Email from my ISP.

[SonicsShadow]

Ok, so I just got home from school today and my parents called me into their room and showed me this email.

Something from road runner, I can't remember what it said, but it had something to do with p2p (torrents) and copyright material and a torrent I downloaded and something about bandwidth.

What should I do about this? I uninstalled utorrent, all of my torrents and everything I downloaded.

Can they shutdown my internet over this?

It said something like:

This email is being sent to you by Road Runner Customer Care=20

because we have received a complaint that your computer has been used to

distribute copyrighted material without authorization through a=20

peer-to-peer program. We received this complaint from the movie studio,

record company, television studio or other company that owns the=20

copyrighted material. The purpose of this email is to remind you that=20

the distribution of copyrighted material in this fashion may violate=20

both the copyright laws and Road Runner?s terms of service, and to tell=20

you a bit about peer-to-peer programs, the dangers they can pose to your

computer and our network, and the steps you can take to protect=20

yourself. =20

A computer can become accessible to a peer-to-peer network for an=20

unlimited period of time after a peer-to-peer program is downloaded. =20

You may not even be aware that such a program is on your computer; a=20

child or a visitor to the home could have downloaded it. That is why we

want to alert you to this issue. =20

Peer-to-peer programs may contain many problems. For example:

=B7=09Downloading and offering for upload copyrighted material without=20

authorization is unlawful. If you or others using your computer have=20

been doing this, you could be subject to civil penalties and criminal=20

fines. Such activity also violates the Road Runner terms of service. =20

=B7=09The programs allow any anonymous person on the Internet to look at=20

your computer files and copy them for themselves. Such a hacker could=20

view all of your files, which can lead to identity theft.

=B7=09The programs, which use large amounts of memory, can interfere with=

=20

the functioning of your computer by destabilizing your operating system,

leading to a general sluggishness at bootup and during operation. =20

=B7=09The programs can contain spyware, adware, malware, viruses and=20

pornography.

=09

If you are interested in a discussion of problems associated with=20

peer-to-peer file sharing, please follow this link:=20

http://research.pestpatrol.com/white...p2p_impact.asp. =20

If you use the Windows OS, the best way to remove peer-to-peer=20

programs is through the Add/Remove Programs tool. Other removal options

are discussed at=20

http://security.uchicago.edu/peer-to...ileshare.shtml. =20

Thank you for subscribing to Road Runner.

But it had a lot more stuff on it, including the date I downloaded it, the file name, and the date I finished downloading it.

What is this, and what should I do?

[Invy]

Don't download from public trackers, or don't download material that you don't have the license to, period. I have Road Runner and haven't had any sort of problem with them. I'm curious, what state are you in?

[invasi0n]

I don't understand how a private tracker can offer a better protection. Somebody who works for MPAA/RIAA/etc can use anytime a dial up connection and nobody can spot them. How hard is to get access to a private tracker as long as people trade invites?

[Invy]

I never said it offers better protection.

"How hard is to get access to a private tracker as long as people trade invites?"

Not too tough, but it does require a bit more work to get a invite to one, than let's say.. freely going into a site like mininova to find the offenders.

Though, i'm sure a determined anti-piracy worker would find a way if they really want.