Verizon is among the few ISPs that has vehemently spoken out against RIAA demands that it kick file sharers offline. When the RIAA announced that it was cutting back on lawsuits to work with ISPs, Verizon was the first to loudly proclaim that it would not participate. And this wasn't a huge surprise, given that Verizon was actually the only major ISP to fight the RIAA, back when the RIAA simply demanded names of file sharers without a court order. And yet... according to a Verizon spokesperson, the company has now started kicking accused file sharers off of its network. It's no secret that Verizon had started to pass along RIAA letters, but actually cutting off users without any court order or any proof beyond an IP address is a huge and extremely dangerous step. I'm hoping that this Verizon spokesperson misspoke, because otherwise Verizon may be facing a pretty massive backlash. Update: Aaaaaaaaaaaaand, let the backtracking commence. Verizon is apparently now claiming (to Broadband Reports) that it was all an exaggeration and that Verizon only said that it "reserved the right" to kick users off:I'm not aware that we've ever terminated anyone's account for excessive consumption, although we reserve the right to do so. Verizon has no bandwidth caps. That part of the CNET story is wrong. I did not say "we've cut people off." I said we reserve the right to do so.Update 2: And, again, Broadband Reports comes through. It has a new update with Verizon now claiming that, no, it has never kicked anyone off its network for file sharing accusations. It might want to tell its spokespeople that for future reference.
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Filed Under: copyright, copyright cops, ip addresses, isps, three strikes
Companies: riaa, verizon
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Verizon hiring Lawyers ...
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This too, my gut says will occur in its own time. It may be a year or two from now, but may God Bless that poor, poor soul and their family.
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New Law?
When did we get THAT law?
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Re: New Law?
Let's hope no one uses your phone during a kidnapping to call in the ransom demand.
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Re: New Law?
though if it'd been here,(it's not :P) I'd think it more likely that it got passed in the last minute rush in parliament at the end of the preceding year
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Re: New Law?
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Re: Re: New Law?
Tell me where to sign up.
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Re: Re: New Law? (revised)
Tell me where to sign up.
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Re: Re: New Law?
All that that contract can do is to transfer a liability from Verizon to you. Verizon cannot transfer a non-existent liability. If Verizon would not have been laible then neither can you be no matter what the contract says.
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Re: Re: Re: New Law?
What you are referring to are indemnities, and they are only one of many contractual provisions.
Again, there is no "law" as earlier noted. This is a contract matter between two parties, and if one of the parties breaches the contract it can be terminated at the election of the non-breaching party.
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Re: Re: Re: New Law?
That's apparently not what Verizon believes. They seem to believe that they can legislate new laws through their corporate policies. That's how things work in a corpocracy.
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Re: New Law?
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It just intends to in the future. =) Man get it right.
I think that the giant V in the verizon logo is a little TOO close to the V used in the series about lizard people disgused as humans. This explains their cut throat corporate ways....
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Re:
It just intends to in the future. =) Man get it right.
"We've cut some people off," Verizon Online spokeswoman Bobbi Henson told CNET.
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Speakeasy actually did this to me
Then, one day I came home and had no internet connection. I called in when service wasn't back in 24 hours, and sure enough: the abuse department told me that I was disconnected because of copyright infringement. I explained the situation to him, and he told me it didn't matter whether I was infringing or not: the mere *allegation* violated their terms of service, and that I had to change my internet usage to prevent the warning, or be disconnected.
I told him not to wait, and to disconnect me immediately. They lost $100/month for pretty standard DSL service.
To their credit, they usually have very efficient and competent customer service. I was surprised by their policy in this case. Let future customers beware.
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That part of the CNET story is wrong. I did not say "we've cut people off." I said we reserve the right to do so.
IDIOT...
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Re:
That part of the CNET story is wrong. I did not say "we've cut people off." I said we reserve the right to do so.
IDIOT...
While you may claim that CNET is lying, I have yet to see them print a retraction.
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