Sony v. Cox
Mitch Stoltz and Lara Ellenberg:
In going after internet service providers (ISPs) for the actions of just a few of their users, Sony Music, other major record labels, and music publishing companies have found a way to cut people off of the internet based on mere accusations of copyright infringement. When these music companies sued Cox Communications, an ISP, the court got the law wrong. It effectively decided that the only way for an ISP to avoid being liable for infringement by its users is to terminate a household or business’s account after a small number of accusations—perhaps only two. The court also allowed a damages formula that can lead to nearly unlimited damages, with no relationship to any actual harm suffered. If not overturned, this decision will lead to an untold number of people losing vital internet access as ISPs start to cut off more and more customers to avoid massive damages.
Be careful if anyone on your network is running a file server or downloading/uploading copyrighted content using BitTorrent.
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In France, having internet connection is now a fundamental right (like having access to electricity, or water), and so no infringement can be a reason to cut someone off internet.
The best labels managed to get was the 3 strike law, where the last strike may cost you 1500€, but cutting off internet, which was part of the initial proposal has been rejected (because it was declared anti-constitutional).
