25 March 2019

2 Face Palms Here

The RIAA is claiming that an ISP is inducing music piracy in court.

It appears that the amazingly high speeds offered by the provider are inducing piracy.  (facepalm 1)

Face Palm 2
The provider that they are accusing of  "dangerously fast" internet?  Charter Communications.

Charter communications is so bad that they WISH that they had Comcast, a company so reviled that it had to take the alias Xfinity.
The music industry is suing Charter Communications, claiming that the cable Internet provider profits from music piracy by failing to terminate the accounts of subscribers who illegally download copyrighted songs. The lawsuit also complains that Charter helps its subscribers pirate music by selling packages with higher Internet speeds.

While the act of providing higher Internet speeds clearly isn't a violation of any law, ISPs can be held liable for their users' copyright infringement if the ISPs repeatedly fail to disconnect repeat infringers.

………

The music labels' complaint also seems to describe the basic acts of providing Internet service and advertising high speeds as nefarious:

Many of Charter's customers are motivated to subscribe to Charter's service because it allows them to download music and other copyrighted content—including unauthorized content—as efficiently as possible. Accordingly, in its consumer marketing material, including material directed to Colorado customers, Charter has touted how its service enables subscribers to download and upload large amounts of content at "blazing-fast Internet speeds." Charter has told existing and prospective customers that its high-speed service enables subscribers to "download just about anything instantly," and subscribers have the ability to "download 8 songs in 3 seconds." Charter has further told subscribers that its Internet service "has the speed you need for everything you do online." In exchange for this service, Charter has charged its customers monthly fees ranging in price based on the speed of service.

That paragraph from the music labels' complaint merely describes the standard business model of Internet providers. There is nothing illegal about offering higher Internet speeds in exchange for higher prices.
But the labels also allege that Charter's lax approach to copyright enforcement helped it earn more revenue, in part because piracy supposedly inspired consumers to subscribe to faster Internet tiers.
So basically, they are suing Charter for being an ISP, and they are suing Charter for being too fast.

If I didn't know the RIAA, I would be convinced that they were punking the judge.

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