Copyright infringement notice from [email protected] - do I have to pay?

I am using Shaw for internet and got a notice in the email i think for torrenting movies and games. What happens if I don't pay this? man... I thought downloading copyrighted material in Canada was still legal.

One of the emails included a link to https://www.copyrightsettlements.com/ telling me to pay the charge.

Dear Subscriber,

Content owners that hold property rights for material such as movies, music and other content, actively monitor Internet activity to protect their rights. We have been notified by a content owner that your Internet Protocol (IP) address has been associated with copyright infringement. As part of new Canadian copyright legislation*, we are obliged to forward to you the attached copy of the content owner's notice. We are unaware of the full details and merit of this infringement claim. If you have questions concerning this matter, please contact the content owner directly. Contact information is listed in the attached notice.

Infringement of copyright laws may result in the content owner pursuing remedies available under applicable laws to protect their interests. We encourage enabling secured passwords on your home Wi-Fi network if you have one to avoid unauthorized use of your Internet connection.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Shaw Cablesystems G.P.
http://balancedcopyright.gc.ca/eic/site/crp-prda.nsf/eng/home

 

I've gotten them from Telus too ([email protected]).

Notice of Copyright Incident - John Doe - xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx

We are writing to inform you that TELUS has received a complaint that alleges that your TELUS Internet Service account has been involved in copyright infringement. This complaint was traced back to your account based on the IP address used at the time of this activity.

At TELUS, we respect our customers privacy: we have not provided your personal account information to the complainant. It is TELUS policy to disclose such information to a complainant in this context only if ordered to do so by a court of law. Please visit http://about.telus.com/community/english/privacy for more information about our privacy practices.

We do, however, want you to be aware that this complaint was received by us and offer you the following information that may be of help to you:

If you are unaware of this type of activity originating from your account, you may wish to inquire with others who have access to your account.

If you are using a dial-up account, change the account password to ensure that only authorized users have access to it.

You may also want to check your system for viruses, which may explain why this sort of activity is originating from your account.

If the ADSL modem is connected to a wireless router, please make sure that only your authorized computers can connect to it and access the internet. For help in securing the wireless router, please contact the router vendor.

Below is an excerpt from the complaint that we received regarding your account. We include it in this notice in an effort to help you identify the activity that is in question.

Sincerely,
Ken
Internet Abuse Team
TELUS Communications
Email [email protected]

**Please include your original email to TELUS in any replies.
IP Address: xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
Port: XXXXX
Title: X
Filename: X
Type Of File: X
Distribution found at: X
Local time: X
Protocol: P2P
The copyright holder alleges that at X, they were able to connect to the IP address xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx. This IP address was assigned to your connection at that time. During the connection they say that they found that portions of the file X was actively being distributed from your connection. They conclude that as they were able to extract a portion of the file X from your connection that their exclusive distribution rights are being violated. They are asking that the file sharing stops immediately. Please note, we can trace the IP address to your account. The actual file could be shared from any computer behind your router, including ones that connect wirelessly.

Should you want further information on the complaint, please reply to this email.

This email, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient and may contain confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify us immediately and destroy
this email and any copies.

-~-~- IAT reference number: XXXXXXX

 

Use PIA (Private Internet Access) which is a VPN service which does not keep logs: https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/. They have good reviews and are known for their performance. If you want to be even more careful, check out https://www.privacytools.io/#vpn. Along with VPN recommendations, they also have other tools to help you maintain your privacy online.