You Aren’t Your IP-Address
A simple point that may have been obvious to everyone apart from lawyers has taken years and millions of dollars to sort out … that a person and an IP Address are not one and the same. Why has something so basic at its very core taken so long to be decided by the courts, as Judge Baker seemed to do with consummate ease in VPR Internationale v. Does 1-1017 (2:11-cv-02068-HAB –DGB) in Illinois.
The problem arises from the complete inability of copyright holders to penetrate the wall thrown up by IP Address technology. As such VPR sought to have to have an irrebuttable presumption established that if infringing content is downloaded via an IP-Address then the owner of that address is liable or guilty for infringement. Nonsensical at it’s core you might rightly think for it is analogous to many other areas of law where such a concept would not hold true. Just as drugs found within a home that a squatter occupies do not necessarily belong to the person on the lease, the IP address owner should be treated accordingly, especially where the ability to share an unsecured address is so simple to the modern user.
Over the last few years we have seen an upsurge in cyber bullying by copyright holders seeking to shakedown companies with the threat of §512(h) federal subpoenas in order to force then to disclose IP addresses. A prime proponent of this has been Zuffa LLC against Justin.tv and Ustream.tv with regards to rebroadcasting UFC events.
There have been thousands of suits launched against individuals over the past couple of years and many have denounced the effort as simply a ploy to extort low settlement amounts from the IP Address holders. Such a concern has its merits as the individual is less likely to have the ability to expend monies against the larger corporate machine engaging in aggregate suits. Should other courts follow Judge