Teksavvy ordered to name names

The production company for such films as The Hurt Locker and Dallas Buyer’s Club won a pyrrhic victory in Canadian courts. They have won the right to have the ISP, Teksavvy, provide the names of 2,000 of their customers that Voltage claimed had illegally download copies of their films.

From CBC:

As a result, those TekSavvy customers could eventually receive a letter from Voltage threatening legal action. Under the federal Copyright Act, statutory damages for non-commercial infringement range between $100 and $5,000.

 

But while the court sided with Voltage’s efforts to go after copyright violators, it sought to protect against the company acting, “inappropriately in the enforcement of its rights to the detriment of innocent internet users.”

I don’t argue that the act of downloading films from torrents and the like is illegal. I do take issue with companies going after the end users. What I mean here as that they will be chasing after downloaders based on their IP address. Time and again this is touted as a “unique identifier”. This is categorically not a unique identifier.

Can we dispense with the bull? 

Going after the little guys troubles me. What bothers me even more is that I understand both sides of the argument. However, in the United States this type of legal activity has transformed into a business model. Shaking down the end users for their lunch money. It appears that we’re possibly heading down that road in Canada now as well.

Am I defending the downloaders of illegal content? No.

I’m more concerned about the people that might have an open wireless access points or similar situations. I sincerely hope that those people get a lawyer and fight back. 

Rather than blame the users why not do something about it? Why not fix the problem? When I worked for a record company I recall sitting in my interview and I was asked the rather benign question, “Where do you see the music industry going in the next five years?” and without blinking I said, “Online.” He sat back in his chair and laughed. “It’ll never happen.”

Only wish I knew how right I was back then.

This served to illustrate, if only from an anecdotal perspective, the reactionary mindset that I found to be all too common in that company. Film and music firms need to puzzle out a better way to tackle intellectual property. Digital rights management (DRM) hasn’t worked particularly well. There needs to be a better approach from a strategic perspective. 

Failing that, I am happy that the courts put strict controls on Voltage. They won’t be able to go after the end users in a unfettered manner at least. Kudos to Teksavvy for putting up a fight.

But while the court sided with Voltage’s efforts to go after copyright violators, it sought to protect against the company acting, “inappropriately in the enforcement of its rights to the detriment of innocent internet users.”

 

“On the facts of this case, there is some evidence that Voltage has been engaged in litigation which may have an improper purpose. However, the evidence is not sufficiently compelling for this court at this juncture in the proceeding to make any definitive determination of the motive of Voltage,” wrote judge Kevin Aalto.

Standing at the top of a slippery slope.

(Image used under CC from Boston Public Library)