Four major Internet service providers are asking the US Supreme Court to relieve them of the obligation to enforce stringent anti-piracy measures that they argue could cause significant harm to legitimate users. This week, Altice USA, Frontier Communications, Lumen Technologies, and Verizon submitted an amicus brief backing Cox Communications in its attempt to reverse a copyright infringement verdict favoring Sony and other music copyright holders.
ISPs contend that forcing them to conduct mass disconnections based on piracy accusations would unjustly affect innocent individuals, including households, schools, hospitals, and businesses. They argue that the 4th Circuit’s ruling, which partially upheld a $1 billion judgment against Cox for contributory infringement, holds ISPs accountable whenever they fail to prevent illicit use of their services, exposing them to debilitating financial penalties.
The ISPs point out that automated systems used by copyright enforcers to detect piracy on peer-to-peer networks are often unreliable. They assert that the harsh measures proposed would hinder their efforts to extend Internet connectivity across the US, aligning instead with plaintiffs seeking exorbitant damages, such as the $2.6 billion claimed in recent litigation against Verizon. The full implications of this case and the ISPs’ position can be explored further in the original article.