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Sky is the UK's second-biggest broadband provider, meaning it has a huge amount of customer data that it's responsible for. That data could now be turned over to companies claiming copyright infringement, after the ISP has been forced to bow to pressure from an American media company.

The rights holder at the centre of the storm is the little-known TCYK LLC. Widely regarded as a "copyright troll", pursuing hundreds of claims against hundreds of file sharers, TCYK has successfully applied for and been awarded a court order, mandating Sky turns over names and addresses of those accused of sharing the 2012 movie


The Company You Keep.

By all accounts unexceptional at best, the Robert Redford/Shia Lebouf film is both the source of the company's name, and its sole reason for existence. A search for "TCYK LLC" doesn't bring up a company site or portfolio of titles, but instead a stream of reports of it chasing down people it thinks may have downloaded the movie.

TCYK has argued it identified specific IP addresses from torrent swarms, prompting it to seek the court order. The case has been running since September 2014, though the order to supply details has only recently been obtained. Sky customers can now expect to receive letters from TCYK, which will likely demand recompense for loss of earnings. Traditionally, the company threatens hefty legal action if its targets do not comply.


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It continues, "a company called TCYK LLC, which owns the rights to several copyrighted films, has claimed that a number of Sky Broadband customers engaged in unlawful file-sharing of some of its films. In support of this claim, TCYK LLC says it has gathered evidence of individual broadband accounts (identified online by unique numbers called IP addresses) from which it claims the file sharing took place."

While TCYK is absolutely entitled to protect its copyright, its approach amounts to little more than scare tactics -- it knows many will meet its demands at the mere threat of legal action. Sky has not commented on what, if any, efforts it took to protect customer data or to fight the court order, though it is laudable that it has advised its customers of the situation.