Hurt Locker File Sharing Lawsuit Lists Hockey Stadium IP Address

from the those-canadians-and-their-hockey dept

Wed, Sep 28th 2011 1:27pm — Mike Masnick

It's a bit of a stereotype that Canadians love their hockey. But do they love it so much that they file share while attending hockey games? Recently, the movie studio Voltage Pictures decided to extend its braindead, shortsighted, shakedown of those it accuses (on weak evidence) of file sharing its movie, The Hurt Locker, to Canada. Voltage hired a law firm to go to court and identify who was behind 29 IP addresses. Of course, some individuals did a little investigating on the IP addresses and, as noted by Michael Geist, have apparently fingered one of the culprits: the Bell Centre in Montreal, better known as the home of the Montreal Canadiens hockey team. I'm guessing Voltage will just drop that IP address from the lawsuit, but it's another reminder that an IP address is not very useful evidence, in some cases. And, of course, anyone involved with the lawsuit could have checked the IP address themselves and realized what it resolved to -- providing yet more evidence that the folks filing these lawsuits aren't particularly clued in on the technology they're suing over.

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Filed Under: canada, hurt locker, ip addresses

48 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 28 Sep 2011 @ 1:42pm

Actually, it would depend on how that IP was used. Is it part of a public WiFi network, or does it go to their offices?
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- Another AC, 28 Sep 2011 @ 3:54pm
  
  Re:
  Interesting point, but I'm curious how the answer changes anything?
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  - Anonymous Coward, 28 Sep 2011 @ 7:24pm
    
    Re: Re:
    It would be a huge difference between a public wi-fi and something that goes to the admin offices. If it is in the admin offices, you can bet this will stay in the lawsuit and there will be plenty of action.
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    - The Groove Tiger (profile), 28 Sep 2011 @ 8:23pm
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      If it's a public wi-fi, the police will be there shortly to advise them how to lock it up with a password.
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- Anonymous Coward, 28 Sep 2011 @ 4:28pm
  
  Re:
  I wonder why this doesn't happen in France, since there or in New Zealand the owner of the connection would be liable independent of who actually did the deed.
  
  I'm waiting for the Louvre to be accused of piracy and have their internet connection cut off.
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Jollygreengiant (profile), 28 Sep 2011 @ 1:49pm

We're in the money
At ten dollars per infringer they could be onto half a million...
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Anonymous Coward, 28 Sep 2011 @ 1:50pm

I'm guessing Voltage will just drop that IP address from the lawsuit

What a retarded statement.

The stadium very likely has internet for its employees and someone downloaded the movie.

Many companies already have measures in place to deal with illegal activity committed online, but for those who don't, here's a nice wake-up call.
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- Anonymous Coward, 28 Sep 2011 @ 1:58pm
  
  Re:
  Troll
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  - Anonymous Coward, 28 Sep 2011 @ 2:13pm
    
    Re: Re:
    Anyone with a dissenting opinion is lambasted as a troll.
    
    TD does not foster debate. TD fosters the same hackneyed buzzwords that are gobbled up by the blind, non-thinking, kool-aid drinking followers who regurgitate the same tired drivel Mike pedals on a day-to-day basis.
    
    Now, quick, go ahead report this post.
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    - Jay (profile), 28 Sep 2011 @ 2:20pm
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      Uhm... No...
      
      People do foster debate and disagree all the time. But taking one AC's one word dialogue and then using that for everyone else that talks on the site is rather broad, don't you think?
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      - Jeffrey Nonken (profile), 28 Sep 2011 @ 2:35pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re:
        Mike freetard broadbrush strawman unsecured Think of the children!
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    - pbarker (profile), 28 Sep 2011 @ 2:24pm
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      TD does not foster debate. Etc... ad naseum.....
      
      sarcasm/
      
      Must be tough to have to sit there and be forced to read TD every day...
      
