In a story that feels directly out of the year 2006, a lawsuit brought by major record labels that sought to make internet service providers boot their customers off the internet for piracy violations has been settled before going to court, according to Ars Technica. The case, brought by Sony Music, Warner Music Group, and Universal Music Group against Frontier Communications, will not move forward, but it’s not clear what the terms of the agreement are.
The lawsuit started back in 2021 and saw the labels complain that Frontier was basically choosing not to acknowledge copyright infringement complaints, opting to provide “known repeat infringers with continued access to and use of its network” rather than terminating their accounts, which would have been the preference of the copyright holders. The case followed a successful lawsuit against Cox Communications, also brought by the record labels, which landed the companies a cool $1 billion in damages and, according to some advocates, set a dangerous precident that would ecourage ISPs to be overzealous in taking action in response to copyright infringement claims, potentially cutting off internet access for innocent users.
It’s not clear if the settlement between Frontier and the record labels will see the ISP surrendering any ground when it comes to acting against users who are accused of violating copyright via piracy. The carrier also recently settled a similar case brought against it by several movie companies before that case could go to trial. Frontier, notably, is in the process of being acquired by Verizon and is likely motivated to settle all business to allow that purchase to move forward.
As for the general “encouragement” that ISPs are now under to engage in strict piracy crackdowns, that may ultimately come down to a Supreme Court ruling. Cox and the record labels have gone back and forth over the original $1 billion ruling, with Cox winning an appeal last year on the grounds that it did not directly benefit financially from allowing copyright infringement to occur on its network. However, the court did find that the company was willfully contributing to infringement by not acting, which kept in place the incentive for ISPs to terminate customers accused of piracy to avoid liability.
Cox has petitioned the Supreme Court to take up the matter, holding that copyright holders have gone too far in their demands. The internet provider has argued that it shouldn’t have to preemptively cut off users who have simply been accused of pirating content, and has held that allegations are often unreliable and cutting off accounts would mean booting everyone in a household from the internet, not just the violating party. The Trump administration has thrown its weight behind the position of Cox, encouraging the court to find in the ISP’s favor. At the same time, lawmakers are raising the possibility of drafting legislation that would require ISPs to block access to sites that offer pirated content.
English (US) ·