Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
How do you 100% prove that you didn't commit any crime? Could you prove that you didn't rob a bank on a particular date? It's a matter of evidence, as with any other crime. If there is evidence to show that a particular illegally-downloaded file was sent to an IP address assigned to your computer, you're probably going to have difficulty in explaining that fact away.
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Exactly. And that is the problem. Modems can be cloned, IP addresses can be spoofed, Wireless routers can be hacked, ISPs can get the wrong computer owner if the evidence provided has the wrong timestamp. All of these have happened to innocent people, which is why a UK judge specialising in copyright has questioned the validity of such evidence.
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/n...rs-know-it.ars
Ask yourself this: What was wrong with the existing laws that already gave copyright owners powers to go after people who violated those copyrights?
1. They needed to provide evidence and they have no way of doing that.
2. It cost them money to do it.
The new law takes away both of those minor inconveniences for copyright owners, but the social cost is way too high. The only other crime that carries an assumption of guilt upon accusation is terrorism. Maybe that was the reason for all those adverts a few years ago telling everyone that buying a pirate DVD at a car boot sale was funding terrorism?