Re: Client's commercial product released as free download on bit torrent
Unfortunately, you are pretty close to out of luck as far as dealing with the situation. Generally, prevention is the best bet. For software, this would include registration or license management features embedded in the application (ok, yes, these can all be circumvented, but they prevent the casual person from breaking your application and freely distributing it) or DRM if it is a media file.
Once the file is on a sharing network, your options are very limited. The first step is to track the servers to determine where in the world they are. If they are not in your country, the US, UK, Canada, Australia, or certain parts of Europe, sorry, you are out of luck. Chalk it up as a life lesson, and move on. You can contact the ISP or hosting company, but don't expect much action.
If the file is being shared on a network in the US, UK, etc., you may have more success in getting the file removed. Contact the ISP with a DCMA complaint. Also, try to go through the hosting company. If it is not removed, you may have to take legal action. This can be very time consuming if the file is being shared on a network outside your country. And, even if you are successful, the file may simply move to a place that is out of your reach.
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