Service providers and responsibility

Although laws in various countries tend to try to shield service providers from such suits, technological developments, in terms of how possible it is to block or filter content, have ultimately put service providers in the firing line.

In the news this week, major media conglomerate Viacom has made good on its earlier promise and has hit Internet search giant Google with a $1bn lawsuit, charging that its popular video-sharing site YouTube is a massive centre of copyright infringement, routinely displaying clips from Viacom shows. The conflict has huge implications for the future of both media and technology companies, as a legal ruling could help set standards for how video and other kinds of media are distributed on the Internet. Viacom claims that Google is willfully violating its copyrights by allowing users to upload clips from Viacom\'s TV shows. Google counters that it\'s obeying the law by immediately responding to requests from Viacom and other copyright holders to take down any material found to be infringing, notes The Washington Post. Google\'s CE Eric Schmidt said he believed his company was acting within the law and promised to defend itself vigorously. He also said that Viacom was \'built on lawsuits\'. While Viacom\'s chairman and controlling shareholder, Sumner Redstone, didn\'t dispute the company\'s litigious past, he said that the company only resorted to lawsuits if absolutely necessary. Full report in The Washington Post

The UK’s Internet Service Providers’ Association has condemned the controversial ruling by a Belgian court calling on Internet service provider Scarlet to block or filter copyright-infringing material sent via its network (reported in last week’s eLaw & Management). ISPA said that ISPs should not be held responsible for any illegal file-sharing activity on their networks. The judgment drew praise from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI). CE John Kennedy said the judgment proved \'the Internet\'s gatekeepers, the ISPs, have a responsibility to help copyright-infringing traffic on their networks\'. UK telecoms lawyer Danny Preiskel says that the court\'s decision, which sets a precedent in European law, but does seem likely to be challenged, will not be repeated in the UK anytime soon, according to Silicon.com. However, Preiskel added, that ISPs in the UK are opening themselves up to some degree of liability by moving away from being providers of \'pure conduits\', as they might be responsible for anything defamatory contained within the value-added content many are trying to sell to their customers. Full Silicon.com report

In the latest news, the Belgian music copyright group SABAM has written to Belgian\'s dominant telecoms group Belgacom, urging it to commit to blocking or filtering illegal music file sharing, according to a report on the Yahoo News site. SABAM\'s letter, sent on Thursday last week, gives Belgacom eight days to respond. A Belgacom spokesperson said that it was responsible for transmitting information, not for its content. Full Yahoo News report