The Department for Trade and Industry has issued a Consultation on the E-Commerce Directive which currently limits internet service providers’ (ISPs’) responsibility when it comes to traffic on their networks. Julian Heathcote-Hobbins, Senior Legal Counsel at The Federation Against Software Theft, writes.
ISPs are not liable unless they are told about infringing material passing through their systems – a principle which has allowed the internet industry to flourish. The consultation, however, seeks views as to whether this limitation, known as ‘mere conduit’, should be extended to providers of hyperlinks, location tools and content aggregation services.
The trouble is that extending the safe harbour will create a legal loop hole and make providers of hyperlinks, location tools and content aggregation services completely devoid of liability when it comes to any unscrupulous activity. For every user found to be using or distributing pirated software, the support and IP information provided by their ISPs goes a long way to compiling the evidence packs compiled by The Federation Against Software Theft to ultimately land them in court. If the mere conduit limitation was extended to providers of hyperlinks, location tools and content aggregation services this could lead to thieves taking advantage of a legal loop hole to mushroom infringing content on the internet, leaving software developers open to climbing a piracy proliferation mountain. A reduction in illegal software from 27 per cent to 17 per cent would create 40,000 additional jobs and contribute £2bn to UK tax revenue. But this is going to be increasingly difficult to achieve if we don’t all start pulling together.
