[mb17889]

I'm not sure where this thread belongs, so I gave it my best guess.

I was wondering if it was possible to prove I didn't download something on a computer or show a record of everything I downloaded over a certain period of time. I was charged with copyright violation at my college even though I didn't. I shared a router with my roommate and he has been logged on my account, but he won't take responsibility (I am 99% sure he was not using my computer, just on my account over the router). They have evidence that the download was made on my account with the program used (Gnutella I think). I curious as to if there is a way I can disprove that I am the one that made the download.

Thank you in advance for your time.

Edited by mb17889, 22 May 2008 - 12:07 AM.

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I'm not sure if I understand the situation.
This downloading happend at college?
In college, does everyone have a PC of its own?
If so, you can show them that you don't have Gnutella installed on your computer.
Maybe you can let the college scan through your PC and see if the file is still there.
Or let them scan your roommate's PC. If he really downloaded it on his PC then he will probably still have the file.

I hope this helps.
Regards,
Olrik

[Artellos]

I'm not sure if I understand the situation.
This downloading happend at college?
In college, does everyone have a PC of its own?
If so, you can show them that you don't have Gnutella installed on your computer.
Maybe you can let the college scan through your PC and see if the file is still there.
Or let them scan your roommate's PC. If he really downloaded it on his PC then he will probably still have the file.

I hope this helps.
Regards,
Olrik

[mb17889]

It is a charge from someone in my college, it is a judicial hearing at the school.

Not everyone has a computer of their own, but my roommate and I do. He is sometimes connected to the internet through my account (through a router and only one can be logged in at the same time for internet access).

I think they would simply say I removed Gnutella from my computer, or the file if I showed them that. Also, I'm not to sure whether somebody else having the file has much to do with me having the file, or executing the download.

[Gravity Gripp]

There really isn't a good way to prove that you did NOT download something because you can easily delete and wipe the data on the hard drive. Even to the point where there is no recoverable data. The IT department at your college may keep some sort of log of what was downloaded by what account but since you let your roommate use your account, they will assume that it was you. This is the reason why it is strongly recommended that you NEVER share your username/password with anyone. Because all it takes is one person to login to your account and do something illegal, then they will come for you.

Personally, I believe that the best course of action for you is to go the hearing, explain your case, say you made a mistake, hope they take pity or take the punishment and never allow anyone else on your account.

Edited by Gravity Gripp, 22 May 2008 - 07:05 AM.

[mb17889]

I did not share my account information with anybody. He was logged onto the internet through my account because of the router.

They can't prove that I did the download either.

If I contact my ISP at home, could they show that I never download anything illegal on my computer at home? I never have. The only problem is that my sister does, and she downloads some movies to. Downloading just ONE song seems pretty rare to me, I think that would be true to most. So could an ISP distinguish between computers in my house at all? They are all over a wireless router. This would show a pattern of not making illegal downloads anyway.

[Gravity Gripp]

It's all based on an IP address and who had that IP at that time. If the IP was addressed to you, then you are responsible for the activity that happens on that IP. At home, if you share a connection with your sister, then both of the computers will share an IP.