'Cease And Desist' Letters what they are and why I don't believe in them
what is a Cease and desist notification (CDN) and who sends/receives those?
the copyright owner of a product has the option, to send a notification to the infringer. This note is meant as a warning, it tells the infringing party to stop sharing and desist any infringing material uploaded by them immediately. It is a kind of 'last warning' before filing provider complaints, the last 'chance' to straighten up.
As I noticed increased illegal sharing of my products, I started sending such notifications to the culprits, having still the hope it will warn them and they will take it for serious.
well, in the most cases I was wrong. While some 'first time sharers' complied and wrote back to me with their agreement, the majority of pirates didn't reply and if they did - it was in an insulting and threatening way, not being grateful I just warned them instead of filing complaints directly, but hateful, obscene and with a language which I only heard before from fish grocers in the haven of Hamburg lol. See some of the examples in an earlier posting. This is how low they go - first they steal, illegally distribute my work on on top of that harassing and threatening me with their responses. I will not give those criminals the benefits of a doubt any longer, neither will I warn them with polite emails, blame it on yourself - you get caught sharing - you will get reported.
These warning also are a risk for the copyright owner, it 'warns' the hard core pirates and all they do is to run and hide, means - founding new groups (the 'secret' ones) and targeting the copyright owner with massive shares. (I had to take over 300 illegal links down after those letters have been sent, from all kind of file sharing providers who are supporting and nurturing with their policies art theft and piracy of criminal wannabe mafia organizations.)
Ever since NKDigitalArt decided, not to warn anybody any more. We see a product shared - NKDigitalArt is filing complaints, all throughout the US but also in overseas (remember the Millenium Copyright Act is an international agreement, piracy and art theft are forbidden in the most civilized countries and punishable by law, especially in European countries the law is a lot stricter than here in the U.S. when it comes to illegal file sharing.)
Such complaints are transmitted by fax (some overseas provider prefer to have 'something written' before they act - but they WILL take action if a case is made known to them, especially if someone repeatently violates the copyright law. They do even more - for example in Germany such cases will be submitted directly from the provider to the authorities for further investigation, since copyright infringement is a federal crime)
So dear pirates - cease and desist letters are not a threat but a CHANCE for you, if you ever receive one. Take it as a 'treat' , the copyright owner could also file complaints right away, it is up to the owner of the rights to decide if they give you a last chance to straighten up or not. You answer in a rude manner and non compliant - go ahead and suffer the consequences.
I stated the policies of NKDA earlier - this is how it will be - you share - we try all to get your internet connection (as a first step, we got to start somewhere, every further step will be a lot more unpleasant) - on top of that you will have your '5 minutes of fame' on this blog, since we publish such cases in all details from now on.
more later
have a great weekend
KatNKDA
