Four more large Internet service providers told the US Supreme Court this week that ISPs shouldn’t be forced to aggressively police copyright infringement on broadband networks.

While the ISPs worry about financial liability from lawsuits filed by major record labels and other copyright holders, they also argue that mass terminations of Internet users accused of piracy “would harm innocent people by depriving households, schools, hospitals, and businesses of Internet access.” The legal question presented by the case “is exceptionally important to the future of the Internet,” they wrote in a brief filed with the Supreme Court on Monday.

  • inbeesee@lemmy.world
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    2 hours ago

    If someone is using municipal water in their meth lab, the whole city block shouldn’t have their water shut off

    • x00za@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      1 hour ago

      I heard this meth is transported over the interstate, so we should block that as well.

  • Cocodapuf@lemmy.world
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    3 hours ago

    The headline should read:

    Despite best efforts and all odds, ISPs find themselves on the right side of history.

    • john89@lemmy.ca
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      1 hour ago

      Only because it would hurt their bottom line.

      Funny how we can only win when it’s corporations fighting each other.

  • General_Effort@lemmy.world
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    2 hours ago

    I never understand how this community relates to copyright. It’s all the freedom of the high seas until AI gets mentioned. Then the most dogmatic copyright maximalists come out It’s all anti-capitalist until AI is mentioned and then the most conservative, devout Ayn Rand followers show up.

    • john89@lemmy.ca
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      1 hour ago

      Everyone is different.

      I personally think copyright and patent laws need to die. If you can’t protect your own secrets, don’t rely on taxpayer resources to do it for you.

      White-collar workers were cool with machines and poorer nations taking blue-collar jobs. Now that it threatens them and their money, the hypocrisy is on full display.

      • dirthawker0@lemmy.world
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        6 minutes ago

        Americans would not want the price of produce to get higher but a) it relies on employing undocumented labor and b) it’s very hard to find American citizens these days willing to do that kind of hard physical work.

      • General_Effort@lemmy.world
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        37 minutes ago

        White-collar workers were cool with machines and poorer nations taking blue-collar jobs. Now that it threatens them and their money, the hypocrisy is on full display.

        Heh. Yes. It’s even beyond hypocrisy. Many will outright say that automation is supposed to churn over these “dirty, boring” jobs while making their own lives better. Even finding themselves on the receiving end of progress, they don’t call for a better social safety net. No, they just want to get rent for their property. I wonder how much copyright industry has to do with the steady move to the economic right, through its huge influence on culture.

      • General_Effort@lemmy.world
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        1 hour ago

        You have a corporation that doesn’t want to spend money to care for individual copyrights, or even lose customers over it. That describes ISPs. Still, people side with the corporation.

        When you say individual rights, you, of course, mean copyrights; intellectual property rights. Giving property such a high priority is such a clash to the otherwise anti-capitalist attitudes here. It’s not just pro capitalist. It’s pro conservative capitalist.

        • KaiReeve@lemmy.world
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          55 minutes ago

          I don’t think anybody here is siding with ISPs. We’re just happy to hear that they’re having difficulties policing piracy.

          When I say individual rights I mean any and all rights an individual has or should have. In the case of piracy, an individual should have a right to entertainment media at a reasonable cost. The more corporations increase the cost of media access, the more piracy proliferates. In the case of AI, an individual should have the right to earn a living. Corporations are using the works of individuals to ultimately increase their own profits without due compensation to the individual.

          I don’t know how you got to pro conservative capitalism from a single anti-corporatist statement, but it likely took you several leaps of logic that I’m not going to even try to follow.

        • explodicle@sh.itjust.works
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          55 minutes ago

          I would infer from what they wrote that they mean anything not for profit. Seeding isn’t “fair use” in the legal definition.

          • General_Effort@lemmy.world
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            19 minutes ago

            Yes, but it’s still not quite clear. Arguably, when you pirate rather than paying, your profit is the money saved on the purchase. Courts tend to see it that way.

            Besides, Meta releases its models for free and I don’t see them getting less flak. In fact, when they were sued by the NYT corporation looking for a profit, people still sided with the profiteers.

    • Belgdore@lemm.ee
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      2 hours ago

      Personally I think AI training is free use. I also think AI is a fad and generally used as a way to scam people.

      However, artists complain about AI because it pulls from their business (in theory.) Artists generally don’t complain about piracy by the end user because the artist is usually still credited in someway (signature watermark etc.) and piracy doesn’t generally stop other people from paying for their art. AI in theory steals their jobs.

