Here’s The Letter Aussie Dallas Buyers Club Pirates Are Getting

Check your mailboxes, pirates. You might be seeing something like this in there very soon if you pirated Dallas Buyer’s Club.

In case you’ve been living under a rock: the studio behind Dallas Buyers Club is on the warpath against Aussie pirates.

After iiNet challenged Dallas Buyers Club’s discovery process in court and lost, the court stipulated that the studio had to draft a copy of its letter of demand before a judge before it was sent out.

Mashable nabbed a copy of the letter going to Dallas Buyers Club pirates, following iiNet’s loss.

The letter starts by defining piracy, adding that Aussies have engaged in widespread piracy of the film to the point that Dallas Buyers Club and Voltage needed to take legal action:

Piracy of the Film in Australia is significant and widespread. As a result of this piracy of the Film, DBC and Voltage have experienced a significant reduction in consumer sales and have suffered significant loss and damage.



DBC and Voltage consider the level of piracy of the Film to be egregious and, taking into account the profound impact of piracy on them, intend to take legal proceedings against any person who has engaged in piracy of the Film.



We are writing to you because an IP address linked to your internet account with [insert] was used to illegally upload the film.

The letter goes on to discuss how DBC and Voltage investigated those pirating the films via BitTorrent using technology from a company called Maverik Eye over the period of a year:

As a result of these investigations, Maverik Eye has identified a number of Internet Protocol addresses (IP Addresses) that have been used to illegally upload the Film for other users of the BitTorrent Network to illegally download. Maverik Eye has identified the IP Addresses from where pirates are illegally uploading the film.

The letter doesn’t specify specific damages that need to be paid by those caught out by DBC and Voltage, but does ask that those receiving the letter get in touch with the studio’s legal representation to determine the punishment.

You can contest the studio’s claim that you engaged in piracy (which may have happened if someone downloaded the film on your unprotected Wi-Fi hotspot, for example), or you can agree to the studio’s settlement terms:

What if you agree that you engaged in Piracy?



If you admit that you engaged in Piracy, DBC and Voltage are prepared to settle the dispute

on the following basis.



1. You provide an undertaking not to engage in Piracy in respect of the Film, or permit or authorise others to do so, in the form set out in Annexure “A” to this letter.



2. You undertake to delete any copies of the Film from any hard drive or operating system and any copies saved to external storage devices, other than copyrighted works owned by DBC an/or Voltage that you have obtained legitimately. We also suggest you stop making other copyrighted works available online across the BitTorrent Network.



3. You contact us in writing at [insert email address] to negotiate a settlement with DBC and Voltage. Alternatively if you would prefer to speak with someone directly then you may call [insert telephone number] to negotiate a settlement with DBC and Voltage.

If you confess to pirating the film but disagree with the settlement proposed by DBC and Voltage, the studio writes that it may engage in separate legal proceedings with you alone to get legal relief.

Recipients of the letter will have 28 days to respond under threat of further action being taken against them by the studio.

The full letter is below, via Mashable

Draft Letter to Account Holder