E-Z Glider said:
Not sure about people getting sued, but my ISP threatened to cancel my service back in Nov and it was enough for me to stop using bitorrent.
Dear Comcast High-Speed Internet Subscriber:
Comcast has received a notification by a copyright owner, or its authorized agent, reporting an alleged infringement of one or more copyrighted works made on or over Comcast's High-Speed Internet service (the 'Service'). The copyright owner has identified the Internet Protocol ('IP') address associated with your Service account at the time as the source of the infringing works. The works identified by the copyright owner in its notification are listed below. Comcast reminds you that use of the Service (or any part of the Service) in any manner that constitutes an infringement of any copyrighted work is a violation of Comcast's Acceptable Use Policy and may result in the suspension or termination of your Service account.
I got 2-3 of those letters from comcast about 3-4 years ago when I was making some torrenting errors downloading Wii games.
Here's what I learned:
1) they are not going to cancel your service
2) they don't care about what you download, just don't upload or seed... if you D/L and run, they don't care so much
Don't download "overnight" or when you aren't available to keep somewhat of an eye on it.
If you download something, make sure to stop the torrent as quickly as you can after it finishes.
Try to avoid the absolute "hottest" content... the DVD that just came out this week.. the TV show from last night.. the movie that is still in the theater..
That's what they are watching and keeping track of.
You'll never get a letter from you ISP if you go to download WIzard of Oz or Die Hard or Back to the Future because they don't care about the money making potential of those products anymore.
Just as you'll never get a letter for downloading a book, magazine, comic book, etc. because that industry doesn't get up in arms like the music, tv, or movie industry does.