“My Router Got Hacked!” Excuse Wearing Thin
- May 29th, 2007
- 5 Comments
Up until about a month ago, if you got caught pirating some software, music, or video, you could just claim that your router was left unsecured and that anyone could have accessed it. This claim would cause the party trying to sue you to drop their case against you and you’d walk off a free man or woman. But now times have changed and these big-shot lawyers accusing you of piracy now know that your router isn’t an acceptable cause for pirating.
So if you find yourself using the router excuse in a courtroom, be prepared to back it up. People have been receiving these letters in response to their claims:
“If it is your contention that at the relevant time you did all that you could to secure your network and PC but that, nevertheless, an intrusion occurred and that the infringing act complained of was perpetrated by a person or a person unknown who gained access to the network without your permission, please provide (in accordance with the Practice Directions for Pre-Action Protocol) all copies of the essential documents on which you rely.”
So get out the log files, prove you were running anti-virus software, and then some, because groups like the RIAA and MPAA are out to get you and take you down. Make sure your excuse is a valid one and you have the technical knowledge to back it up. Check out the TorrentFreak article for an excellent piece with some scary letters from a lawyer.
I Didn’t Download it, My Router Got Hacked! [TorrentFreak]
anon (Who am I?)
1 year ago
So by your perspective, and the RIAA’s, it’s “guilty until proven innocent”?
Sieg, dude!
Alex (Who am I?)
1 year ago
There is no presumption of innocence in a civil case.
If you’re going to claim someone broke into your router as a defense, you’re gonna’ have to provide evidence it happened. A jury might believe you - or not.
Otherwise,
Pfft!
Legal boogey-man story.
If you’re going to go up against a bunch of lawyers by yourself, assuming you have no legal training or have graduated from a California law school, than yeah, chances are you’re gonna’ get burned.
A better tact , sell your X-Box and give half the money to the lawyer that hangs out at a gin joint all day. Even he could get you out of this. Without even leaving his bar stool.
Mark (Who am I?)
1 year ago
Man… Of course this doesn’t change anything. Lawyers bullying people into submission does not make it lawful, good or right on any level.
Did those lawyers read the manuals for their appliances? No. That is not required by law, and probably never will be.
Next to that, why should the defendant provide information to vindicate him or herself?
Guilty until proven innocent = wrong.
Anonymous
7 months ago
You miss the point! If “you did all that you could to secure your network” then you have a weak defense. The idea is you are ignorant of that stuff, as most people are, so you have no idea how somebody got into your internet connection. Let them prove otherwise!
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Anonymous
7 months ago
Technically it is true that “there is no presumption of innocence in a civil case” but only because there is no finding of “guilt” in a civil case! The burden of proof still lies with the plaintiff not the defendant.
By the way, that was in the United Kingdom not the United States so the laws are a bit different there anyway.
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