      /sarcasm
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    - Anonymous Coward, 28 Sep 2011 @ 2:31pm
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      buzzwords like kool-aid and lambaste? you forgot broadbrush
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      - Anonymous Coward, 28 Sep 2011 @ 2:44pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re:
        There must be more to this story!
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    - Anonymous Coward, 28 Sep 2011 @ 2:46pm
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      You are not a dissenting voice, you are a stupid troll.
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      - The Devil's Coachman (profile), 28 Sep 2011 @ 6:28pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re:
        No, he's a friggin' moron.
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        The eejit (profile), 28 Sep 2011 @ 11:10pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
        OI! That's offensive to me! I frig all the time, and I'm an eejit.
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    - Anonymous Coward, 28 Sep 2011 @ 4:26pm
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      People don't call every dissenting voice a troll just YOUR dissenting voice.
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - The Devil's Coachman (profile), 28 Sep 2011 @ 6:27pm
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      And I say unto you, troll!
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- PaulT (profile), 28 Sep 2011 @ 2:21pm
  
  Re:
  "The stadium very likely has internet for its employees and someone downloaded the movie."
  
  ...and here's where you post you proof to back that up...
  
  No? Just more assumptions that yet again back up the idea that an IP address does not equal an individual? That when faced with personal lawsuits, people go after other targets rather than pay whatever you charge? That show that these lawsuits are never going to catch the actual individuals responsible for your unproven "losses"?
  
  Allllrighty, then (oops, that may have been copyright infringement!).
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  - Anonymous Coward, 28 Sep 2011 @ 2:59pm
    
    Re: Re:
    Where is your "proof" that the IP address used to download the movie was a provided over a public wifi connection? Is it the wifi provider's duty to prevent illegal activity on the network they make available?
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    - Anonymous Coward, 28 Sep 2011 @ 5:44pm
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      Replying to myself, I am an idiot. Of course, BOTH the employee network and the public wifi network are behind that IP address, on separate subnets. Damn, I forgot how networking works. Sorry all...
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      - Jeff Rife, 29 Sep 2011 @ 1:08pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re:
        There is no reason that there is only one outward-facing public IP for the organization. I have more than one for my home, and my work splits things so that the WiFi goes out on a different public IP from the rest of the company.
        
        You really do need to do some reading on TCP/IP networking.
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        PaulT (profile), 29 Sep 2011 @ 2:39pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
        You are aware that IPv4 addresses have basically run out now, right?
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- Atkray (profile), 28 Sep 2011 @ 2:28pm
  
  Re:
  Just a reminder
  
  it is an accusation of civil copyright infringement
  
  it is not a conviction for illegal activity
  
  I actually hope they follow your lead and go ahead and sue the stadium owners it may help to demonstrate to those who refuse to see how an IP address is at best only a starting place to investigate, not the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow that your handlers seem to think it is.
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  - Anonymous Coward, 28 Sep 2011 @ 4:15pm
    
    Re: Re:
    A reminder Einstein: you can sue for civil instances of lawbreaking.
    
    I'm just stoked for when the discovery and tort process is streamlined and infringers are able to be sued by individuals rather than just orgs.
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    - Anonymous Coward, 28 Sep 2011 @ 4:24pm
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      By streamlined you mean throw out any mechanism that safeguards the correctness of justice allowing people to just abuse it.
      
      Yeah I see how that will happen, it will be a glorious day to see you people running on the streets from the mobs pursuing you.
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  - tc, 30 Sep 2011 @ 6:13am
    
    Re: Re:
    Just a note.
    
    The owners are Bell Co.
    
    A company that would VERY much like to see this kind of lawsuit win in court.
    
    Some suggest that Bell specifically set up an "employee" in order to lose the case.
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- Anonymous Coward, 28 Sep 2011 @ 2:46pm
  
  Re:
  Retarded are the people on this very forum that support blind third party liability, for them the owner of the stadium is guilty of piracy.
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  - The Devil's Coachman (profile), 28 Sep 2011 @ 6:32pm
    
    Re: Re:
    They're not retarded. They're douchebags. Strangely, if their mothers had even made that modest attempt at contraception, we wouldn't have to listen to the drooling morons in the first place. I hope time travel is invented soon, so the sane people can go back and retroactively abort them.
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anonymous, 28 Sep 2011 @ 1:53pm

nor are they worried. as long as there are judges that go along with the weak evidence that is used to identify 'file sharers', these law suits will continue. there needs to be a court decision made where definitive evidence is required, rather than the 'anything will do' that's used at the moment.
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Anonymous Coward, 28 Sep 2011 @ 1:57pm

Troll
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Pickle Monger (profile), 28 Sep 2011 @ 2:01pm

The main thing
IP adressess, file sharing, lawsuits... who cares?

