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Bill to take ISPs off copyright hook
By Courtney Macavinta
July 18, 1997, 12:40 a.m. PT
Internet access providers would not be
responsible for software pirates or copyright
thieves who break the law using their
services if a bill introduced yesterday in the
House of Representatives becomes law.
Rep. Howard Coble (R-North Carolina) and
Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Illinois) are pushing the
Online Copyright Limitation Liability Act,
which exempts online services and ISPs from
liability for copyright violations on their
networks if the companies don't know about
the illegal activity and never benefit financially
from the acts.
Services can also skirt responsibility for
linking to pirated material unless it's proven in
court that the links were actual endorsements
of the illegal material. The bill also says
companies shouldn't have to police their
customers' activity. "A red flag should not be
ignored, but a provider should not ordinarily
be required to go out and search for red
flags," Coble's analysis of the bill states.
For businesses such as America Online, the
bill's passage would be good news because
they wouldn't be accountable for customers'
deeds, something they face now. "Under
current law, a person is liable for direct
infringement..with or without knowledge of
infringement," the analysis states.
During the World Intellectual Property
Organization's December conference in
Geneva, Switzerland, ISPs, the American
Library Association, and telephone
companies also fought a international treaty
provision that would have forced them to
police patrons or customer activities for
copyright violations because it held them
responsible for all infringements over their
services. The treaty was changed by the 157
global delegates at the last minute, a victory
for Net access providers.
But the proposed bill is not gaining kudos in
all corners of the online industry. Software
publishers fear its passage will lead to more
illegal copying and distribution of their
products, which means lost profits. In
addition, companies may not want to sell
products online if their copyright protections
are weakened.
"This is bad for e-commerce because
companies will be reluctant to put their best
software on the Net," said Mark Traphagen,
vice president of government affairs for the
Software Publishers Association, one of the
largest software industry trade associations
with more than 1,200 members.
"Current law in some circumstances holds
online providers liable and provides an
incentive for online providers to use
responsible business practices," added
Traphagen. "This change will let them to turn
their head away when they know piracy is
going on. Now, we just have to prove that
illegal copying took place. This legislation
means we have to prove that services
profited from it or had knowledge...This is
impossible on the Net."
The bill's authors designated Rep. Bob
Goodlatte (R-Virginia) to conduct meetings
with service providers and intellectual
property rights owners to negotiate further
terms of the bill. Goodlatte conducted similar
meetings last summer.