 Thomas Dunlap |
This man may soon know your name.
Thomas Dunlap is the attorney representing at least a dozen independent movie studios, including the makers of the Oscar-winning film, “The Hurt Locker.” If you illegally shared any of his clients films online then Dunlap, a founder of the law firm Dunlap, Grubb & Weaver may have collected your Internet protocol address. He may at this minute be requesting a subpoena that compels your Internet service provider to turn over your identity.
Dunlap and his firm, which also operates as U.S. Copyright Group, will then likely file a copyright complaint against you in federal court. But before that, he will give you an opportunity to settle the case for maybe as much as $2,900. This has already happened to many of the 5,000 people Dunlap has accused of pirating “The Hurt Locker.”
Dunlap appears to be the Gung ho kind and well suited for the copyright wars. Educated in Switzerland, fluent in French, the former U.S. Army Captain has a license to drive a tank. He has a Master’s degree in biotechnology in addition to his law degree and enjoys kickboxing and piloting aircraft. He has almost single handedly revived the practice of suing individual file sharers for copyright violations, which appeared to die when the music industry dropped their five-year litigation campaign nearly two years ago. Now, even the adult-film industry is trying to adopt a similar antipiracy strategy.
Pretty nice gig. Use copyright law to terrorize citizens to forking over $3K with a form letter.
Sweet
What a dickwheel.
My hero.
Corporate Slave
Come get me.
The computer I use is unsecured and on any given day at least four people use it. Somedays, 8 or 10. (I run a small office out of my home. This is the only computer connected to the internet.
You should see how they deal with these types of solicitors in the UK: http://theregister.co.uk/2010/09/28/acs_ico/
/b/’s next target. Sick’m boys!
He’s quite right and all downloaders of copyrighted material are criminals.
The law should be honored and followed and prosecution should follow when it is not.
The old expression is that the surest way to overturn a law is to fully enforce it. There is enough enforcement now that “we the people” should have the laws regarding copyright changed. Many ways to change it are available to bring the situation closer to sanity.
But see the other thread on US vs Corporations. The law, as so often is the case, is not set up for an orderly fair functioning society but rather to funnel money from the lower 95% to the higher 5%. If any changes come, with RepubliTARDS leading the way, it will only get worse.
I like free just as much as everybody else, but suing file sharers is The Right Thing To Do. How would YOU feel if people were stealing your hard work left and right?
an hero
Shouldn’t a subpoena be issued through the police (from a court) not a corporate lawyer. The article seems to imply that this guy is ‘hunting you down’. So I guess we want mercenary lawyers to go with our mercenary soldiers. If this is to be enforced it should be through official means, any settlement should only come if charges are laid or it is a ‘shake down’.
P.S. I wouldn’t even watch that movie if it was free.
#9
for starters people are not stealing it. they are copying it
if you walk by a tv with a dvd playing and you watch it without paying, is that thieft in your eyes as well?
and finally, ok, someone gets caught making a copy, they should be sued more than if they got caught stealing food from a market? an actual physical object?
and super dooper finally, if someone copys it, and really loves it, they will usually buy it to support the creators, if it was crap, lie this movie, they are lucky anyone watched it… it wouldnt have been popular at all if it wasnt for pirates
Why would anyone even watch it?
#13. Agreed, the movie sucked. And made fun of by real EOD guys.
#15, so where are the so called “FACTS”.
I don’t see a single fact in all that drivel.
Bobbo,
What have the dems done anything better than the reps have done? Both sides are getting paid, so why should they care? The dems and reps battle it out see who can screw you the most.
This guy obviously read this…
http://techspot.com/news/39645-riaa-spent-58m-chasing-pirates-to-recover-14m.html
He stands to making millions…
Rich, but getter poorer==you admit: “The dems and reps battle it out see who can screw you the most.” /// I agree and simply note that in this battle the Pukes are winning because too many stupid people vote against their own self interests.
Dems are for social programs. THATS something for the people===YOU and me.
PUKES are for nothing but tax cuts. Thats for the super rich and wanna be’s but never will be fantacists.
Yes, both bad. No, not the same.
They should have released the movie in France rather than in the USA. The French seem to have a thing for shitty movies with an even shittier ending.
Face it, the ONLY time anyone would have seen Hurt Locker is if they pirated it to see what the fuss was all about.
