Sued by Medicom.

[Razgovory]

Great.  I just found out that my dad is being sued by Mediacom (our Internet provider), because of sharing of copyright works from HBO (the letter with holds the name of the works in question).  I think my idiot brother has been using some Peer-to-Peer program to watch Game of Thrones.   Great.  Now what do I do?

[Admiral Yi]

Throw your brother under the bus.

[mongers]

Throw your brother under the bus.

To be on the safe side, throw the bus on top of the brother.

[DGuller]

Do we have any lawyers here?

[DGuller]

BTW, I'm not a lawyer, but you should probably not post anything that can be used as evidence against your family, just in case.

[Monoriu]

I see 5 options.  Talk to a lawyer.  Appear in court and deny the charges.  Appear in court and admit guilt.  Ignore them, the result being the collector will go after you. Try to settle with Mediacom.  Option 1 is probably the best but may cost you money.  Some NGOs or lawyers may offer free consultation, so it maybe worthwhile to find out if this option is available.  If you don't want to pay for a lawyer, you should try option 5 - call Mediacom to see if they are willing to settle the case. 

[Grey Fox]

Are you sure it's a law suit & not just a warning letter? Cause you know, mediacom doesn't own the copyright & they are not lawyers representing the copyright holders.

[Razgovory]

Throw your brother under the bus.

This is my first inclination.

I looked up some of this stuff, and it's warning letter.  HBO will decide if it wants to prosecute.  My dad will have to call them in 24 hours.  I suspect it's going to be one of those recorded phone calls.  Is there a way to prevent them from recording the phone call?  I have no idea what my father will say.  It occurs to me I (or rather my brother), has a decent defense.  I never put a password on the wireless router.  So theoretically it could be anyone in the neighborhood.

[Grey Fox]

According to a New York Judge, an IP address is not enough to identify & then sue someone.

http://torrentfreak.com/judge-an-ip-address-doesnt-identify-a-person-120503/

If I was your father, I wouldn't call them.

[Monoriu]

I still think it is best to seek (free) legal advice before doing anything.

[Josephus]

Do we have any lawyers here?

Plenty. But no good ones though.

[DGuller]

I still think it is best to seek (free) legal advice before doing anything.

Agreed.  One thing that lawyers here convinced me of is that in a serious legal dispute, anything you say on your own without a lawyer will be used as a nail in your own coffin.

[ulmont]

Do we have any lawyers here?

Plenty. But no good ones though.

You can't afford me. 

[mongers]

Do we have any lawyers here?

Plenty. But no good ones though.

You can't afford me. 

Indeed, no one can afford to employ a bad lawyer.   

[Razgovory]

According to a New York Judge, an IP address is not enough to identify & then sue someone.

http://torrentfreak.com/judge-an-ip-address-doesnt-identify-a-person-120503/

If I was your father, I wouldn't call them.

If we don't call them, they'll simply shut off service.  Mediacom is internet company.

Oh, and I would definitely most positively throw my brother under a bus.  I would denounce him before Troikas, Star Chambers and inquisitions.  Should my brother die in a bus accident, I'll likely be the prime suspect when the police find out about my well rehearsed bus throwing maneuvers.

Unfortunately my Dad isn't good at dealing with this stuff and they want to talk to him. I was talking to him about this earlier tonight.

"If worst comes to worst I'll tell them to just take our house".

"Dad, that's the most sound bargaining strategy".

"I think it would be an excellent one!"

"No, it really isn't it.  Don't tell them that".