p2pnet.net News:- Planet.nl reported on November 24 that Dutch anti-piracy foundation Brein sent 160,000 IM-messages to uploaders of music and films.

In a controversial move, in August, Brein used the Kazaa and eMule chat functions to start warning alleged uploaders of impending lawsuits.

The message read like the usual Industry propaganda in which dangers of file-sharing and copyright infringements were pointed out.

The method of using the IM messages drew heavy criticism for its spam-like nature and violating the P2P software user licenses.

Moreover, the press accused Brein of privacy violations for snooping shared folders.

"After the start of the campaign on P2P-networks to warn with instant messages we have sent about a hundred thousand bulletins, now the counter is at 160,000" according to Tim Kuik, the head of Brein.

"In any case, we see that less of those messages arrive. First, that indicates perhaps users simply turned off their IM-function so that they are inaccessible. However, we suspect that there is less being offered but we have no numbers to back this up"

Brein admitted to Planet.nl that the effect are disappointing and it’ll start suing uploaders of games, movie, music and other copyright protected materials.

Brein’s first action will be to make offenders sign a statement in which they declare to stop offering protected materials, thereby agreeing to be penalized with a fine for material breach. Secondly, attached to the statement, is an announcement of a detriment-claim relating to the scope of the infringing materials already offered by the offenders.

[Does this remind you of anything – the RIAA’s shameful 'Clean Slate' amnesty program for example? – Ed].

Similar to the RIAA and MPAA actions, it seems Brein is offering alleged offenders a settlement. Knowing how costly a lawsuit will be, this tactic might scare some people into signing.

But there’s a twist.

Unlike in the US, Brein can only go after "uploaders because under Dutch law, downloading is legal – even from an illegal source.

So how will Brein distinguish between the two given that in essence, uploading and downloading are virtually simultaneous actions?

Furthermore, Brein faces the same major problem as its US counterparts: it doesn’t have names or addresses to go along with IP addresses, although in another controversial act, Brein got clearance by the Dutch Privacy Authority to setup an anti-piracy database and gather personal data on alleged offenders.

Still, they need the help of access providers.

"There are two ways to go about this" Kuik said. "Either we ask the providers to cooperate in forwarding these statements to their clients or we force them with court-orders to hand over names and addresses"

"The first batch of statements are in the works," he added.

Raymond Blijd – fk2w

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See:-
amnesty program -Want into the RIAA Amnesty fiasco?, p2pnet, 2003

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