Good on you. But, did you really think that anyone would take your side in this situation?
They have something called Störerhaft in Germany, where the host is responsible for protecting his internet against illegal use, whether he is home or not.
I was maybe 90% sure people would agree I should pay the full fine. So I thought there was a chance. If I had been completely sure I wouldn’t have asked.
But the ISP doesn’t? Or are they expecting basic end users to be more knowledgeable and proactive about network security than the professionals? Seems to me if the ISP can’t prevent people from using their network illegally (and they certainly can’t, even if they really wanted to), the end user should be off the hook in that regard.
What if someone parked their car outside their house, hacked into their wifi, and downloaded whatever they wanted over their network? They’re still liable? What if instead of copyrighted files it’s child porn?
As I understand it, yes, they would still be liable in that case. If there is child porn involved, Im guessing it would be handled differently though.
The ISP is considered a “mere conduit” and is not responsible for users’ activity. Neither is the operator of an open public WiFi.
In this specific case, the more relevant point is that the OP should make the problem magically go away for the host and not force him to answer letters, contact lawyers, or pay fines. This is distinct from any legal issues.
At least according to this, they’ve agreed to abolish that law. Or at least as it applies to public wifi providers like Starbucks. No indication it will help the homeowner, but it sure seems like it should.
See also Germany | wilmap
ETA: NB this is the older, obsolete law; I quoted it to emphasize that it is up to the plaintiff to prove the identity of the infringer.
I don’t know how it works in Germany, but in the US, ISPs will sometimes send “fines” that are basically scams. The fine print says that you are under no obligation to pay; I got one once for suspected piracy that was 100% legal (streamed by the copyright holder).
How did they know it was you? Single guest BnB, time matches? Though your playing ignorant is a bit harder when you posted it on a public forum.
Ideally, stop pirating. But also get a VPN.
Wait, what? Then why bother even mentioning Airbnb in the title or the body of the OP?
It was an AirBNB host who for some reason agreed to not actually utilize AirBNB.
The OP’s morality aside, the owner of the property was an idiot to forgo the minimal protections that you get by going through the service.
The host probably knows what day and time it happened at and if you downloaded it right to a device you own, his router may very well have logged your MAC address. With a few more bits of info (at least in the US), I don’t think it would be difficult to win a civil suit in court for the host to get their money back.
At least that’s what I would do if it were me. Ask you to pay the fine (the entire fine), if you didn’t, I’d pay it and take you to court. I intend to be out zero dollars because you did something illegal in my house.
It’s funny that on the one hand we talk about how clogged up the court system is with frivolous lawsuits, but on the other hand, we have people trying to decide if they can pawn off a fine on someone else for something they did.
I doubt that would be possible. I’m in a different country. No one knows what computer I have. He doesn’t know where I live or anything. There is no proof other than his word, and a whatsapp chat that connects me to ever being in his apartment.
It’s interesting to me that you complain about frivolous lawsuits, in the same post where you talk about making a lawsuit. I would’ve just let it go as a host.
That’s where everyone else differs from you. If I had to pay a €500 fine for something a guest did when I wasn’t even there, I’d sure as hell want to recover it. Aside from the principle of the thing, what do you think €500 is, pocket change? Do you think your host has that much under his seat cushions?
Casual googling shows piracy is illegal in your country too. Why would something illegal in Denmark and pretty much everywhere else be legal in Germany? Why would you assume it was legal?
Based on the fact that you seem to be looking for any excuse to not pay the find in this instance, I doubt that.
He didn’t say it was legal. He said it was “unproblematic.” He knew exactly what he was doing.
He probably just assumed that nobody would go after him. I’ve downloaded 87 bajillion things from torrents over more than a decade. I got exactly one “nastygram” about it, when a torrent of several hundred ebooks had one Harry Potter book in it, and I was warned about that one book. Noting whatsoever came of it.
But it’s sort of a waste of society’s resource’s isn’t it. To engage the legal system, maybe the police over the country limits, etc. Instead of just accepting that you share the bill or whatever. I’d like to think that not everyone is as litigious as you.
I wonder if the German guy has fallen for a scam? Yes, the Germans seem to really take piracy very seriously, much more so than any European country I’ve heard of, but it still could be a scam.