Comcast targets unlicensed anime torrents

SailorSpork writes: "According to the linked thread on the forums of AnimeSuki, a popular anime bittorent index site, Comcast has begun sending DCMA letters to customers downloading unlicensed (meaning that no english language company has the rights to) fan-subtitled anime shows via bittorrent. The letters are claiming that the copyright holder or an authorized agent are making the infringement claims, though usually these requests are also sent to the site itself rather that individual downloaders.

My question is have they really been in contact with Japanese anime companies, or is this another scare tactic by Comcast to try and reduce the bandwidth use of their heavier customers now that their previous tactics have come under legal fire?"

Unlikely to be a dirty trick

[LrdDimwit]

I'm not so sure. I think it's reasonable to suspect there's much bigger fish to fry. Why would Comcast target something that's more-or-less quietly ignored by those allegedly harmed? Why would they challenge something that's niche, when people downloading big-name Hollywood releases use far more bandwidth? But more importantly, if Comcast were really going to do this, why wouldn't they start with Hollywood releases? They'd get far better PR out of it, since most people aren't fans and most non-fans wil

Re:

[tinkertim]

Why would they challenge something that's niche, when people downloading big-name Hollywood releases use far more bandwidth?

Because they study the habits of their 'bandwidth hogs' and base their decisions on the results.

Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatis.

Re:

[SailorSpork]

I think that something you said rings true: why aren't they stopping big-name hollywood torrents? The answer is because they want to try something that won't make a big splash and move up from there if it works. No news outlet has really made much of a fuss about this yet, which is why I posted it to the firehose: I don't like their tactics.

There is virtually 0% chance that 4 different animation studios contacted Comcast (see the list on the link) simultaneously to ask them to help stop their shows from b