Hanff to Schwartzenneger
p2pnet.net News:- Instead of winning new customers with the excellenece of their product, the eagerness with which they embrace new technologies and concepts, and the intelligence with which they formulate and implement new marketing strategies, the entertainment cartels, fronted by the MPAA and RIAA, literally try to sue ‘consumers’ into compliance with outmoded, outdated business concepts.
Alex Hanff, a UK citizen who’s being victimized at long distance by the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) and who was recently interviewed by England’s BBC national broadcast service, has consistently stood up to the Hollywood enforcement organization.
He’s just sent a letter to California governor Arnold Schwartzenneger.
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Dear Mr Governor,
I am writing to you with serious concerns that I would like your opinion on. Since you are the Governor of California AND you have worked for many years in the entertainment industry, I feel you are the most relevant member of authority to pose my questions to.
I live in the United Kingdom and am a British Citizen. Last year I setup a website for a large community of movie fans including forums, chatrooms and a bittorrent tracker.
In case you are unaware, bittorrent is a file sharing protocol that is currently regarded as the most efficient and popular method for sharing large files across the internet.
Initially the web site was located on a US server and the provider had full disclosure that the website would indeed host a bittorrent tracker, but they agreed that they felt bittorrent trackers had no legal issues and thus agreed to host us. However after just 1 month we found the quality of the service to be poor and switched to new servers in the Netherlands. In early December last year, we could see that the political climate regarding file-sharing was taking a huge swing to the corporate "right" and in the interests of our users security (privacy in an online community is always important) we decided to take our website down until the legal implications had been clarified.
At no point up to this time had we received any complaints or communications from the MPAA or their representatives and indeed many other such sites were still online. The decision to shut down was purely through our own volition. Several months later, I was awoken one Saturday morning to a knock on the door. Upon answering I was served with legal papers from a US law firm based in Illinois threatening to sue me for vicarious and facilitating copyright infringement unless I contacted them and arranged a settlement.
I immediately took legal council and made the issue public on the news site The Register.co.uk
I was shocked at the action for the following reasons:
1. We never received any complaints and shut the site down months earlier on our own volition. Meanwhile many other sites remained online and ISPs with vast wealth who run usenet services (and have the means to block infringing content but choose not to) plus services like Google, AOL and many others who all allow people to find "copyrighted material" online.
2. In settlement the MPAA wanted $100 000.00 USD, logs and databases about our users and for me to sign an injunction infringing on my online activities.
3. The fact that I am a British Citizen yet the MPAA have chosen to take action against me in a country that holds no jurisdiction over my actions. Further to this, by raising the case in a US court I would have no chance to defend my case and a judgement would be given in default (due to my absence, since I certainly cannot afford to travel to the US)
4. Talk of vicarious infringement was confusing as we made no money from the site. Unlike most sites we never sold advertising or other services on the web site and the only income was donations made by users specifically to pay for the maintenance and leasing of the servers.
5. All current research on the issue suggests that file-sharing on the internet increases exposure of works and thus makes people more likely to purchase it. Evidence of this can be seen directly in the increase of profits in both the music and movie industry. So a call for damages is unfounded and in actuality, they should consider paying such sites/software vendors for the free exposure they receive.
6. I earn approximately $30 000 USD per year as an IT Trainer, my partner cannot work due to medical problems and is also currently pregnant with our first child. How could a corporation place their profits above the needs of a family and try to intimidate me for large sums of money I obviously could never pay.
7. The fact that our community consisted of mainly non US users many of which live in countries where downloading and file-sharing is NOT illegal, coupled with the fact that we had terms in place requesting people not to share material they had no rights to and furthermore, the fact that we had a reporting mechanism in place for reporting files people felt were inappropriate.
8. That as a responsible founder of an online community I had a duty to make sure that the forums and chat rooms were safe from sexual predators, racism, harassment and stalking, which is exactly what I spent 80+ hours a week doing, and thus to expect me to be responsible for what 30 000 people from different countries with many different laws on the issue of file-sharing, were sharing with their friends is utterly ridiculous (especially taking into account the terms they all had to agree to before becoming members).
Since the action started I have lost my job based on my opinions on the actions of the MPAA (which is a breach of my employment rights and my human rights, which clearly state all people are entitled to an opinion and have the right to impart their opinion) which I believe are socially irresponsible and are causing irrevocable harm to society, as well as placing families into poverty.
I would like you to look at the following scenario of likely events and then I would like a reply from you detailing your thoughts on these issues and whether as a Governor who is supposed to protect the interests of the people, you feel the MPAA/RIAA should be permitted to continue with their corporate terrorism.
1. MPAA sues parent because child downloaded a movie.
2. The case makes the public eye via press or media attention.
3. Parent loses job.
4. Due to loss of income family goes into debt.
5. Family loses home.
6. The stress destroys the relationship of the parents.
7. The parents separate and file for divorce.
8. Then the child custody battle commences.
9. The loser is thrown into a deep depression and commits suicide.
I look forward to a reply.
