Teksavvy announced that Canipre and Voltage Pictures are seeking the names of over 2,000 Teksavvy customers so they can file suit against them for (allegedly) downloading Voltage movies off Bit Torrent. You can read the full story here - Get a lawyer: file-sharing lawsuit possible for TekSavvy clients in Canada.
Both Voltage Pictures and Canipre's Web sites are currently down, suggesting their servers are probably getting overloaded with folks checking out who they are after Teksavvy informed their customers that these two companies could be suing them at a later date.
Why Teksavvy customers are getting sued and not Rogers or Bell customers I couldn't tell you - or maybe Rogers and Bell are next, who knows.
On the PR front you never really know how the public will react to these things until you they happen. I have to admit, I didn't know how I would react until today. While I'm not personally concerned over being sued (as I know my IP address is not on their list... and if it were, heck, I'd sue them because I've never downloaded a Voltage Picture movie in my life), my visceral response to an American movie company looking to sue thousands of Canadians was one of disgust.
I was on the fence with regards to Canipre last week, after all they aren't breaking any laws. But after this week I hate these guys.
I'll tell you why. Every other day now I'm getting an email from Teksavvy informing me of copyright policies, talking about how IP addresses are being requested, telling me that they will protect customer rights, etc.
I don't want to read this crap every day. I don't want to hear about how this company or that company is trying to sue x amount of users and that anyone could be potentially sued and that its my responsibility as a customer to learn about copyright laws and seek counsel if sued blah blah blah.
I'm not on Canipre's list but their actions are bringing an ugliness to my email box every other day and it's pissing me off, resulting in me highly disliking their company at this point.
Having said all that, I have to say Kudos to Teksavvy for communicating with their customers through their blog (go read their blog if only for the replies to see how much customers appreciate it when you communicate with them, great PR strategy if you ask me). Teksavvy's CEO did a good job explaining the situation to customers recently - Firm seeks Customer information in Copyright Infringement Lawsuit
What I liked most about Marc's blog entry was the notion that the government's intent was on a legal framework where people would first be warned, rather than sued.
This is another thing that has me viewing Canipre in a negative light. They aren't about a middle of the road approach to stopping bit torrent usage, they go right to suing people, which makes me think that this is just a business model for making money.
Anyway, I blogged on this topic only last week - One Million Canadians Labelled Criminals - Fines On Their Way? - and all my views still stand. The only addition I might add from a PR perspective is that I think the backlash against Canipre is going to be far greater than anyone expects.
The fact that my ISP has to harass me (and all Teksavvy customers) with emails updating me on issues relating to Canipre / copyright infringement is beyond annoying. And I don't blame Teksavvy, I blame Canipre for this.
I actually hope they do sue some folks for five grand... it will be fascinating to watch how the public reacts. I'd bet heavily that they will react with disgust and that soon after the first lawsuit the politicians will have to step in and modify how this issue is dealt with.
I love doing PR in just about any situation, but one situation I would not want to touch with a ten foot pole will be Canipre's situation in the future. I suspect they have no clue how ugly things can get when public opinion turns harshly against you, and I'm guessing that's what will happen after the first batch of Canadians get sued.
If I were a dictator of a large country I'd round up everyone who had charged for a non-energy bearing waveshape and with military force strip them of their handouts and pay BACK the people who bought music/movies/software. It's a free lunch for the corporations who can frolic and sit on their ass 70 years later with no effort on their part and it has a government acceptance by society. It is WRONG to charge for information-EVER. This crime against humanity has gone on too long, and the people with the good military are the ones on the enemy's side. If you want a hand-out, at least do it right and get Social Security. Don't get paid millions of times over and over for one product years after it's obsolete and throw your legal weight around. Nobody is more greedy than Big Media. Bands should look for jobs if they want money. You're not cleaning a toilet, or digging a ditch...you're having fun making a waveshape that you can milk for free money as long as you're on the side of the government with the wrong laws.
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