ISP Grande loses appeal as 5th Circuit sides with Universal, Warner, and Sony.
arstechnica.com
who am i supposed to cheer for this time?
Brief notes-
First, it's the Fifth Circuit, where law usually goes to die. That said, this was actually a somewhat reasonable panel.
Second, this is an appellate decision after a jury verdict. So it's all about standards of review. The reviewing court has to defer to the jury's findings, which strongly influences the decision.
Third, it's a pretty technical decision based on the statute; basically, the ISP decided to ignore the requirement that they had to act on notices by copyright holders. They continued this despite knowing that other ISPs had been found liable for violating the requirements.
Fourth, the evidence showed the the ISP knew of the problem, had internal discussions about a letter sent to them asking if they wanted to meet and try and resolve it, and decided to both not change the policy and not take the meeting.
So as a matter of law, the ISP was screwed. As for "justice" or who was "right" or who you should cheer for?
Forget it, Jake, it's IPTown.
