Infringement FAQ
From Phoenix Labs Wiki
Written by fox
Edited by Joseph Farthing and Cory Nelson
Fox Productions © 03.01.07
Legal
We are not lawyers. We do not guarantee the information in these articles and FAQ on this wiki will be correct - if your situation is important to you, please contact your lawyer for proper advice. If you do find something wrong, please contact us and we will fix it.
These articles and FAQ on this wiki are provided 'as-is', without any express or implied warranty. In no event will the authors be held liable for any damages arising from the use of these FAQ.
Contact info
Make sure if you contact fox for assistance it is for something that is legal and in the subject bar make sure it is something that is related to the subject, if the subject line has something that does not make sense it will be deleted or put on my spam list. (becareful on this one, do not test me on this one)
Is filesharing and P2P illegal?
No, filesharing and P2P are perfectly legal. However, sharing copyrighted material without the legal rights to do so is illegal in most places.
Is downloading copyrighted material illegal?
No! Almost anything you can download on the internet is copyrighted. Everything you download from the iTunes Music Store is copyrighted. It is only illegal if you don't have the rights to do so.
My ISP sent me a letter and/or e-letter, what can I do?
The first thing you should do is relax and take a deep breath. In most cases a letter from your ISP does not mean you're getting sued.
Most of the time telling the truth works. Your ISP enjoys their users taking responsibility for what they downloaded. Ensure them it will never happen again.
How long does it take to receive your letter from your ISP?
Most of the time it is two weeks after they think you did something, but things are moving faster now and it could be as little as 2 hours.
Is it illegal to download TV shows?
This can depend on where you live. In the USA it is legal to record to a VCR or DVR, but it is unclear if you can download TV shows instead of doing the recording yourself.
Help! THE RIAA or MPAA is suing me! Please help me out!
Is my ISP spying on me?
Chances are your ISP doesn’t care about you and what you download. If you are getting pings or ICMP packets from your ISP and are worried about it, see What is a ping?. Most of the time they are not spying on you.
The list of ISPs which have spied on clients in the past is relatively short:
- Energis, UK
- Cox, USA
Here is a list of ISP's that spy on their customers (based on rumors and suspicion, not fact) I do have access to their database and they seem to be legit and only based on suspicions and not facts, but here they are:
- Comcast, USA
- Time Warner, USA
- Fuse, USA
- Cincinnati Bell, USA
- Zoomtown, USA
If you are constantly downloading at high speeds you may be on your ISPs radar as a power user. This does not automatically mean they have taken interest in how you are using your bandwidth, but it certainly increases your chances.
Some ISPs perform protocol throttling (ie, to make BitTorrent run slower) - this is automatic and there is usually no logging/spying is involved. Usually.
If you suspect that your ISP is spying on you, please contact fox and I can investigate further and if they are spying on you we can add your ISP to the list.
Is it legal to burn a CD?
To the best of our knowledge it is legal to have a single backup copy of your media.
In Canada it is legal to lend a CD to a friend for him/her to copy, but is illegal to make the copy yourself. Canadians are protected by Levy laws.
Am I really getting sued?
If the only notice you got was a DMCA notice from your ISP, you are probably not getting sued! Lawyers will contact you directly for a settlement.
Many times, this isn't as scary as you think - they like to let you pay a fine of a few thousand dollars to settle the case out of court. If you are guilty, this is a quick and easy way to go. If you are not guilty, they will likely suck even more money out of you in a long court battle. If you win, you could presumably have them pay for legal fees. The choice is yours.
What are the steps of being sued?
There are usually 6 steps which can happen.
- Your ISP receives e-letters or letters in the mail complaining about your "illegal" activities.
- Your ISP contacts you about the letters they have been receiving from the anti-P2P companies.
- Did you know that most ISP's get infringement complaints all the time and they delete the e-letters and ignore them?
- If you do not receive the warnings and keep downloading/uploading the anti-P2P companies will continue to press the matters quickly.
- The anti-P2P companies may request your info from your ISP inregards of the copyright infringement, if your ISP hands over your info without your consent (you might be able to counter sue or use it against them if it ever goes to court) It doesnt matter even if it is in your contract with your ISP that they can give out information on you without your approval. You still have the right for privacy, and that is because of the privacy acts in your country, your ISP can be at fault and in trouble for giving your info out.
