The music industry has been battling issues like piracy and copyright infringement for a long time.
After deciding to no longer target companies that create software and websites for sharing files online, the music industry is now focusing on establishing copyright liability, which would turn ISPs (internet service providers) into “police.”.
Currently, if you download a copyrighted file from an illegal source, you risk getting a copyright infringement notice from your ISP. This method traces the downloaded file to your IP address to prove your guilt.
But in reality this is not very effective, because if someone else decides to download such a file using WiFi or hotspot, you will be seen as the culprit – which is not fair.
So, while the entertainment industry was unable to do anything about piracy, it decided to take ongoing legal action against smaller ISPs, such as Grande Communications – which was sued by 18 different music and film companies for failing to stop pirates from downloading copyrighted works.
In the latest filing in the Grande case, the ISP called this lawsuit an “absurd” scheme that forces ISPs to become “de facto copyright enforcement agents.”
The success of this lawsuit is feared because it would lead to constant monitoring of users' online activity by ISPs – something no one wants.
The most stringent aspect of this lawsuit is the requirement to evict users and leave them offline for alleged copyright infringement.
Being cut off from internet services also means people will lose access to their online work, schoolwork, and a lot of other vital information. And all of this could happen if your roommates, guests, children, or a stranger decided to use your wifi for illegal downloading.
So this lawsuit puts ISPs in a dire position where they have to block users based on unverified claims of infringement or resort to legal action for infringing copyrighted works that subscribers download.
