Red faces at 1and1
p2pnet.net News :-
One: “Idiot hosting company thinks using BitTorrent infringes copyright,” says a June 3 boingboing post, going on:
“Shawn [Ryder] sez, ‘I just posted this defense of Bit Torrent on my personal journal after receiving a C&D letter from my webhosting service demanding I stop sharing ‘copyrighted’ material, even though it’s made very clear on my site that the files I host on my Blog Torrent install are my own creations (well, me and my friends, but they’re all cool with it). The file in question is a short documentary about Booth Babes my wife and I made and posted on our site back in 2001, and the file that tipped them off was generated by my test install of Broadcast Machine (which has been mysteriously not working on my server).”
“ ‘I don’t want them to turn off my websites. And this is not any kind of civil disobedience, which would involve breaking a law. I’m just uploading my files to the Internet and trying out some technologies to facilitate this with the lowest demand on my webserver. If hosting companies apply some kind of blanket filter against .torrent files, that will seriously limit our ability to share media and content. It is completely unacceptable for web servers to do this kind of unmonitored regulation and threatening. What if I had been on vacation, couldn’t respond, and they shut down my site in a week?
“ ‘The hosting company in question is 1and1. Their phone number is 1-877-GO-1AND1. The main email address is info@1and1.com. Link Updated Link (Thanks, Shawn!)
“ ‘Update: Shawn sez, “I spoke with a very nice Indian man named ‘Andre’ who seemed to grasp the silliness of the situation. He escalated the issue to his manager, and said I should hear back within 24 hours. So I’ve been waiting. No reply to my email either so far.
” ‘The story has pretty much nuked elmwoodstrip.com, which is a great local Buffalo journalling site. Out of respect for my friends there, and to keep the word out, I’ve reposted the entire entry on my personal site.”
Two: “Everyone knows that plenty of content that is transferred using BitTorrent is perfectly legit, right?,” says techdirt
“Apparently not the bright folks at 1and1 Internet, one of the world’s most popular hosting firms. According to Boing Boing they sent a cease and desist letter to a website owner, claiming he was guilty of copyright infringement for hosting torrents of his own films. Once again, it looks like a clueless company is associating the protocol BitTorrent, with the activity of distributing unauthorized material. I wonder where they got that idea? Update: The company is now claiming the policy is in place partly for legal reasons, but also because BitTorrent uses up too much bandwidth, suggesting they have no clue how BitTorrent actually works, as that’s exactly what BitTorrent is designed to avoid.”
Three: “Slyck.com emailed 1and1 web hosting and questioned the practice of using a blanket policy to deter piracy. In addition, Slyck inquired why Mr. Ryder received a copyright violation notice for distributing his own work. Several hours later, we received an email from Dave Donati, 1and1’s U.S. Public Relations Manager
“ ‘In recent days a 1&1 Internet support agent incorrectly informed a customer that the use of BitTorrent(c) on certain 1&1 systems is not permitted. The support agent’s statement was based on a misinterpretation of company policy and an incorrect analysis of available data. When it was determined that the customer was erroneously advised, the situation was rectified and the customer was notified that the use of BitTorrent is allowed.”
“ ‘1&1 deeply regrets any confusion this mistake has caused. To better address customer concerns on this matter in the future, we are in the process of updating the ‘Q&A’ section of our Website to include detailed information clarifying the use of BitTorrent with our various hosting packages’.”
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