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North American Network Operators Group Date Prev | Date Next | Date Index | Thread Index | Author Index | Historical Re: Warning to ISPs: 9netave
[email protected] (Peter Galbavy) writes: >Why beware ? While this is probably off-topic, I would like to point >out some of the more heartless realities of living in a litigious >society, in particular like that of the US. If the service provider >removed the site based on some complaints then they would be opening >themselves up for claims of restricting trade, suppression of the >rights of the customers etc. I am not in the US, nor a lawyer - but >you get the idea. Lots of pointless (or is that punative ?) damages >feasible. [Operational content only as far as any network engineer should know the procedure for escalating the matter to the correct contact within their organization.] Somewhat true. ISPs in the US should obviously consult their lawyer, and should be aware of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. There are several steps an ISP must follow to preserve their immunity under the law. The DMCA sets out how complaints must be filed with the ISP, and the response the ISP must take including how they remove web sites. ISPs which do not follow the law may be held liable. Personally I think the DMCA has some constitutional flaws, but it is the law as it currently stands. Although it may seem strange to use a copyright law to deal with an apparently fraudulent web site, these scams usually involve some use of copyrighted material without authorization. It likely also violates several other laws. One advantage of using the DMCA is it doesn't require a court order to get the web site removed. But that is up to Value.Net's lawyers to determine how best to proceed. You can find out more by asking your lawyer and the web site http://www.loc.gov/copyright/onlinesp/ As far as I can tell 9 Net Ave has not registered with the US Copyright Office as an online service provider. Of course there is no requirement for ISPs to be licensed or registered in the US. But an ISP may not be able to avail itself of all the legal protections of online service providers if it doesn't register. DMCA registered agents are NOT the place to send spam complaints, security or other AUP violations which don't involve the use of copyrighted materials. Consult your lawyer about how to the law applies to your problem. -- Sean Donelan, Data Research Associates, Inc, St. Louis, MO Affiliation given for identification not representation
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