Convicted of having encouraged piracy, an ISP appeals and puts forward the idea that we should instead pursue those who create the tools allowing files to be downloaded illegally, such as Torrent clients.
here’s one Internet service provider (FAI) which does not lack air. The story begins in 2019. Several music labels including Warner Bros. And Sony file a complaint against Great Communications, American ISP based in Texas. As you can imagine, this is a story of piracy. The plaintiffs accuse the supplier of not take action against customers who engage in illegal downloading of copyrighted titles. More precisely: he should have cut the connection of proven repeat offenders. November 2022 arrives and with it the verdict. Grande Communications is recognized guilty of willful participation in copyright infringement. The court says he must pay $47 million to the labels and of course he rushes to appeal.
In a document sent to the Court, the ISP puts forward a seemingly simple argument: it and other companies offering similar services should not be held responsible for piracy carried out by their customers. Ending their Internet subscription shouldn’t be a frequent occurrence either, says Grande. The labels disagree. For them, ISPs have a central role in piracy via the BitTorrent protocol. Indeed, they are the only ones who can associate a client with an IP address, and therefore act following a notice of copyright infringement. Grande Communications has an answer for that too.
Internet provider convicted of hacking defends himself with bold comparison
The company maintains its position and cites another case it considers relevant. At the end of this, the American Supreme Court considered that Twitter was not responsible for the fact that ISIS terrorists used the platform to recruit people and raise funds. The comparison is enough to raise an eyebrow, which the labels have not failed to point out. Ruling should not apply to copyright violations. Grande insists: “the main question […] before the Court is whether to provide an Internet service to a direct copyright infringer […] is sufficient to support liability […]. The Supreme Court recently made it clear that this was not the case.
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The ISP doesn’t stop there. He does not deny that, in fact, access providers are the only ones who can associate a hacker with an IP address. But then why not sue the customer himself ? Labels “could file a complaint against X against an alleged infringer known only by their IP address, then serve a subpoena on the ISP to obtain their identity,” Grande suggests. And we might as well go to the end of the reasoning by listing all people and entities who should, in his opinion, be the target of rights holders.
Complaints should be filed against developers of programs allowing torrent downloads, according to ISP
To justify itself, Grande Communications recalls thatit does not actively encourage piracy and is content with provide neutral Internet access. On the other hand, this would not be the case for, among others:
- Bram Cohen and BitTorrent Inc., creator of the BitTorrent protocol.
- THE developers and distributors of BitTorrent clientsprograms allowing file exchanges via this protocol.
- Websites that offer download BitTorrent clients.
- THE “trackers“, servers helping people exchange using the BitTorrent protocol.
- THE companies that manage and/or host the sites and servers mentionedallowing their operation.
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“Each of these players plays a direct role in sharing copyrighted music files via BitTorrent. Grande, on the other hand, is very far from the alleged illicit behavior,” concludes the FAI. It is certain that all the actors in question will completely deny these allegations which aim to make them responsible for the hacking. The decision that American justice takes will in all cases be very important sinceit will impact all Internet service providers and their customers.
Source: TorrentFreak