I never thought I’d see this, but as part of my job I field DMCA take-down requests. My employer is an Internet Service Provider, and from time to time our end-users may take it upon themselves to skirt around the release schedules and pricing schemes of various intellectual property industries. Traditionally the owners of those properties have been quite strident in their tone towards alleged pirates. This morning I noticed that J.K. Rowling’s folks have taken a more fan-friendly approach for an audio-book version of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone:

Unauthorized file sharing is illegal.  However, we truly appreciate your
interest in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Audio).  We are making
every attempt to provide this wonderful content to you in a host of
legitimate ways, one of which is through the following
website:

http://www.apple.com/itunes

That’s a big change from the “You’re a criminal and we’ll see your ass in court” approach I’ve been seeing for years. A welcome change that I hope some of the other IP-enforcement types pick up on. Try to win back your customers. Barring that, stop twirling your mustaches and cackling evilly.

Full text of complaint follows

Dear Dane Jasper:

On behalf of the rights holder for the content listed below, we are writing
this letter to state that we have a good faith belief that the unauthorized
sharing (distribution) and downloading of this content has occurred by an
individual making use of the IP address below at the date and time
referenced at the end of this
notice.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Audio)
75.XXX.XX.XX


We also state, under penalty of perjury, that the information in this notice
is accurate and that we are authorized to act on behalf of the rights owner.
 Since you own this IP address, we request that you inform the individual
who engaged in this conduct of the
following:

Unauthorized file sharing is illegal.  However, we truly appreciate your
interest in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Audio).  We are making
every attempt to provide this wonderful content to you in a host of
legitimate ways, one of which is through the following
website:

http://www.apple.com/itunes


If you believe you have received this notice in error, please contact us at
CLCopyright@mediasentry.com
., and kindly include this identification number 816820581, also noted
above, in the subject
line.

Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.
Respectfully,

A Kempe
MediaSentry Operations


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

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

Infringing Work: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Audio)
First Found: 4 May 2009 12:50:40 EDT (GMT -0400)
Last Found: 4 May 2009 12:50:40 EDT (GMT -0400)
IP Address: 75.XXX.XX.XX
IP Port: 6881
Protocol: BitTorrent
Torrent InfoHash: 93B5C25168DF451105A2FAA606A55AF06E4E6B89
Containing file(s):
Soundtrack.torrent (3,239,078,956 bytes)

IP addresses hidden to protect the (possibly) innocent. Dane Jasper is named in the complaint because he’s our official DMCA agent. He wasn’t the alleged pirate.