- If your ISP declines the anti-P2P with access to your personal information (this is what should be happening) your ISP might be subpoenaed to go to court and be forced to give out your personal information, if this happens your ISP will contact you next.
- Once the anti-P2P contacts you, they will ask you for a settlement first and threaten you to go court (this is a good scare tactic, most of the time they will not take you to court)
- But this sometimes happens and they might try to subpoena you and take you to court.
- Once you are in court, the judge will decide what is right.
If you ever actually have a litigation court hearing and you wish to contact me for advice, I have helped out many people who actually made it to court and won, so you can contact me anytime.
I download but I don’t upload or share files, can I get in trouble for that?
To the best of our knowledge downloading has not yet been the basis for any current copyright infringment case, but there's no telling when they will start. Downloading copyrighted material without rights to do so can certainly get you in trouble.
Most P2P applications force you to upload while downloading, so you may be uploading and just not know it yet. Check your application settings to see if you are uploading.
Which P2P program is the safest to use?
This is a common myth that one is safer than the other, but many of them are just as unsafe to use. The programs change all the time and the anti-p2p companies spy on all of them. The only safe programs are ones which use darknets (such as ANTS, WASTE) which encrypt traffic and use special routing to hide who is sending/recieving the data. Unfortunately, darknets are inherently much slower than direct point-to-point technologies such as BitTorrent.
See our list of Cool P2P Software.
I am a university/college student and I download off the school network, am I safe in doing so?
Most anti-P2P companies like to attack students because they are easy targets. If you have a choice, try finding a private ISP to use instead of the schools network. If you have no choice, use PeerGuardian 2 and make sure you have the educational and p2p lists enabled and updated regularly.
If you wish to share at your own risk, there are ways to do it. See our list of Cool P2P Software.
Should I give into the RIAA and MPAA’s threats?
Most of the time you will get a letter from your ISP and that’s it. Many times these letters are sent with little or no proof of an infringment. If they want to accuse you without proof, why bother contacting them?
They send these letters to get more info from you - they want you to incriminate yourself, because they don't know how to.
If you get an infringment letter and this FAQ doesn't help you, please contact fox.
My ISP is telling me, you have (a number of days) to reply or they will give your info to the RIAA and MPAA. What can I do?
Well you have rights no matter where you are from. Most of the time your ISP has no right handing out your info. No matter what you have done. Make sure you read the contract and actually know what you are signing into. I know you have rights, if they give you time to contact them and/or they will give out your info the RIAA and MPAA. Make sure you contact them and let them know you don’t give them your full permission, and they are not allowed to give your info out to anyone and if they do, they would be violating your rights.
Make sure you know what is said in your contract with your ISP and if you do not know, please contact them and find out.
What is an infringement letter?
Well if you look on the Google search engine this will be the web definition of an infringement you get this:
- violation: an act that disregards an agreement or a right; "he claimed a violation of his rights under the Fifth Amendment"
- misdemeanor: a crime less serious than a felony
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
- In a legal context, an infringement refers to the violation of a law or a right.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infringement
- In law, a patent infringement occurs when the subject-matter claimed in a patent has been utilized by someone other than the rightholder, without the owner's approval or in disagreement with the terms of use given by the owner. Depending on the patent laws in the country where the patent infringement has taken place, the owner of the patent may take action in equity or in law such as an injunction or lawsuit against those who did the infringement. In U.S. law, an infringement may occur where there
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infringement_(patent)
- Unauthorized use, typically of a patent or copyright.
lawyers.alloptions.com/legal-glossary.asp
- [general intellectual property]. An invasion of an exclusive right of intellectual property. Infringement of a utility patent involves making, using, or selling a patented product or process without permission. Infringement of a design patent involves fabrication of a design that, to the ordinary observer, is substantially the same as an existing design, where the resemblance is intended to induce the observer to purchase one thing supposing it to be another. Infringement of a trademark consists of the unauthorized use or imitation of a mark that is the property of another in order to deceive, confuse, or mislead others. Infringement of usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/intelprp/glossary.htm
- Infringement of intellectual property rights or other proprietary rights including, without limitation, material protected by copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, or other intellectual property right. Infringement may result from, among other activities, the unauthorized copying and posting of pictures, logos, software, articles, musical works, and videos; takeaction.worldwildlife.org/terms.html
- An unauthorized use of material protected by copyright, patent or trademark law.
