International Journal of Law and Information Technology Advance Access originally published online on October 14, 2008
International Journal of Law and Information Technology 2009 17(3):282-303; doi:10.1093/ijlit/ean010
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Pirates of the Internet, At Intellectual Property's End With Torrents and Challenges for Choice of Law
* LLM, Helsinki, MSc, Intellectual Property Law, Swedish School of Economics and MPhil, Birkbeck, University of London. This article drew on ideas developed during seminars at the Swedish School of Economics in Helsinki. Thanks to Niklas Bruun, Mikko Valimaki and especially Marcus Norrgärd for constructive feedback on the paper and during different stages of seminars on intellectual property law. The views are those of the author and errors remain mine thereof, p.sean.morris{at}gmail.com
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Abstract |
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This article will address three fundamental issues (i) the impact and legal status of BitTorrent technology on copyright infringement of music, software and movies over the internet (ii) damages and the enforcement of intellectual property rights via the EC Directive and (iii) argue that damages should continue to be used as a form of deterrence to illegal file sharing and "torrents" download by the end users who are enticed in the first place by the "torrent" up loaders through their websites and internet service providers "ISP’s" who might bear indirect liability for copyright infringement. The central point is that the same manner in which taxes are due to the state and failure to render unto "Caesar" what is due will likely result in a fine or prison sentence the same approach must be taken to internet copyright infringement through file sharing and "torrents" where there is a copyright infringement. A comparison of three recent cases that were decided on the BitTorrent technology platform will be used to bolster the arguments. The article begin with an overview of legal and economic argument in the current debate on internet copyright infringement then assess the enforcement of such infringement through the EC Directive on enforcement of intellectual property and its relations to damages and then concludes with the impact on choice of law for internet copyright infringement that takes place beyond national borders.
Key Words: IP Enforcement • File sharing • torrents • damages • software piracy • digital media • liability • infringement