Go Habs! :-)
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sophisticatedjanedoe (profile), 28 Sep 2011 @ 2:40pm

I'm not bloodthirsty, but I won't cry if a troll sends a ransom letter to an IP that resolves to loszetas.mx
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Overcast (profile), 28 Sep 2011 @ 3:52pm

I hate hearing the name of this so bad, I refuse to even watch it.

So no worries, not only will I not download it for free, I won't watch it for free on cable!
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Anonymous Coward, 28 Sep 2011 @ 5:00pm

"Those hockey fans could've spent their money on our movie, but no, they had to spend it on hockey tickets instead."
"Haven't you considered that they may be on a budget and that..."
"You're fired!"
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Anonymous Coward, 28 Sep 2011 @ 5:18pm

still waiting for my letter, Troll! I am taking you downtown as soon as it arrives!
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RD, 28 Sep 2011 @ 5:46pm

Guess we should start calling it...
Guess we should start calling it the Butt-Hurt Locker.
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abc gum, 28 Sep 2011 @ 5:46pm

So they have a list of IP Addresses and a file name which was supposedly downloaded via P2P to that addr. I'm curious whether this is all Voltage has. Did they verify the file contents were actually their copyright material, and if so how was this done? In addition, what verification technique was used in the determination that the IP Addr was not spoofed. If Voltage has not thought about these things they may be in for a surprise if any of their marks decides to fight.
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- The Devil's Coachman (profile), 28 Sep 2011 @ 6:36pm
  
  Re:
  If it were me they came after, on the same horseshit IP dragnet basis, they'd have a lot more to worry about than a legal battle. I don't have the time or money or the interest for protracted legal battles, but I certainly do have the time, and the money, and few other resources for other, extra-legal battles, if you know what I'm sayin'.
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Anonymous Coward, 28 Sep 2011 @ 9:34pm

Oh, Mike, by the way, the places they play hockey are called "arenas" not stadiums. Sort of proof you don't get out much.
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- Prisoner 201, 29 Sep 2011 @ 12:49am
  
  Re:
  Your statement is sort of proof that you have an eerie obsession with grown men grinding against eachother a lot as they chase a small black rubber toy, struggling to "score".
  
  Look I can post useless ad hominems too! Weee...
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- The eejit (profile), 29 Sep 2011 @ 2:36am
  
  Re:
  Some of them actually are stadia as well. Sort of proof that you missed the point.
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  - Anonymous Coward, 29 Sep 2011 @ 7:15am
    
    Re: Re:
    Hockey is played in an arena. You can stick a sign on the front that says "bozo stadium", but the area that they play in is an ice rink, which is found in an arena. They differ from stadiums in that a stadium is typically very large and open air, where arenas are typically smaller (25,000 seats tops) and are enclosed.
    
    For that matter, the place in question is called the "bell center". It is not a stadium, sorry.
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    - AJ, 29 Sep 2011 @ 8:06am
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      The Douchebaggary is strong with this one...........
      
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Hockey_Stadium
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Colin, 29 Sep 2011 @ 6:14am

I wonder what the Blackhawks thought when they played in Chicago Stadium for, like, 70 years. I'm sure the semantics kept them up at night.
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- Colin, 29 Sep 2011 @ 6:14am
  
  Re:
  Aaaaand that was supposed to be a reply to the AC above. My bad.
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Movie Pirate 341, 30 Sep 2011 @ 3:33am

it the fucking Jews the run and control hollywood, they want to squeeze even Penney they can get there hands on.
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