www.library.yale.edu/~llicense/definiti.shtml
- Carrying out an action which falls within the scope of the design rights owned by another person, without their permission.
www.patent.gov.uk/design/glossary/
- Encroach or trespass on the rights of others, usually involving intellectual property. 2) To make, use or sell the patented item or process within the country covered by the patent without permission or license from the patentee. A device infringes on a patent if the claims of a valid patent read on that device.
www.delphion.com/help/glossary
- Someone who makes, uses, sells, places on sale, or imports into the United States a claimed invention is guilty of infringement. There can be direct or literal infringement, infringement under the doctrine of equivalents, contributory infringement, and active inducement to infringe.
www.tms.org/pubs/journals/JOM/matters/matters-9609.html
- an unauthorized attempt to make, use, sell or have made a property right owned by another; can be direct or contributory or can be actively induced (the encouragement of others to infringe).
www.clemson.edu/research/ottSite/ottStart_IntelectDefs.htm
- An alleged or actual manufacture or import of an invention currently protected by a patent.
www.bl.uk/collections/patents/gloss.html
- Any structure or object that is situated too close to a track so as to impinge upon the loading gauge of the track or be so close as to present an unsafe condition for trains moving on the track.irfca.org/faq/faq-jargon.html
- The use or exploitation of another individual or organisation’s intellectual property rights without lawful authority.
www.austlii.edu.au/au/other/alrc/publications/issues/27/Glossary.doc.html
- Illegal use of copyrighted material.
www.washburn.edu/copyright/glossary/
- violation of the exclusive rights granted by the copyright law.
stellar-one.com/copyright_references/copyright_and_related_topics_glossary.htm
- A violation or trespass on a right or privilege.
www.tto.sdsu.edu/inventors_terminology.html
- a breach or infraction, as of a law, right, or obligation
www.sd13.org/do/tech/terms.htm
Most of the time companies will send you letters via e-letter and/or mailed letter. It will give you a date, name(s) of files you were downloading that were copyrighted and protected by governing laws.
I got this letter and it is telling me that I was downloading “illegal” stuff off the internet and it is wrong, I am innocent! What can I do?
Most of the time these letters are accurate, but sometimes they do send out false letters, just call them and find out whats up.
If you got a letter, it was probably for good reason! But there are cases where they are wrong and mix up your IP with someone elses. If you are innocent (parents, check with your kids - they aren't angels!), call your ISP to let them know you are confused about why you got the letter.
Some ISPs will keep activity logs for a short amount of time to diagnose network issues. If yours does this, ask them to check their logs. If they say they are true, there are two possibilities:
- You own a wireless router. It is possible for people to drive by (or even park!) with a standard laptop and use your internet connection. Most of the wireless encryptions have known flaws and it is possible for them to use your connection with a little patience regardless of the protections you put in place. This is called wardriving, and does not require much knowledge to do.
- You have children or friends which use your computer. It is possible they downloaded something without your knowledge.
If you are having trouble finding the reason for a letter, contact fox so we can get a more in-depth look at your situation.
Am I 100% safe from being spied on while using PeerGuardian?
PeerGuardian is only as accurate as the lists you give it. Unfortunately the lists are very big and maintaining 100% accuracy is an impossible task, but they will definately help increase your privacy.
PeerGuardian is blocking an IP like crazy, should I worry?
PeerGuardian will constantly block IPs. Many times you will see IPs get blocked three or more times before giving up - this is due to the way most computers handle reliable connecting. After a period of time, people may retry to see if you are responding yet. This does not mean people are spying on you. They are getting blocked, so no information is getting through either way!
Is it Illegal to download torrent files?
In the USA, linking to illegal material is illegal. Torrent files may be considered links (this has been debated with no clear winner), so torrents associated with illegal files may be illegal.
If I am being hounded by the RIAA and MPAA and they are sending me letters in the mail, can I plead the fifth?
You can plead the fifth (or use a similar statement in your country), but it does not guarantee you immunity to the question. Some countries can compell you under the threat of contempt to answer a question, while in the USA pleading the fifth can be used as evidence that you did something.
If you've made it far enough to consider doing this, you need to be discussing this with your lawyer.
