Seattle - The investigations being conducted by copyright holders on file-sharing networks to discover instances of infringement are flawed, and can mistakenly identify innocent parties, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Washington. The researchers monitored file-sharing activity on the BitTorrent network last year, and in the course of their study received 206 complaints of infringement under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) -- even though their machines transferred no illegal files.

This was found to occur due to the use of "indirect" detection methods by third-party companies hired by the MPAA, RIAA and others to police peer-to-peer networks, wherein a suspicious IP address is detected, but no attempt is made to confirm infringement by downloading the alleged infringing file.

The users associated with these IP addresses are then targeted for DMCA takedown notices or RIAA "pre-litigation" letters.

The U. of Washington researchers were able to rig it so takedown notices were even sent to IP addresses tied to printers on the campus network.

"Because current enforcement techniques are weak, it is possible that anyone, regardless of sharing content or using BitTorrent, could get a D.M.C.A. takedown notice claiming they were committing copyright infringement," study co-author Michael Piatek told The Times' Bits Blog.

"Ultimately, we think that our results should provide a wake-up call for more openness on the parts of content enforcers," study co-author Tadayoshi Kohno told Bits Blog.

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/2ec2a (NY Times Bits Blog)

http://snipurl.com/2ec3e (Ars Technica)

http://dmca.cs.washington.edu