Careful guys
A Canadian Internet service provider has been ordered to hand over the names and addresses of about 2,000 customers who are alleged to have downloaded movies online.
A Federal Court decision released Thursday compels Ontario-based TekSavvy to identify the customers allegedly linked to downloads of films by the U.S. production company Voltage Pictures, which is behind the likes of “The Hurt Locker,” “Dallas Buyers Club” and “Don Jon.”
But while the court sided with Voltage’s efforts to go after copyright violators, it sought to protect against the company acting “inappropriately in the enforcement of its rights to the detriment of innocent Internet users.”
“On the facts of this case, there is some evidence that Voltage has been engaged in litigation which may have an improper purpose. However, the evidence is not sufficiently compelling for this court at this juncture in the proceeding to make any definitive determination of the motive of Voltage,” wrote judge Kevin Aalto.
Aalto ordered that before Voltage can send a letter to the alleged downloaders, it must return to court to get the wording of its communications cleared by a case management judge.
“In my view, the order herein balances the rights of Internet users who are alleged to have downloaded the copyrighted works against the rights of Voltage to enforce its rights in those works,” Aalto wrote.
“In order to ensure there is no inappropriate language in any demand letter sent to the alleged infringers, the draft demand letter will be provided to the court for review.
“Any correspondence sent by Voltage to any subscriber shall clearly state in bold type that no court has yet made a determination that such subscriber has infringed or is liable in any way for payment of damages.”
Updates to the federal Copyright Act in 2012 capped damages for non-commercial copyright infringement at $5,000.
http://www.thestar.com/business/201..._name_subscribers_linked_to_file_sharing.html
A Canadian Internet service provider has been ordered to hand over the names and addresses of about 2,000 customers who are alleged to have downloaded movies online.
A Federal Court decision released Thursday compels Ontario-based TekSavvy to identify the customers allegedly linked to downloads of films by the U.S. production company Voltage Pictures, which is behind the likes of “The Hurt Locker,” “Dallas Buyers Club” and “Don Jon.”
But while the court sided with Voltage’s efforts to go after copyright violators, it sought to protect against the company acting “inappropriately in the enforcement of its rights to the detriment of innocent Internet users.”
“On the facts of this case, there is some evidence that Voltage has been engaged in litigation which may have an improper purpose. However, the evidence is not sufficiently compelling for this court at this juncture in the proceeding to make any definitive determination of the motive of Voltage,” wrote judge Kevin Aalto.
Aalto ordered that before Voltage can send a letter to the alleged downloaders, it must return to court to get the wording of its communications cleared by a case management judge.
“In my view, the order herein balances the rights of Internet users who are alleged to have downloaded the copyrighted works against the rights of Voltage to enforce its rights in those works,” Aalto wrote.
“In order to ensure there is no inappropriate language in any demand letter sent to the alleged infringers, the draft demand letter will be provided to the court for review.
“Any correspondence sent by Voltage to any subscriber shall clearly state in bold type that no court has yet made a determination that such subscriber has infringed or is liable in any way for payment of damages.”
Updates to the federal Copyright Act in 2012 capped damages for non-commercial copyright infringement at $5,000.
http://www.thestar.com/business/201..._name_subscribers_linked_to_file_sharing.html