I got a letter in the mail and/or e-letter; Does this mean I am going to prison?
The answer is no, how to go to jail is to commit a crime and the police would have to come to your door and hall you away. Maybe if you are selling something over the net like movies and/or music, then yes you can be prosecuted for that, but uploading and downloading is not a crime that would make you go to jail for doing it. RELAX it is okay.
Your best bet is to not download and/or upload anything questionable.
Is there a safer way to download off a university network?
See our list of Cool P2P Software.
Are there any golden rules about downloading and uploading?
Yes there are 3 golden rules.
- Use a block list. Use an IP blocking program like PeerGuardian 2 with a good block list! What is a block list? A block list is a list of bad IP ranges that are know to spy on people’s computers.
- If it's too good to be true, it probably is. If you see a torrent with a few seeders and a bunch of peers and the download speeds are awesome like 200kb/s and higher, that sounds like a suspicious torrent. Be careful with eMule servers in the USA, there are very few legit American servers hosted these days (be advised to look out for fake servers)
- Do not download on the day of an items release date. On the HL2 release date, Valve released a fake torrent onto numerous BitTorrent websites, it had one seed and thousands of peers and super fast download speeds, do not be stupid.
What is an IP?
The Internet Protocol (IP) is the network protocol used at the low levels of the internet.
Many people use IP as shorthand for IP address, which is an identifier for machines connected to a network or the internet.
Why do universities try and connect to me?
Well if you are using a block list manager like PeerGuardian that blocks IP’s from connecting to your computer and you have an educational list active, you will notice it being blocked more often. These kinds of block lists are designed only for users within a university or collage network or ISP, if you are neither a student or teacher inside a university netowrk or ISP then you do not really need this list to be active.
Blocking universities is fine; universities try to sniff out other university students that are using the internet for unlawful usage. That and some university students are just looking for something to download. So as I said before if you are not a university student then you actually do not need these lists active.
Also, why do ANY IP's try and connect to me?
Everyone on the internet needs an IP address - without one, nobody else would know who to talk to. Every time you connect to a webpage, download from P2P, or play your favorite game online, your computer turns friendly addresses like phoenixlabs.org into an IP address which computers can understand.
Are the RIAA and MPAA going after people who download games?
The RIAA covers music. The MPAA covers movies. To the best of our knowledge no suit has ever been brought up because of a game.
I got an E-letter from my ISP, what do I do?
I got an E-letter from my ISP and it contained an infringement report explaining to me that I need to stop downloading and/or uploading “illegal” files off the internet.
Most of the time it is just spam E-letter and you can just ignore it and delete the E-letter if you wish. Plus if it really was your ISP E-lettering you about an infringement you might have committed, it is unprofessional to E-letter someone involving an infringement.
You could call your ISP and find out what the letter meant and what you can do to help or it was authentic and actually sent from them.
Most of the time infringement letters come by letters in the mailbox. 99% of the time I would just ignore the E-letter and consider it spam and also mark it as spam.
I received an E-letter from the RIAA and/or MPAA, what can I do?
This question is easy. If you get a letter from the RIAA and/or MPAA, please just IGNORE IT, consider it spam and block their E-letters and relax, you’re covered it is just an E-letter.
What is uploading?
The terms uploading and downloading are used to describe transferring data electronically, usually between two computers. They often create confusion, as their definitions depend on the context.
The person/computer sending the information refers to the transfer as an upload, while the person/computer receiving the information refers to it as a download. These are the definitions used by ISPs. If the customer is sending information, it is an upload; if they are receiving information, it is a download. Most people use the term download when they are receiving a file, and upload when they are sending a file over the Internet.
In either case, information is transferred both ways to manage the download. This is often the reason people get confused.
The act of transferring a file from one web server to another, while technically a simultaneous download and upload, is often called sideloading. An exception is when talking about data transfers between space vehicles and ground stations; in this case, every transfer from the space vehicle is a download, while every transfer to it is an upload.
As a noun, a download or upload is the information transferred or the act of transferring it. In surfing the World Wide Web the term downloading is not usually used for simply bringing up a web page, but rather for transferring a larger file and/or directly saving it. In a network, the term downloading is not usually used for copying files from one network device to another even if one computer is acting as a host (see copy.) In a more complicated way, "download" means, when you are surfing the web, usually transferring data from the server of the web site you are viewing, to your own. This can either be a program, game, or music, which is saving it permanently to your hard disk, or it could mean transferring images or text from a web page to your computer and downloading them only to a temporary folder.
