Another U.S. judge has ruled that an IP address does not identify copyright infringers, as the person paying for Internet access might not be the individual downloading illegally obtained content. The decision is one of many over the last year that are thwarting the plans of copyright holders who are looking for piracy-related financial gain in the American court system.
This particular case is unique because the judge actually goes into detail as to why content owners can't go after individuals using an IP address. The ruling was filed by Judge Gary Brown in the United States District Court of the Eastern District of New York in response to numerous lawsuits filed against John Does by adult film studios.
"The assumption that the person who pays for Internet access at a given location is the same individual who allegedly downloaded a single sexually explicit film is tenuous, and one that has grown more so over time," he writes. "An IP address provides only the location at which one of any number of computer devices may be deployed, much like a telephone number can be used for any number of telephones."
"Thus, it is no more likely that the subscriber to an IP address carried out a particular computer function – here the purported illegal downloading of a single pornographic film – than to say an individual who pays the telephone bill made a specific telephone call," he adds.
The ruling makes sense. For those who still use land-based phones, a single number can ring any number of phones plugged into wall-mounted jacks. The principle is somewhat the same when it comes with networking: you get one "phone number" that can be accessed by multiple "phones." The difference is that when wireless comes into play, additional devices outside the home can access that "number" if the network isn't secured.
"While a decade ago, home wireless networks were nearly non-existent, 61-percent of US homes now have wireless access. As a result, a single IP address usually supports multiple computer devices – which unlike traditional telephones can be operated simultaneously by different individuals," Judge Brown writes.
"Different family members, or even visitors, could have performed the alleged downloads," he adds. "Unless the wireless router has been appropriately secured (and in some cases, even if it has been secured), neighbors or passersby could access the Internet using the IP address assigned to a particular subscriber and download the plaintiff’s film."
To read the full document, TorrentFreak has it embedded here.
