The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) urged a federal judge today to reject a porn troll's ploy to make a Wi-Fi provider responsible for the purported copyright infringement of another user.
Liberty Media Holdings (LMH) is suing two roommates in New York, alleging the illegal downloading of a pornographic film, even though LMH argues that only one made the infringing copy. Remarkably, LMH claims that the non-downloading roommate is also responsible for copyright infringement, simply because the Internet subscription is in his name and he might have known his roommate sometimes made illegal downloads.
"This theory is absurd," said EFF Staff Attorney Mitch Stoltz. "Decades of copyright law make it clear – to be guilty of infringement you have to do more than just provide an Internet connection – you have to contribute actively to the infringement. This is a ridiculous attempt at expanding copyright law so it's easier for copyright trolls to extract more money from more innocent people."
Copyright trolls attempt to game the legal process, using improper claims and procedures to pressure alleged copyright infringers into settling lawsuits against them even where they have legitimate defenses. If LMH is successful with this latest ploy, Internet users across the country would suffer. Every day, cities, cafes, libraries, schools, and individuals operate open Wi-Fi networks, sharing their connection with the public. This is a valuable public service, part of federal policy to promote universal, convenient access to the Internet, and also promotes public safety. But if Wi-Fi providers could be held responsible for users' behavior, public access to the Internet would be sharply reduced because of liability fears.
"We've all been in a spot when we needed a few quick minutes online – when we were lost, for example, or had to send an urgent email," said EFF Intellectual Property Director Corynne McSherry. "More open Wi-Fi is a public good that we should support. We can't let the copyright trolls bend the law here. All of us who use the Internet throughout the day could lose out."
Thanks to Ray Beckerman for his assistance as local counsel.
For the full amicus brief:
https://www.eff.org/document/amicus-brief-11
Contacts:
Mitch Stoltz
Staff Attorney
Electronic Frontier Foundation
mitch@eff.org
Corynne McSherry
Intellectual Property Director
Electronic Frontier Foundation
corynne@eff.org
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2 comments:
This is like a bank, after being robbed, suing the local government for building the roads that made the getaway possible.
If the copyright holders are so afraid of their material being downloaded then they should remove it from the internet.
Or maybe they should be sued for making their material so easy to download illegally. That's no more ridiculous than what they're trying to do here.
Good analogy to the above poster. But I would add that the bank being robbed left it's doors open with not tellers and leaving a note saying "Please take what you want and deposit what you think"
I will mention one person who demonstrates the internet fantasy world pretty well.
Dave Chappelle in a skit called "What if the internet were real"
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