The movie is utter crap and certainly NOT worth the praise and Oscar it won.
Well its just like these companies going after copy write infringements.
I guess the only way to make money these days. I am all for people paying penalties for copy write violations. But only within reason.
COICA
In the United States, a new law proposal called The Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA) was introduced last week, and there will be a hearing in front of the Judiciary Committee this Thursday.
If passed, this law will allow the government, under the command of the media companies, to censor the internet as they see fit, like China and Iran do, with the difference that the sites they decide to censor will be completely removed from the internet and not just in the US.
I followed EOD teams in Angola and Afghanistan and I think The Hurt Locker was not very accurate but then real life is almost never very interesting. It was more like a good cop action film: we know that cops don’t have 100 mph chases on NYC streets but it makes it a lot more interesting to watch.
The thing I find really interesting about this is that it has been alleged the producers stole pretty much the whole thing to begin with. I think the claim is the movie is based and modeled on a real guy who was not compensated.
I bought a “used” copy of The Hurt Locker from the video rental store for $5. I liked it. It was worth the $5. Did I commit a crime?
It’s hilarious how people defend their illegal downloading with the argument that the movies are crap. Then why are you downloading them?
“Luc said,
I like free just as much as everybody else, but suing file sharers is The Right Thing To Do. How would YOU feel if people were stealing your hard work left and right?”
This is correct- but I think it’s time we questioned the actual value of the entertainment being taken without paying. I believe in America we have placed television/movies/music on too high a pedestal, and we’re too emotional about it. I think the rampant file sharing is *devaluing* this stuff properly, showing how truly inconsequential it is. This fluff is the bread and butter of the media companies, thus all the fervent prosecution of thieves, but this activity doesn’t lend it any true value.
#26,
HOW DO YOU feel about watching a movie that was crap?
How do you sample MORE then a few shows, to see which you will enjoy?
HOW do you find a NEW genre, that you hadnt tried before, that you may like?
HOW do you sample a KIDS movie, BEFORE your kids see it?
Do you have enough money to BUY more then 60 of the released shows in 1 year? Thats 5 per month.
BEFORE cable/sat, there was FREE BROADCAST TV..there still IS FREE broadcast TV. Many of those channels you watch, USED TO BE FREEE! in different areas, were different sets of channels…ASK TURNER BROADCASTING. thats how they got started. What PAID for the TV?? COMMERCIALS…NOW? you PAY for the channel.
#27,
you got most of it. The question is Profit, and HOW MUCH is enough. Also, how many FINGERS are in the pot.
#9..
I like the thought.
But do you understand something.
A CORP is taking your money, as you work for it, when they DONT give back to the employees. Wages go UP at the top, but Never at the bottom.
Look back 15 years, until the last Min Wage increase. NOTHING changed on the bottom or even UPTO and including middle class. the TOP got wage increases. WHERE a 1% increase is $1000’s of dollars to millions.
In the last 10 years, Look at the cost of food. its risen about 50%. Min wage went up from $5.50 to $7.. Does the lower income GAIN anything? NOPE. Are ANY of the upper wage earners taking a CUT in wages? NOT in the USA. Japan Airline, CEO cut his OWN WAGES below those of pilots, to keep his airline IN THE AIR. In the USA? WE GAVE MONEY to delta to keep them in the air, and THEY raised wages to the TOP WAGE EARNERS.
For a few here, KNOW.
There are CLOSED markets in the USA. YOU CANT GET INTO THEM, without Paying threw every orifice. Music, movies, SUGAR CANE, and many more.
#9,
let me say it this way.
You make a CHAIR.
You PRICE the Chair.
You Add lawyers to PROTECT the chair.
You add a security system to protect the chair.
You ship it to any/every person who WANTS this chair. With added price.
Your Chair cost with PROFIT, $5.
After you add in all the rest..PLUS seller profit your chair is OVER $20.
ALSO..The Chair was in PARTS..All you did was put it together. You didnt MAKE all the parts. You PAID about $0.35 for the parts.
The Glue and nails you bought.
What a douche. I didn’t plan to see the movie but I think I’ll go and DL the movie just for spite.
I rarely go to the movies anymore. It is expensive and often unpleasant.
Loud people behind you, kids kicking your chair, phones ringing and people answering them…
I’d rather use NetFlix. I can wait a few months.
Legal, fairly priced, much nicer surroundings and pause for bio breaks.