Bogus file-sharing insurance coming from Sweden
Some people estimate that as many as 10-12 million people are still using peer-to-peer (P2P) networks to swap files across the Internet.
Spain has just outlawed all use of peer-to-peer networks within its sovereign region of the Internet.
But now some entity in Sweden (I cannot read Swedish) is offering file-sharing insurance to people for approximately $19 per year. Supposedly, they'll pay all costs if the RIAA sues you for copyright infringement. While this may sound like a real deal, American citizens need to understand that it is not valid insurance in this country.
You cannot insure anyone against unlawful acts, and copyright infringement is an unlawful act. Now, while these people might be willing to spread the risk of being sued among their participants, you would not be giving your money to a legitimate insurance carrier. Maybe it's all just a gag to sell t-shirts (you do get a t-shirt).
Sorry -- I'm not going to link to the site. They are asking for private information and I don't recommend that, either.
I'd rather pay a fine to the City of Houston. Better the criminals you know than the ones you don't know. (As a side note: I love living in Houston. I'll pick on the city government for their outrageous behavior, but the community is great.)
Spain has just outlawed all use of peer-to-peer networks within its sovereign region of the Internet.
But now some entity in Sweden (I cannot read Swedish) is offering file-sharing insurance to people for approximately $19 per year. Supposedly, they'll pay all costs if the RIAA sues you for copyright infringement. While this may sound like a real deal, American citizens need to understand that it is not valid insurance in this country.
You cannot insure anyone against unlawful acts, and copyright infringement is an unlawful act. Now, while these people might be willing to spread the risk of being sued among their participants, you would not be giving your money to a legitimate insurance carrier. Maybe it's all just a gag to sell t-shirts (you do get a t-shirt).
Sorry -- I'm not going to link to the site. They are asking for private information and I don't recommend that, either.
I'd rather pay a fine to the City of Houston. Better the criminals you know than the ones you don't know. (As a side note: I love living in Houston. I'll pick on the city government for their outrageous behavior, but the community is great.)
posted by Michael Martinez at 3:31 PM
2 Comments:
I ran across your blog because a friend of mine sometimes read it. I wan't to set a few things straight. Tankfritt.nu does not offer anything outside Sweden at the moment and you calling it bogus seems a bit weird since you haven't been able to read what's on the site.
It is correct that Tankafritt offers to pay fines for the members and this is absolutely legal in Sweden and has been tried in court. If you would get convicted you will get an additional t-shirt with the text "I got convicted for filesharing and all I got was this lousy T-shirt"
As i said we only accept swedish customers and you wouldn't be able to pay even if you tried since we use a national payment service.
Magnus Bråth
Tankafritt.nu
Fair enough.
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