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ISPs To Be Liable For Piracy Under New Trade Agreement
By John Vinson
Expert Author
Article Date: 2009-11-06
'A can of worms' is the only saying I can think of when pondering about the latest proposal for the fight against internet piracy. A new international anticounterfeiting trade agreement (ACTA), would allow for ISPs to be liable for piracy conducted by their users.
The ACTA was presented at a meeting in South Korea, where the U.S., European Union, Canada, Japan, and Australia were present. The agreement has been in the works for nearly two years, the latest chapter concerning the internet has been drafted by the U.S.
As it stands now, in most countries around the world, ISPs are protected by immunity for illegal piracy conducted through their subscribers. If the ACTA is signed by a particular country, it would then mean ISPs could be privy to a lawsuit from content owners. For example, the RIAA would be able to sue Comcast instead of going after their individual subscribers.
Michael Geist, a professor of law at Ottawa University, has a couple of concerns about the ACTA, "It is unprecedented for an IP treaty that impacts literally millions of people to be negotiated in such secrecy" he continues, "runs counter to the Obama Administration's commitment to transparency."
It's obvious that this provision will have a ripple effect in the internet community. Copyright protectors and defenders of the open internet have been debating for years the balance between civil rights and security. Opening up ISPs to lawsuits will spread the chism even farther apart. Once the treaty is signed, ISPs will have little choice in cracking down on their subscribers.
A solution to the problem has been presented by the US, which would like to see ISPs enact policies discouraging subscribers from piracy. France has such law which is called 'graduated response'. It's a three strikes and you're out, where users receive two warnings and finally are banned from the internet for two years if caught illegally sharing content.
While many of the larger countries were represented in the ACTA meeting, two of the countries with the biggest piracy problems (Russia, China) were absent. According to Geist, once ACTA becomes a substantial international treaty they will sign as well, "At the moment it's just a coalition of the willing -- other countries will be pressured to sign up later once the agreement has gained the respectability of an international treaty."
About the Author:
John is a staff writer for WebProNews.
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