Alexander Hanff
Owner of WWW.DVDR-CORE.ORG / Future Father
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Something you think we should know? tips[at]p2pnet.net
See:-
BBC – Hanff on BBC Newsnight, p2pnet, June 28, 2005
consistently – Interview with Alex Hanff, p2pnet, April 14, 2005
July 3rd, 2005 at 4:31 pm
cool. i hope you get a reply.
but i don’t think you’ll get a reply until sometime in august or september, at the earliest. arnie will probably be spending the second half of july in bohemian grove, praying to a 45-foot high stone owl with the rest of the world’s business and political leaders.
July 3rd, 2005 at 4:36 pm
maybe send a copy of the letter to alex jones at prisonplanet/infowars too. he’s a good advocat in protecting peoples’ rights.
July 3rd, 2005 at 6:16 pm
Dear Alex,
Stop acting like such a girly man. Pay the MPAA $150 million and stop whining. Your criminal activity caused me much pain and suffering. God only knows how much money you and others like you stole from me when you downloaded all my Terminator movies. I’d like to crush your skull with my large fist.
I will now answer your questions:
1. If it was up to me I’d not only sue the parents but also the grandparents.
2. We control the media so we will make look like a girly man.
3. In addition to losing their job they should be incarcerated for 2 years in a maximum security facility.
4. Don’t think about filing for bankruptcy. President Bush will assist us in continuing to extract money from you and people like you long after you filed for bankruptcy.
5. I will take all those homes and convert them into copyright information centres.
6. Hey, this is hollywood. We don’t care about your story unless we can turn it into a blockbuster summer movie.
7. See reply to #6.
8. The child should be put into a good foster home, away from criminals who steal from Hollywood.
9. We might be able to turn that into a decent TV movie.
In conclusion Alex, you better hope that you never run into me. If you do, I hope you leave enough room for my fist because I’m going to ram it into your stomach!
Never contact me again.
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Owner of California
July 3rd, 2005 at 6:18 pm
you’re not the governator. the real one can’t write in english.
July 3rd, 2005 at 6:19 pm
His staff can edit his letters and emails. Don’t be a girly man!
July 4th, 2005 at 12:53 am
Seemed like a good opportunity, but too bad it wasn’t better written. Mentions political “right” in a negative way, seemingly unaware that the audience is Republican. Also doesn’t seem to get to the point fast enough or early enough in the letter. What do you want? Seriously? I couldn’t make it to the end of the letter. Too much whining. I agree.
July 4th, 2005 at 2:44 am
the Govenator of California isn’t the right guy to write to and complain because he’s backing the mpaa up all the way in their fight against p2p file sharing .
and also his fellow califorians are trying to get his stupid behind out of office because all he’s caring about right at the moment is the mpaa and the riaa’s fight agains p2p file sharing and not really worrying about the REAL issues of office and the Califorians want his behind out of office since he was elected with the promise he would .
and my opinion and I know these kinds of people very well ,
he’s arrogant , stuck up , snob who thinks of nothing but himself , he never settle for any other wife than somebody related to the kennedy’s, and also I had a Female friend that worked at planet hollywood as a security person , he told her she would either stand down as a security person and pick a job as either a waitress or a cook or a clean up personel , my friend is 6″2 and if she was a man she would look a hell of a lot better than him because she’s got the muscle like he does , and you know what she did,
she looked right at his agent (the one who gave her the message from him , he didn’t even do it himself) told him you can tell that Austrian d**k head to go blow himself and take his male chauvenist attitude and write it down then roll it up and shove it so far up his a$$, that it makes his blood presure go to his head and it blows up , I can do better than planet hollywood which is failing any ways, Hard Rock will hire me and I’ll get more money from them in a heartbeat!!!!!!!
and she did, they took one look at her when she came in the door that Hard Rock cafe manager asked her can I help you , she said yes you can I need a job my last job was a security personel and I am applying for a job here as one, where did you work , she said the gone to the dogs planet hollywood, he said did you get fired or quite, she said I quite because that Austrian ba$tard that ran for govenor tried to demote me because I was a woman and wanted me to either be a gd cook or waitress and I told his agent to tell him to go shove it up his a-hole.
the manager of the Hard Rock Cafe laughed and said damn you got spunk your hired. she told him what kind of salary she was getting and he laughed and said my security people make double that crap ola.
July 4th, 2005 at 11:51 am
spelling his name correctly might speed up delivery.
July 5th, 2005 at 7:24 am
this reply is fake so don’t believe it.
July 5th, 2005 at 7:26 am
I hope we get a responce to see what a real man Arnold is.
July 5th, 2005 at 10:28 am
duh.
July 5th, 2005 at 11:29 pm
I have peoples who edit for me. I am the governator, I own Califonia. My next goal will be to change the laws so I can become Presinator, and then Big Brother will always be watching.
I’ll be back!
Thank you
Arnold!