Quote:
Originally Posted by Fergie Boy
The only way to know if the material being downloaded is copywrited is for the isp to look at what you are downloading and that is where the infringment of your rights happens.
Someone may have made some nice HD gay male bondage porn and be sharing with like minded friends, completely legal 800MB video file being transferred over P2P but maybe not something you want your isp and their snoopers to know about, and the only way they will know if it is copywrited is by looking at it .
It should be as illegal as tapping your phone or opening your mail.
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Actually, the burden of proof lies with the copyright owners, but proof is absolutely essential. ISP's don't need to collect data, that is what FAST, FACT the BPI and other rights owners already provide to ISP's.
Cases where rights owners have taken individuals to court over copyright distribution hinge on evidence, although the burden of proof is a lot less stringent in civil cases. One parent who challenged a £2,500 fine because of his daughters file sharing habbit actually had the fine increased significantly.
It is extremely easy to collect evidence if the file sharer is not carefull, which most casual sharers are, and sadly all too often they are up against very qualified legal firms who simply have more legal clout and money to take illegal file sharers to court. In civil cases you cannot get legal aid if memory serves me correctly, making the adjudication almost a win win for the rights owners.
Just to give ceedee his response......Internet access is not a right in my opinion, its a priviledge, you pay for it you get it (albeit slow in many cases, even on the virgin network), you don't, or your break the ISP rules, you can get your access terminated, simple as that. The EU parliament may have voted to that end, I am not sure it will be ratified in the statute books, unless of course that has happened already.
I am all for customer rights, even civil rights, but its a two way street. My CD collection is full of aspiring artists trying to make their way in this digital freeloading society. I cough up a few quid for a CD/DVD that helps them, it shows my appreciation for their talent, and goes some small way to pay for their efforts in a hope that more people will benefit. What about their liberties?
No, I am sorry, but the provision of a service, payed in full each month is not a guarantee of entitlement. All too often people look for ways to get out of cotracts with their suppliers if they think they are hard done by, and in many cases fair enough. I bet they would complain like hell though if their service provider sought a similar termination of contract with their customer.
Unless ISP's are required by law to make a fundemental change in their terms and conditions that prevents them from disconnecting a customer for breach of its terms and conditions, this will likely not be challenged. At the moment ISP's cannot be prosecuted for allowing the redistribution of rights protected material through their network, it is commonly known as the "Mere conduit" clause. If the EU brings an end to that, ISP's will be disconnecting copyright offenders left, right and centre, with no room for appeal for fear of prosecution. If that happens folks are going to have to be extremely careful.
Frank linked the original post to his article on the news page. I don't seem to recall any VM subscriber posting here that VM had contacted them over copyright abuse. I do remember a Be Unlimited user posting a copy of a letter he received for copyright abuse.....I think that is warning enough that ISP's are getting twitchy.