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Full-Text Articles in Law
Where The Netcom Yardstick Comes Up Short: Courts Should Not Apply The Facts Of Netcom As An Example Of Intermediate And Transient Storage Under § 512(A) Of The Dmca, Sean Croman
Washington Law Review
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) risk substantial liability for passively contributing to subscriber-initiated acts of online copyright infringement. Cognizant of this problem, courts and Congress have taken differing approaches to limiting ISP liability. The Netcom court established that ISPs could store infringing material for eleven days without incurring liability for direct infringement, but did not similarly rule out liability for other forms of infringement. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) subsequently advanced the law of copyright by strengthening the protections enjoyed by copyright holders whose works face exploitation online, subject to four activity-specific "safe harbor" limitations on liability. For example, § …
Rebooting Cybertort Law, Michael L. Rustad, Thomas H. Koenig
Rebooting Cybertort Law, Michael L. Rustad, Thomas H. Koenig
Washington Law Review
Cyberspace provides an ideal legal environment for tortfeasors and online criminals because Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have no duty to mitigate harms caused by ongoing torts, crimes, and infringing acts. Courts have stretched Congress's express language in § 230 of the Communications Decency Act from the narrow purpose of immunizing ISPs as publishers to the expanded purpose of shielding them from all tort liability. This Article proposes imposing a limited duty of care on ISPs to remove or block ongoing tortious activities on their services when they have been given actual notice. This reform will harmonize American ISP liability law …