this one may be of interest for the ones working on the e-commerce or IP modules.
http://www.scl.org/site.aspx?i=ne25828
M. Justice Arnold setting some framework for seeking Norwich Pharmacal orders to obtain the disclosure of identities of infringing users (in P2P networks).
instead of the French HADOPI approach, these UK content owners seem keen to go for a mass settlement campaign among users found sharing their adult movies.
While a balance clearly has to be struck between content owner IP rights and users's protection, could this kind of actions open to a sort of "copyright trolls" where (similarly to what is happening lately with patents) a few big players may use their position and legal means to mass-attack (or even "blackmail") users who may find easier to settle down than defending in a court?
I think that we've already seen the start of copyright trolls, to be honest — MediaCAT / ACS law was a strong step in this direction, although, given MediaCAT's dislike of litigation, this may be a more real threat. We'll just have to wait and see whether, after writing to people, any litigation commences.
ReplyDeleteIn particular, I wonder whether people will be inclined to settle here, as with the MediaCAT litigation, on the basis that they do not want to face the public humiliation of being tried for infringing copyright in pornographic films. The titles in question — at least, in the MediaCAT cases — were rather extreme in nature, and probably something which most people would not wish to be linked. As such, irrespective of whether they have actually infringed, perhaps they would settle just to keep the matter silent. Conveniently, of course, nothing would be litigated either.