Law360 discussed the new anti-piracy system and potential for litigation with Partner Peter S. Vogel, chair of the Firm's Internet, eCommerce and Technology Industry Team.According to Mr. Vogel, once users start to be subjected to punitive action under the system, lawsuits will likely follow.
"This is not law," Mr. Vogel said. "These are policies, and how they are enforced may make for some interesting legal challenges."
Users who believe they have been sent warnings in error may argue that the system does not have adequate safeguards to prevent that from happening, or could attack the underlying premise of the system.
"They may challenge whether ISPs have the right under copyright law to prohibit the use of their service because of infringement," he said. "Do the two go together? Maybe not."
Still, Mr. Vogel said he believed warning users about infringement and giving them a chance to change their behavior was a good alternative to the entertainment industry's previous strategy of suing thousands of individuals for downloading copyrighted material, which does not appear to have reduced piracy.
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