RIAA MediaSentry, Dead In US, Is Alive In Australia

newtley writes "Disgraced and discredited 'private investigator' MediaSentry, fired by former patrons Vivendi Universal, EMI, Warner Music, and Sony Music and their RIAA, may be dead and buried in America, but it's alive and well, resurfacing in Australia where it's once again plying its trade, probably under new management. 'I currently (but not for long) reside at a student dormitory... in Brisbane, Australia,' says a p2pnet reader, continuing: 'Yesterday I got called into the Managers office because the network manager had been contacted by MediaSentry and emailed one of the generic copyright infringement emails as a result of me downloading Angels and Demons. Now instead of studying for my exams and working on my final assignments I must take time to find a place to live before the 29th of May (2009).'"

Re:Not that sympathetic

[vivaoporto]

Had he committed an actual crime (as in criminal offense) and stole the DVD on a store, he would probably only get fined [retail.org.au]

"Infringement notices not only provide a prompt and direct response to shop theft under $600, they significantly reduce the cost and paperwork associated with prosecution. The ARA would therefore expect that authorities continue working to reduce shop theft and improve deterrence with firmer enforcement measures," Evans said.

From July 1 2008 police will be able to issue infringement notices for seven common offences, including shop theft of less than $600. The infringement fine for this offence will be two penalty units ($227). Guidelines for the use of infringement notices for this offence provide that police will consider factors such as the person's criminal record, whether the matter appears to be part of a wider criminal operation and whether restitution is an issue before deciding whether to issue an infringement.

Notice that even in the case of an actual criminal activity, police will take many variables in context before to punish.

Re:Yeah right

[phantomfive]

Sure, I did. On the other hand, I never tried to make people feel sorry for me by saying, "X external factor will now prohibit me from doing well in school." If he were REALLY worried about not having enough time to study, he should have A) not procrastinated or B) spent his time studying instead of posting on slashdot and reading the responses (yeah, you know he is reading the responses).

And if you want to call that hypocritical, it's not: sure, I procrastinated too, but it was a stupid thing to do: things very often come up at the last minute, and if you aren't prepared, you're going to get nailed. That's how life is, welcome to it.

Re:Angels and Demons

[Lord Ender]

Every last one of you honestly believes

You need to look up how slashdot's moderation system works before you make dumb comments. It takes three moderators to make a comment +5. I'm pretty sure there are more than three users of slashdot other than yourself.

After you educate yourself on how the moderation system works, you may continue to make dumb comments.

Re:Angels and Demons

[CoolCalmChris]

My wife loses hers soon because the Movie Industry is laying off heavily.

Sorry to hear that, but if you think she's getting laid off because people are downloading what they can't afford to buy (ten dollars for a non-matinee ticket?) then you've had a little too much Kool Aid.

If the actors and executives voluntarily took a pay cut and redistributed the wealth a little bit so people could keep their jobs and possibly float the studios through this recession, I wouldn't see the film industry as being ridiculously top-heavy and greedy. I might even give some credence to the MPAA screaming "We're getting robbed blind!" every time they get near a reporter.

For the record, I'm not trying to be an apologist for people who choose to download copyrighted material, but at the same time I don't make any excuses for the business model the entertainment industry is fighting tooth and nail to preserve either.

Something to think about.

BZZZT

[Zordak]

I know almost nothing about Australian law, but in the U.S., downloading a copyrighted work without a license is a copyright violation, and in some cases may be a crime. For civil copyright infringement, the law does not care whether you actually knew you were infringing the copyright. So you absolutely are the one who has to check for this.

I suspect Australian law is similar.

Re:Angels and Demons

[XDirtypunkX]

Three people think it's an important contribution to the debate. That doesn't mean those 3 people agree with it (although they might), it just means they think it's important.

Just because you disagree with something, it doesn't mean it shouldn't be modded up if it is going to stir debate.