Latest Draft
Via Ed Felten, the latest IICA staff discussion draft: 10/1 Draft.
Among the highlights in this latest draft:
- The bill directly addresses P2P, requires "conscious, affirmative acts to encourage infringement" and only imposes liability if "the majority of the revenues of the product or service result from covered infringement" and infringing copyrights is "the principal reason" for using the product or service
- The act covers "widespread infringement of ยง106(3) by means of digital transmissions."
- Prior to discovery, a court "shall determine, on an expedited basis whether the plaintiff has presented a prima facie case that the product or service is a peer-to-peer product or service and that the product or service results in covered infringement.
2 Comments:
I'll have to agree with the previous post, in that this setup will no doubt result in undercoverage...not that I'm complaining...seems, imho, as if barring an allegation that a p2p network exists for the sole purpose of affirmatively encouraging the infringement of copyright, dismissal will always be proper...
What p2p would be silly enough not to leave themselves at least a barely articulate alternate reason for their existence?
Seems like a reasonable bill. It clearly targets the software developers behind new p2p file sharing applications.
Also there appear to be enough affirmative defenses built-in to prevent overly ambitious application.
One interesting item is how it will apply to existing p2p applications and their developers. Would the principal of "no crime without prior law" apply? If so... what about releasing an upgraded version of an existing p2p application?
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