Has anyone ever been arrested for downloading torrent

Sometimes you can't fight without revealing your identifying information. Even if your name and personal information are not revealed, if you reveal which IP address you are, or which Doe, the Plaintiff may decide to make an example of you and sue you individually.

If this happens, the Plaintiff is far less likely to settle for a small amount, and you may end up with a larger judgment against you. Sharing or downloading copyrighted files without the permission of the copyright holder violates the law, and you might end up paying for it in court. Many people do not want to risk having their identity revealed, or do not want the risk, time commitment, or attorney's fees associated with a legal battle.

In this case, you can settle with the plaintiff, often for a few thousand dollars. If you choose this route, we recommend you do this through an attorney, who can protect your personal information and your rights. As we noted above, when you are represented by an attorney, the plaintiff can no longer contact you except through that attorney. This means no harassing phone calls or letters. Also, an experienced attorney can sometimes get a better deal on settlement and can make sure negotiations stay anonymous and do not incriminate you in any way.

Finally, an attorney's review can make sure the settlement agreement legitimately settles your case and protects your interests. To defend yourself, you will need to show real evidence that you would not or could not have been involved in downloading or sharing the file. In one case, our law firm was able to prove that the client did not have the IP address at the time the alleged downloading occurred. However, that is not the norm.

If someone accessed your wireless router, you would not be legally liable, but you would have to have real evidence to back up your assertion. Many people claim that someone else did it but they lack evidence to prove it.

For example, a year-old great-grandmother with a wireless router that is not password-protected is going to get more people to believe that she didn't download something than a college student with a password-protected router. The information provided on this site is not legal advice, does not constitute a lawyer referral service, and no attorney-client or confidential relationship is or will be formed by use of the site.

The attorney listings on this site are paid attorney advertising. In some states, the information on this website may be considered a lawyer referral service. Please reference the Terms of Use and the Supplemental Terms for specific information related to your state. Talk to a Lawyer. Grow Your Legal Practice. Meet the Editors. He actually liked hanging out with his family. I sound like a boastful mom, but I guess the biggest thing is that he could always make me laugh.

But after I was accused, everything changed. What was Matthew Bandy accused of? Jeannie and Greg Bandy were shocked to discover that their son was charged with possession of child pornography. One December morning two years ago, Matthew's life took a dramatic turn. It has been two years since police officers stood at the doorstep of the Bandy home with a search warrant bearing a devastating charge -- possession of child pornography.

It was still dark…there was this pounding at the door," Jeannie Bandy said. Police officers stormed into the house with guns pointed.

Greg Bandy was handed the search warrant and informed that the central suspect was Matthew. According to the warrant, nine images of young girls in suggestive poses were found on the Bandy family computer.

Yahoo monitors chat rooms for suspicious content and reported that child porn was uploaded from the computer at the Bandys' home address. Nevertheless, Matthew did have an embarrassing confession. He had been sneaking peaks at adult erotic photos on the family computer. Difficult to admit, but not illegal -- or so it seemed.

Still, it didn't look good for Matt, as police confiscated the computer and left the house that December day. A family was shattered. Should I contact a lawyer?

The Bandys would soon find out just how serious the charges against Matthew were. The family hired Ed Novak, a well-respected attorney from a large law firm in downtown Phoenix. In other words, he would have been sentenced to 90 years in prison. He would have served time until he died.

Greg and Jeannie Bandy knew their son well. They were shocked at the serious charges against him and frightened by the prospect of such a serious sentence. He's never been a problem, never stayed out late and gotten into trouble or anything like that. Arizona child pornography laws are among the harshest in the country. All other references to the original THR article seem to include the idea from above that "The software captures IP addresses when a user begins downloading".

I would LOVE to hear this explained in more detail! The user is downloading, not uploading. The user hasn't completed downloading. OK, AfterDawnies, just in case you hadn't realised, this is a shout out to you.

You've posted a news story that makes about as much sense as a chocolate fireguard and we're asking you to step in and use your technical expertise to shed some light. Originally posted by simonf Downloading or uploading, i.

Funny you should say that I believe that many of the articles are viral-intended press releases from the entertainment companies to scare downloaders. Originally posted by Stynkfysh: Originally posted by simonf Downloading or uploading, i. Want to see how the movie industry really works? To me, this makes this a landmark development in the world of downloading, on a par with the first lawsuits against Napster users many years ago.

So why is this story still buried in a few news sites and not drawing more attention? Is everyone asleep? Latest edit was made on 16 Apr I got this letter in the mail from cable vision now my girls aunt is flipping out saying there gonna terminate the cable and she has to write a letter of explanation Has there ever been a case of somebody being sued for downloading movies from sites like MegaUpload, FileDump, etc?

As far as I can tell, the only way for these people to track, catch, sue, fine, etc.. If this is the case, is it because its almost impossible to track heavy offenders that download direct and don't share or because the settlements for these would be way lower due to the nature of infringement i. Thousands of dollars for downloading and sharing a movie, but they could really only argue the cost of a DVD for just downloading it.

Originally posted by slimjim I got this letter in the mail from cable vision now my girls aunt is flipping out saying there gonna terminate the cable and she has to write a letter of explanation