Jason Levine
Premium
join:2001-07-13
Albany, NY
| reply to TK Junk Mail
Re: And all this time.....
We are concerned about the artists. However, that doesn't mean we can't disagree with a ridiculous opinion that an artist has or an outrageous proposal that an artist makes.
Common Carrier law states that the ISPs aren't responsible for illegal actions taken on their lines provided that they take reasonable steps to stop those actions once alerted to it. So if a file is being shared illegally, the recording industry notifies the ISP (via a DMCA letter - the one good part of the DMCA) and the ISP then takes down the material. ISP is in the clear. (Of course, the poster can protest the letter, etc, but the important part is that the ISP doesn't have any liability.)
If we drop common carrier status, then not only will the ISPs have to pay the music industry money for piracy that goes over their lines, but they'll need to pay the movie industry. And TV industry. And book industry (might be scanned books). And software industry. As the fines pile up, ISPs will eventually be forced to shut down.
And it's not just ISPs. Website operators will be forced to shut down. Let's say someone makes a post here and includes an MP3 of a copyrighted song. Justin would get a DMCA letter telling him to take it down. He would (I'm guessing) and all would be fine.
Without common carrier, though, Justin would be liable for anything anyone posted. If I posted an MP3 illegally here, he could be facing multi-million dollar fines. The prospect of some random user causing you huge financial difficulty or even bankruptcy would result in many websites closing down.
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-Jason Levine
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