this post was submitted on 07 Nov 2025
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178
Authors Guild Asks Supreme Court to Hold Internet Providers Accountable for Copyright Theft (authorsguild.org)
submitted 2 days ago by General_Effort@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[–] Manjushri@piefed.social 9 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Uhm… what do you think this is?

This is the Author's Guild asking for internet providers to be able to block people without a court order. They want to be able to contact a provider and say, "This user downloaded a book without paying for it so you have to cut off their internet." The provider should not be allowed to do that unless the courts order them to do so.

The linked article clearly shows this.

As our brief explains, when millions of people can copy and share creative works “quickly, anonymously, and across borders,” going after individual infringers one by one is nearly impossible. The only practical way to stop large-scale piracy is to hold accountable for the internet companies that provide the infrastructure—especially when those companies know exactly what’s happening and choose to profit from it anyway.

They can already go after individual infringers and web sites that aid in piracy. Now they want to be able to order providers to cut off users without the bother of going to court over it.

Uhm… they do. Fuck up badly enough and your license is taken away.

Yeah, by the courts. Fuck up badly enough, and you can be taken to court and a judge will take away your license. It's not taken away by the local government. What the Author's Guild wants is equivalent to requiring communities to take away the rights of some drivers to use the roads without bothering to take drivers to court.

[–] NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip -5 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (2 children)

This is the Author’s Guild asking for internet providers to be able to block people without a court order.

Uhm...

Authors Guild Asks Supreme Court

That’s the question at the heart of Cox Communications v. Sony, a case the Authors Guild—joined by Sisters in Crime, Romance Writers of America, the Songwriters Guild of America, Novelists Inc., the Dramatists Guild of America, and the Society of Composers and Lyricists—weighed in on by filing an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court on October 22, 2025.

This is asking for the court to decide in their favor.

As for

They can already go after individual infringers and web sites that aid in piracy. Now they want to be able to order providers to cut off users without the bother of going to court over it.

ISPs have been doing that for decades. That is where data caps came from with the ISPs tending to throttle the hell out of you if you downloaded too much in a single month or they thought you were running a website without paying for business internet. Back in the day, you just had to call and ask why your internet was so slow (for the fifth time that year...) and they would un-cap, but that eventually turned into an official system where they charge an arm and a leg for going over 1 TB or whatever nonsense.

ISPs are already doing whatever they want without court orders. They just do so in a way that lets them profit off the pirates (if there isn't enough competition to prevent them from doing so).

I'll also just add on: We very much do not want the ruling to be that ISPs have to document everything you do and collect evidence so that the rights holders can sue you. It will end very very badly. Because that won't be the current model where if you get caught you get a letter and stop.

[–] Manjushri@piefed.social 6 points 2 days ago

They want to be able to sue ISPs who fail to take block people they believe are pirates. Cox did not do that. They told Cox that these people are pirates and Cox didn't block them. Do you really want your ISP to be able to cut you off just because some other company claims you are using the service to pirate content? I want them to have to go to court and prove a crime was committed before their ISP is required to block them.

Right now, these very publishers can file copyright claims against people on youtube and other sites for infringement. Those claims are not evaluated by youtube. The content is just removed. No proof. No court order. If SCOTUS sides with the guild here, then those same companies will be able to have your internet cut off just by telling your ISP that your IP address was used to pirate their material.

Frankly, I would like a court to be involved before what is now a vital utility is cut off rather than letting book, movie, and music publishers decide who should be cut off with no review.

[–] Passerby6497@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

This is asking for the court to decide in their favor.

Asking to do what?

Be able to force ISPs to cut someone's service off without a court order, or be held liable for it.

ISPs are already doing whatever they want without court orders.

And the Authors guild is asking to be able to force the ISPs to do that even more under threat of legal action