Complaint to the Russian provider from MediaSentry

In St. Petersburg, there are a large number of providers, which competition compels to increase the rate on the tariff plans, or to reduce the subscription fee. However, most of them offer “under-provisioning” - when a certain threshold of incoming traffic is reached, the speed is cut off. I was lucky, and the provider in my house for a relatively small subscriber gives honest symmetrical 25 Mbit with a static external IP. On such a channel it was simply impossible not to put a good server with a torrent.

At one point, my provider sent me the following:

.
, c ip .
, , .
.
, .

.

JSC ***
10N, 65-67
Chaykovskogo st.
191123 Saint-Petersburg, RU

RE: Unauthorized Distribution of the Copyrighted Motion Picture Entitled
The Other Guys

Dear **** Registry:

We are writing this letter on behalf of Columbia Pictures Industries Inc., ("Columbia Pictures") who owns certain rights under copyright law in the title The Other Guys.

You are receiving this notice because your Internet account was identified as having been used recently to copy and/or distribute illegally the copyrighted motion pictures and/or television shows listed at the bottom of this notice. This notice provides you with the information you need in order to take immediate action that can prevent serious legal and other consequences. These actions include:

1. Stop downloading or uploading without authorization any motion pictures or TV shows owned or distributed by Columbia Pictures; and

2. Permanently delete from your computer(s) all unauthorized copies you may have already made of these movies and TV shows.

If this notice is being received by an Internet Service Provider (ISP), please forward the notice to the individual associated with the activities.

The unauthorized distribution or public performance of copyrighted works constitutes copyright infringement under the Copyright Act, Title 17 US Code Section 106(3)-(4). This conduct may also violate the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works and The Universal Copyright Convention, as well as bilateral treaties with other countries that allow for protection of Columbia Pictures copyrighted works even beyond US borders.

Copyright infringement also violates your ISP's terms of service and could lead to limitation or suspension of your Internet service. You should take immediate action to prevent your Internet account from being used for illegal activities.

An MPAA website, www.respectcopyrights.org, offers step-by-step instructions to ensure that your Internet account is not being used to violate the copyright laws. Also, the site can point you to an array of legal choices for enjoying movies and TV shows online. You can also learn there how theft of motion pictures and TV shows damages our economy and costs thousands of Americans their jobs.

Please contact us at the above listed address or by replying to this email should you have any questions.

We are providing this notice based on our good faith belief that the use of motion pictures and television programs owned by Columbia Pictures Industries Inc. in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owners, their agents, or the law. The information in this notification is accurate. Under penalty of perjury, we are authorized to act on behalf of the owners of the exclusive rights that are being infringed. This letter is without prejudice to the rights and remedies of Columbia Pictures, all of which are expressly reserved.

We appreciate your assistance and thank you for your cooperation in this matter. In your future correspondence with us, please refer to Case ID 1223392577.

Your prompt response is requested.

Respectfully,

A Kempe
Enforcement Coordinator
MediaSentry

------------------------------

INFRINGEMENT DETAIL
--------------------

Infringing Work: The Other Guys
First Found: 4 Sep 2010 00:17:13 EDT (GMT -0400)
Last Found: 4 Sep 2010 00:17:13 EDT (GMT -0400)
IP Address: 89.112.X.XXX
IP Port: 51413
Protocol: BitTorrent
Torrent InfoHash: 977DD6857CD895914648A7AFDEF5F6AE9E19ADD4
Containing file(s):
The_Other_Guys_RelizLab_DVDSCR.avi.torrent (1,416,934,724 bytes)

Thus, the American copywriters sent an abuz to the Russian provider, who notified me of this by letter.
')
There are questions:

1. How did they know that I was distributing this torrent - was the rutracker leaked to me, or did they listen to the traffic on the distribution?
2. How seriously should their abuses be taken?
3. What to do next - how to avoid similar spam in the future?