ISP Defeats Hollywood Copyright Claims

[The Straight Story]

ISP Defeats Hollywood Copyright Claims

A leading Australian internet service provider was cleared of copyright allegations Thursday when a federal judge ruled against Hollywood’s lawsuit that iiNet was responsible for infringing BitTorrent data traveling its pipes.

The Australian Federal Court decision siding with the country’s third-largest ISP was a legal blow to worldwide efforts to make ISPs liable for the unlawful behavior of their customers.

“I find that the mere provision of access to the internet is not the means of infringement,” Federal Court Justice Dennis Cowdroy ruled. “If the ISPs become responsible for the acts of their customers, essentially they become this giant and very cheap mechanism for anyone with any sort of legal claim.”

However, the judge’s ruling against the studios’ consortium called Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft comes amid deepening pressure from the Recording Industry Association of America and the Motion Picture Association of America for internet service providers to take some copyright responsibility.

Read More http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/02/isp-defeats-hollywood-copyright-claims/#ixzz0ecgpPAPe

[NashVegas]

1. Let's Say You're A Car Dealer

And people are buying your cars and using them in hit-and-run accidents. Of course, you aren't liable.

But what happens when people are buying your cars and planning their hits in your showroom? Leaving messages all over the bathroom wall where to find the juiciest peds?