Preventing Wifi download copyright infringements

[Andrew Mawson]

we have two holiday cottages on the farm, and there is a WIFI access point provided for their use which is on a VLAN isolating it from the rest of my network.

Never had problems, but yesterday i got an email from BT saying my internet connection had been used to download a huge music file that infringed copyright. Email is genuine as logging into my BT account the details are there

Wasn't me so it must have been one of the guests. i can't for the life of me think how i can prevent this, any suggestions ?

Andrew

[Chris Bartram]

You can't, totally.

Installing a transparent web proxy/filter would stop most of it, but it all depends on maintaining, finding, or buying an up to date blacklist. Commercial offerings do this quite well, but not 100%, and cost. There's free ones (one from the mists of time was Dan's Guardian) but I'm nowhere near up to date on what's about. Take a look at IPCop, or consider using pfSense with the captive portal and issuing vouchers so you can tell who has done what.

or

Provided your BT T&Cs don't forbid operating an open public AP tell them that's what you've done and to f*ck off (nicely!)?

[Tim+]

Would it not be simpler to just log *who* has done the download? Then you can ?pass the buck? so to speak.

Tim

[Brian Gaff]

How do they actually know it was an infringement? If they used a torrent its very hard to prove it.

I do know that a number of public hot spots only let you use the thing for browsing and restrict the speed and indeed sometimes force you to log in with a new id every so often. It may well be that BT do not offer any kind of service for those running holiday homes, I do not know. However somebody must do this sort of thing. I know I'm not allowed to share my virgin connection with anyone else on a semi permanent bases, IE to allow a neighbour to use my spare bandwidth.

The only other thing I can think of is use a guest log in router and have a contract that any infringement of the law is their responsibility . Brian

[Chris Bartram]

That was whay I suggested pfSense and the captive portal. It's free, the only ballach is having to issue usernames/passwords or vouchers.

[Andrew Mawson]

Got the time it happened (5 in the morning !) but only my ip address as identifier so can't say which of two sets of guests did it :( But I have my suspicions, and that party left a TV dongle behind and are returning to collect - so an innocent question about the music concerned will be asked !!!

Andrew

[The Natural Philosopher]

Change your ISP to one who doesnt police their network so aggressively.

[Jethro_uk]

Personally, before wasting a penny, I'd pop over to a legal ng, and establish what - if any - your obligations are.

AFAIAA there's no UK law (nor will there be one for a few years) which makes the *account holder* responsible for 3rd party activity on their account. If there was, it would be right next to the laws which make DIY shops responsible for crimes committed with knives they have sold.

As long as you are not advertising your WiFi as "available for piracy" (and even then, I suspect it would not be a clear cut case) then there's not a lot anyone can do.

Of course your ISP contract might suggest otherwise. But that's a civil matter. Maybe ensuring your connection is free from any deep packet inspection ? Or move ISPs.

[Thomas Prufer]

Here (Germany), the usual procedure is to pass the buck to the tenant/guest via legal boilerplate.

They sign that they won't download illegally, and will be held liable if they do. This you can then pass on to those alleging a copyright violation, and the then need to show which of the guests is in violation.

Don't see how you could get a 100% secure technical solution without limiting the WiFi so much that it becomes tiresome to use.

Thomas Prufer

[Huge]

In essence, you can't, not absolutely. You can spend a lot of time (and possibly money) getting about 80% of it, but you're never going to stop it all.

Write it into the rental agreements that the use of the Internet connection is wholly the responsibility of the renter.

(Oh, and tell BT to f*ck off.)

[Tim Watts]

For next time, you could look at:

which would provide a clean separation of responsibility. Today it was a minor issue of copyright. Tomorrow it could be something highly illegal.

[Jethro_uk]

But is the account holder held liable for what other people do on their connection ?

In the UK, caselaw suggests not.

[Dave Liquorice]

Yep, starting with does your BT 'net connection account allow the use by *paying* guests/third parties. Are you effectively "reselling", even if you don't specifically make a charge for the Wifi access?

Also see if you can register with BT as an "communications provider" rather than as a "subscriber":

That is quite old, things may have changed, but it does contain references to the legislation so you could have a dig about to see if there have been any changes.

[Jethro_uk]

Surely legality/illegality is a binary state ?

[The Natural Philosopher]

Yes, but there is tort and there is criminal law.

[Thomas Prufer]

Ask two lawyers, get three answers...

AFAIK, a private WIFI left wholly open makes one liable, a commercial one not (as in a public WFI in a cafe).

A private Wifi reasonably protected, with several people accessing the Wifi, places the burden of proof on the copyright holder to show which of the several parties infringed. The account holder is not liable for the actions of any or all those accessing (other than their own actions), but is liable for failing to restrict that access. AIUI... but I Am Not A Lawyer.

Thomas Prufer

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Think that's where BT wi-fi + fone comes in. If you are a BT subscriber free to use at any access point. Non BT subscribers can pay to join. If you paid that fee for them, you'd still have the benefit of limited total downloads.

[Tim Watts]

Would you rather have a copyright complaint or the Police kicking your door down for something highly illegal like a terrorist plotting something using your network?

It's not remotely binary.

[PeterC]

Although... binaries might also result in the police kicking down your door.

[Michael Chare]

You could ask BT exactly what file was downloaded? If BT cause trouble you could move to a better supplier. I am not sure how you can be held what others do without telling you.

You could mention what BT have said in your notes for guests.

Music copyright lasts for 50 years so much of the music from the 60s is no longer covered.