Upload basically means the opposite of download. Upload means transferring a file from your computer to a server on the internet. Let's take the example of a web site and that you're using a web host to host your site. When you update your, let's say, home page and want to publish it, you go to the upload client of your web host. Then, in the upload client, you select "Browse" and look in the folder you saved the home page in, and select it. Then you select the "Upload" button and your computer sends your home page to your web host's server.
I received an E-letter from the RIAA and/or MPAA and it is requesting me for money and/or my information on my self, what can I do?
Well this is also a simple answer, if someone asks you for your bank account number, pin number to your credit cards (CC) and/or your (CC) numbers online or offline, would you give it out? Probably not!!!!! So why would you give out your personal info out? NEVER GIVE OUT YOUR INFO, DON’T BE STUPID.
I got an infringement letter via E-letter and/or mailbox while using PeerGuardian, why is that?
If you get an infringement letter via E-letter, the best thing to do is ignore it and report it to your ISP. If you are wondering how could this of happened while you were using PeerGuardian, there are millions of IP’s that might not be counted as spies for anti-p2p companies, sometimes there is a rouge connector trying o spy on you and look and see what you are sharing. The best thing to do is report any suspicious IP’s to Phoenix Labs, so others can have the chance to get the better protection.
Remember - infringment letters are typically sent out 6 months after the fact. If you start using PeerGuardian today, you are still open to privacy invasions from the past.
Why is it legal to download stuff off of the internet in some countries and illegal in others?
This question is not an easy one. Most countries have old infringement laws still in affect, like the United States of America they have very strict infringement laws, but on the other hand Canada it is legal to download TV shows, movies, music, etc because of there levy laws on CD’s and DVD’s, every CD and/or DVD you pay a small levy on them to compensate the artists of their losses, other places like Russia, there are limited internet laws there and/or no internet laws in place, as well as Sweden and Switzerland, there are no internet laws, hence you cant be touched by the anti-P2P companies.
If there are no copyright notices on the work, is the work still copyrighted?
YES! All works are copyrighted from the moment they are made - there is no need to display the copyright, and there is no need to register it with the government.
Is it safe downloading music, videos and applications from a website?
Well you always have to remember that nothing is safe on the internet. Most of the time sites like to lure you in with downloads and/or download links and nail you with “Trojans” which are called active x controls and sometimes just plain old cookies that can trace everything you do and view. So be careful what sites to go too and have a good anti-virus to cover the bad sites that upload Trojans and Viruses to your computer.
Plus it is also a good idea to have "HTTP blocked" enabled on PeerGuardian so it can block known sites that are just a pain in the butt to view.
I don’t know what to do. I got this letter and I need your help?
Well I get these at lease once a day and it frustrates me, I am sorry you got what letter, a bill in the mail, phone disconnection notice, marriage certificate to a transvestite named “sugar apple”. Do you see my point of what kind of letter? I am sure you mean an infringement letter, but i do not want to assume.
Sometimes it does not even matter if you say I got an “infringement letter”. Because saying you got one in the mail and/or E-letter, that doesn’t help me help you. Sometimes these letters are different. They come in all types of sizes and formats. If you wish to discuss something in private, like E-letter, MSN, private message, etc and you can not find help here in this FAQ database or want more info on a subject please contact me.
Who is responsible for my internet connection, even if I was high jacked?
Tf you are the sole owner of your internet connection threw your ISP; you are 100% at fault. If your computer was hacked into or your wifi router hacked, the hijacker is the one at fault (though, this may be tough to prove/disprove!).
How long is the statute of limitations on copyright infringement?
You have 3 years.
CIVIL STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS
3 years [section 507(b)]
Courts are divided on “continuing infringement”, ie.e whether repeated acts of infringement constitutes a single continuing wrong or whether damages must be limited to infringements in last 3 years.
Note that criminal statute of limitations is 5 years. See 17 U.S.C. s. 507(a)
How important is it to report the IP address the busted me for downloading?
It is important to report all suspicious IP address and/or ranges but is not always necessary right away; you need to follow the ABC steps to an infringement letter. (See Are there ABC’s for what to do if you get an infringement letter?).
