I received an email from my ISP saying that my service could possibly be shut down unless I give Viacom my computer drive so they can scan it because they have reason to believe I shared a Star Trek movie on the net through bit torrent.

I talked to my friend and he says he's gotten like 50 of these notices and that they mean nothing and nothing has ever been done to him, but I wanted a second opinion. I did download the Star Trek movie in question, but only to preview it to see if I liked it, and if I did I would go out and buy it. I didn't and so I deleted it and I never let it seed. How serious is this? I know Viacom and the MPAA are going on a rampage lately so could this just be scare tactics?

It's all from the music flap a yrs ago and copyrights. It could be they are serious, but I'm not sure they have the right to ask you for your drive. It is a legal question after all. If you don't want to spent a few bucks on a consultation with a lawyer (some charge a minimum fee for you to ask a question), try ACLU. Maybe their web site has info on this or they could tell you what you need to know.

Thanks, I actually talked to my ISP and they said that the MPAA did NOT contact me on their behalf. My service will not be shut down as long as they don't receive another notice from them. So it was just trying to scare me. Well I guess the golden age of the internet has been destroyed by out of touch geriatrics...