ISP Cox Communications ordered to pay $25m in piracy dispute
A US court has ordered internet service provider (ISP) Cox Communications to pay out $25 million in damages after it failed to introduce an anti-piracy mechanism in its service.
Yesterday, December 17, a jury at the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia ruled that Cox was liable for direct and contributory copyright infringement in its dispute with music licensing body BMG Rights Management.
The jury also ruled that Cox had wilfully infringed BMG’s copyright.
Last month, the situation was already looking bleak for the ISP after the court disqualified it from safe harbour status under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
Safe harbour status protects ISPs from claims of infringement if they are able to demonstrate that they are tackling the unauthorised distribution of copyright protected material.
In this case, BMG complained that Cox’s failure to terminate customer accounts known to be distributing pirated material through peer-to-peer networking meant that it did not qualify.
Judge Liam O’Grady, presiding over the case, agreed that Cox failed to implement an anti-piracy mechanism.
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