[Blocks-development] FAQ entry: What do I do if I get a cease-and-desist letter?

[Spencer Jr., M. <sp...@ac...>]

No, I haven't actually received a C&D letter from someone.  But I'm curious:

Suppose someone is investigating which content is being served on Blocks.
They connect to me, the 'central server', remain connected for a while, and
they receive a file advert for a copyrighted file.  Basically, suppose they
found a reason to send a cease-and-desist letter to someone.

Since they have no way of figuring out who my connection 'DGAH' is (for
example), the attacking lawyer sends *me* the cease-and-desist letter.  What
would I do?

On one hand, I can insist that even though the attacker is receiving the
file data from me, the data isn't coming from me:  he should really be going
after my connection DGAH.  ('Sure', I'll say over the phone, 'just mail me a
registered copy of the original subpoena from a judge, and I'll tell you
what IP and port my connection D is.')

On the other hand, it's possible that I have four servers set up on my local
machine, and have the other three firewalled so they cannot communicate with
the outside world, except through my main server.  So I really could be
serving the content myself, using the complexities of the Blocks protocol to
hide behind.

Do you guys think I would stand a reasonable chance of withstanding a
cease-and-desist letter?

Or more to the point, shouldn't we make a FAQ entry about 'why you will not
receive a cease-and-desist letter if you run this software' or 'why you will
be able to defend yourself if you receive a cease-and-desist letter'.

---------------------

Lawyer-proofing:

Especially with the MediaEnforcer news lately, it seems like it would be fun
to make software deliberately designed to be a test-case for information
freedom.

Goal:  construct a scenario such that the only way to stop a certain
filesharing network would be to control email, en masse.  Internet email --
POP3 and SMTP servers and connections.  Imagine the media frenzy that would
ensue when our own artist-associations attempt to turn the internet into a
police state -- and fail.  Even grandma can understand what is wrong with a
company that wants to monitor all internet email because some users are
using auto-responding programs to arrange filesharing connections.

Imagine message-passing through email.  Hotmail accounts, even.

Hmm...would we be accused of spamming, as we both send and receive a few
dozen internet emails from a certain host?

Sound like fun?  :)

--Michael Spencer
m...@ms...