How do I report suspicious IP addresses and/or ranges?
You can report them at blocklist.org
Are there ABC’s for what to do if you get an infringement letter?
Yes there is, here it is!
- Do not panic, you are just going to give your self stress and/or panic attacks and gives your self less sleep. It is not worth loosing sleep over, most of the time infringement letters are just a slap on the wrist.
- Contact someone in regards to your infringement letter. If you need help you may contact someone and/or myself at Phoenix Labs located on the internet at http://forums.phoenixlabs.org and/or directly contact myself via my contact information below this question.
- Once you made contact with the right person or persons and if the infringement letter was not resolved by methods of pleading, then you need to contact a lawyer and/or your lawyer if you may have one. If you need help in more detail please contact me.
If I send fox a request for help or question and I do not receive a reply, what can I do?
If you send a request for help and/or question(s) about infringements or PeerGuardian and do not receive a response, please wait at least a week (seven days) from your request for help and/or question(s). That is because I get so many requests for help everyday and I can not answer them all in one day, I help people first by the highest need of urgency. If your matter is not an emergency then your question will not be a high priority it will be labeled as a low priority and will be answered as soon as I can answer it. If your question is a low priority, I will pass it on to one of my trusted staff. But if you do not receive a reply from myself and/or my staff then resend your request or question again everyday until it is resolved. If you do not receive any response within two weeks contact an administrator at http://phoenixlabs.org/.
What happens if you send fox or my staff inappropriate questions or spam mail?
This depends on what you spam us with, most of the time you will be banned instantly and we will never help you when you ever need it. It is simple I hope you get it, do not even persuade me or test me on this. You will lose.
This is very important if you dont get a e-mail reply, make sure if you contact fox for assistance it is not for something that is illegal and in the subject bar make sure it is something that is related to the subject, if the subject line has something that does not make sense it will be deleted or put on my spam list. (becareful on this one, do not test me on this one)
Is anything safe to download on the Internet now of days?
No not really, now of days anything can be traced back to you! There are ways to prevent information from being traced to use. You can use a proxy; use a secure invite only network. There are many ways now of days to prevent you from being caught, you can use PeerGuardian a free light weight IP address and/or IP range blocker. You can snag your self a copy on the internet at http://phoenixlabs.org free of charge and completely safe to use.
Has someone ever gotten sued with a subpoena via e-letter?
The answer is NO, it has never been done, if you were requested to court appearance via e-letter, delete it as soon as humanly possibly. Usually what happens is someone from the courts will drop off a subpoena and/or a signed courier to your door.
Is the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DCMA) valid only in the United States of America?
YES this law is only used in the United States of America. But the United States of America government is pushing other countries to join in on this law to fight against piracy.
If I downloaded 10% of a file off BitTorrent, can I be sued?
Is it possible to get sued, because you are downloading and/or seeding that file which is copyrighted. But that is most unlikely going to happen. Most of the time you will get a letter and/or e-letter and that is it. I have checked out the statistics and you have a better chance of winning the lottery than getting sued. But it is not impossible to get sued, just unlikely.
What is a ping?
A ping is sent by people wanting to know if your computer is online, or to see what the latency of a connection is. A "ping" is the most common command of the ICMP protocol, and is typically responded to with a "pong" packet. A ping only shows if you are online and responding to pings - it does not give away any personal information, and is not a way to spy on you!
Is it alright to contact an anti-p2p company?
UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES [NEVER CONTACT AN ANTI-P2P COMPANY]
why you may ask?
#1 reason
they actually dont know who you are and if you give them information about your self, they will persue you more.
If you get an e-letter saying you have been caught downloading "copyrighted" matterial, DELETE the e-letter ASAP. It might be spam. if you delete it the worst that can happen is they may send you another and another and another, but mark it as spam and move on and let your spam filter filter those kinds of e-letter. getting e-letters is not the end of the world. just as long as you keep it kool and stop downloading "copyrighted" matterial and head the warnings.
If by a chance you got an e-letter and there is a link inside the e-letter, do not under any circumstances click on it. do not give them a reason to sue you.
they do not know who you are, lets just keep it that way.
If you get an e-letter that has your actuall name in it and you have no idea why! you may contact me if you wish for assistance.
