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The IFPI is on the verge of suing Yahoo China over pirated music, based on a law that took effect on July 1 that makes a website with links to a pirate host liable for infringement if the website "knows or should know that the work, performance or sound or video recording linked to was infringing."
For background, see the speech delivered by the IFPI CEO in Shanghai last May which pretty much telegraphed the coming punch. He noted that in 2005 the IFPI sent 1000 infringement notices to various ISPs, and added, re Yahoo China in particular:
The telecommunications industry, in China and elsewhere, is already doing very well out of revenues from digital music. We look to ISPs to set the example and take on responsibility for fighting internet piracy. It is in their long term commercial interests to do so.
It is clear that the ISPs are far from adequately supporting us today. I have been very disappointed in recent months to see some well-known brand names among the internet companies blatantly infringing our members' rights. Baidu has already been found guilty of copyright infringement in the Chinese courts; China-Yahoo is now in a similar position, choosing to turn a blind eye to the infringements taking place on its service instead of setting the example of responsible practice which we would expect from them. We are watching China-Yahoo closely and will have no hesitating in acting to protect our members' rights if we should have to. The idea of holding an ISP or a portal liable for anything plays badly in the U.S., but it is not entirely clear why. Some respectable U.S. academics think that ISPs should bear more responsibility for policing the Net, and it could turn out to be a workable approach, devoid of the horrors predicted. It seems reasonable to watch the Chinese experience with interest.
posted by James DeLong @ 5:13 PM |
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