Supreme Court Wipes Piracy Liability Verdict Against Grande Communications (torrentfreak.com)
- Reference: 0181403040
- News link: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/26/04/07/1750202/supreme-court-wipes-piracy-liability-verdict-against-grande-communications
- Source link: https://torrentfreak.com/supreme-court-wipes-piracy-liability-verdict-against-grande-communications/
> Following on the heels of the [1]landmark Cox v. Sony ruling , the Supreme Court has [2]vacated the contributory copyright infringement verdict against ISP Grande Communications , ordering the Fifth Circuit to [3]reconsider its decision in light of the new precedent. [...] [4]The order (PDF) effectively removes the case from the Supreme Court docket, urging the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to take another look at its decision in light of the new ruling.
>
> Given the similarities between the two cases, it is no surprise that the Supreme Court came to this conclusion. It is now up to the Fifth Circuit to revisit whether Grande's conduct meets the intent threshold that was established in Cox. That is a significantly higher bar than the one applied in the original verdict, which found that continuing to provide service to known infringers was enough to establish material contribution.
>
> The music companies previously said they sent over a million copyright infringement notices, but that Grande failed to terminate even a single subscriber account in response. However, without proof of active inducement, these absolute numbers carry less weight now. Whether this translates into a win for Grande on remand remains to be seen. For now, however, the original $47 million verdict is further away than ever.
[1] https://yro.slashdot.org/story/26/03/25/1717205/supreme-court-sides-with-internet-provider-in-copyright-fight-over-pirated-music
[2] https://torrentfreak.com/supreme-court-wipes-piracy-liability-verdict-against-grande-communications/
[3] https://yro.slashdot.org/story/24/10/11/2054240/appeal-court-affirms-verdict-against-isp-grande-for-failing-to-terminate-pirates
[4] https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/040626zor_5iek.pdf
Electric Company (Score:2)
Why not notify their electric company to cut their power to halt infringement?
Or their water company so the house is uninhabitable?
The Courts need to recognize that Internet has become a necessary utility and that the music companies need to deal with the individual directly through the Courts, not in a lazy clandestine way.
Grande seems based.
Re: (Score:2)
> The Courts need to recognize that Internet has become a necessary utility and that the music companies need to deal with the individual directly through the Courts, not in a lazy clandestine way.
The record labels [1]were originally suing individual users back in the Napster days [history.com] and it was causing a bit bad PR for them.
I also can't help but think that going after ISPs is something of a cash grab, since I really don't know anyone who even bothers trying to pirate music anymore. It's no longer worth the effort with how cheap music streaming services are.
[1] https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/september-8/riaa-begins-suing-individual-sharers-of-copyrighted-mp3-files
Re: (Score:2)
i'm sorry but the record labels are the ones that gave their entire catalogues away to streaming cos for absolute dirt; they do not represent the interests of those who wrote or recorded the music and who now have no legal standing over their own work, who were not consulted when their works were sold, due to contracts which no civilized society would deem either legal or acceptable. They should be dissolved and the rights returned to those who actually did the work, and not left in the hands of the shithe
It's too expensive to do that (Score:2)
Litigating each individual infringer is impossibly expensive for them. That's why they tried to go through the utility company.
For now what they will probably do is pick off a few people here and there to use as examples and use the full weight of the legal system to ruin their lives. Of course if you know anything about criminal justice harsh punishments are not effective deterrence.
So far the only reliable way to stop piracy has been to make a product that is better and have consumers that can act
Re: (Score:2)
> The Courts need to recognize that Internet has become a necessary utility
I agree with the decision handed down. I do not agree with legislating from the bench. The courts need to apply the laws as written, not make up new laws. We have a branch of government for making new laws.
A million notices? (Score:2)
Something tells me that if these companies had to cancel 1M+ subscribers they'd go out of business. That doesn't really solve anybody's problem, so what would be the point?
Re: (Score:2)
> Something tells me that if these companies had to cancel 1M+ subscribers they'd go out of business. That doesn't really solve anybody's problem, so what would be the point?
It seems highly likely that a smaller number of subscribers would have been the source of multiple notices (and it would have been up to Grande Communications to determine which subscriber was associated with the notices IP addresses and timestamps).
cuz things were starting to look a bit dystopian (Score:2)
it's nice that things are getting obvious enough that even the supreme court - nay, even THIS supreme court - can see it
Anything that makes Music Companies Mad (Score:1)
Anything that makes Music Companies Mad is 100% fine with me.
Screw labels.