      The main people who complain about traditional piracy are the executives of companies that purchased copyright on artist’s works through contracts that do not favor the artists.

  • werefreeatlast@lemmy.world
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    2 hours ago

    The supremes: oh! Yes! We are on your side ISPs! The MPAA and RIAA will now be allowed to sue individual users directly bypassing courts.

    Have fun! You got them boys! You got that 98 year old grandma! Get her house! And that minority girl trying to download the new Beyonce songs? Deathrow! 1 per song! All the single ladies our ass! You wouldn’t download a car! We’re the Supremes! Watch us! But first Trump is president starting now, and poor kids shall get no food in school! They wouldn’t be poor if they got food! Oh and women…we did the abortion thing already darn!..no vote for women! Marriage age 6 now, overruling all states laws.

  • nutsack@lemmy.world
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    7 hours ago

    imagine getting banned from the one monopoly ISP available to you in your entire city. what do you do after that? sell your house?

    • x00za@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      1 hour ago

      Even though I hate Starlink, it would be an option.

      What I would do however is try and ask my neighbors. If neighbors don’t work, I’d just hack their Wifi.

      Another option would be to contact other ISPs and tell them your neighborhood/village/city is ready for an alternative. It’ll depend on many factors whether or not this would be successful, but I have seen it happen in the past. Just takes a few different households to contact them and they’ll start doing market research.

      Getting somebody with a different last name to try and get a new contract would be possible too. But it could be considered fraud.

    • john89@lemmy.ca
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      60 minutes ago

      I actually just use my phone for internet and haven’t had a landline ISP for 2 years now.

      Visible, $25/month has saved me so much money and they even sent me a free phone.

    • Empricorn
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      4 hours ago

      It’s insane that people (okay, mostly corporations) try to argue internet access is not a utility. What happens then? Does your home value decrease? Or does the next purchaser have to petition the ISP to convince them they are a different, non-infringing customer and hope they reverse the ban??

      • ivanafterall@lemmy.world
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        2 hours ago

        This happened in the apartment I just moved into. I had to call to verify my identity and they had to unblock something on their side due to the previous tenant ostensibly not paying.

      • nutsack@lemmy.world
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        3 hours ago

        I’m guessing it would be tied to your name. the new tenants would have service, but you might have to move to a different state or something.

  • filister@lemmy.world
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    12 hours ago

    Why don’t they start with OpenAI and other LLM vendors, because they are the biggest copyright infringement abusers of all time?

  • NutinButNet@hilariouschaos.com
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    16 hours ago

    There would be no more internet access for anyone anymore if that were allowed.

    Soooo many insecure networks out there ripe for the picking if you know what you’re doing and have the tools available. And the tools are often free, not costing any money. From there, those networks are the places people will go to commit their “piracy”.

    And what exactly is piracy? If I purchase an album on iTunes but choose to download it on ThePirateBay, is that really piracy? Because I have done that when the music THAT I FUCKING PAID FOR is no longer available for me to download off of iTunes and Apple won’t give me a refund for said music purchase. People do it for games that include shitty DRM and don’t allow them to easily install on another device like Linux too.

  • partial_accumen@lemmy.world
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    21 hours ago

    I like the end result that ISPs are pushing back on this, but don’t mistake this for altruism on their part.

    Their businesses make money selling internet service. Were they to support cutting off those accused of piracy, they would be losing paying customers. Further, the business processes and support needed for this to function would be massively expensive and complicated. They’d have to hired teams of people and write whole new software applications for maintaining databases of banned users, customer service staff to address and resolve disputes, and so much more.

    Lastly, as soon as all of that process would be in place to ban users for piracy accusations, then the next requests would come in for ban criteria in a classic slippery slope:

    • pornography
    • discussions of drugs
    • discussions of politics the party in power doesn’t like
    • speaking out against the state
    • communication about assembling
    • discussion on how to emigrate

    All the machinery would be in place once the very first ban is approved.

    • 418_im_a_teapot@sh.itjust.works
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      17 hours ago

      Plus, you aren’t disconnecting a person, but a whole family or business.

      And since many areas in the US only have one provider, you force that family to cancel all streaming services they might have. It’s a lose-lose-lose situation.

      • wellheh@lemmy.sdf.org
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        4 hours ago

        I think a big problem we don’t want to address is now that we’re so interconnected, internet access is a necessity that should be classified as a utility. You can’t just cut off someone’s electricity without notification or process because they did something bad with it and it should apply here too

    • BaldManGoomba@lemmy.world
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      18 hours ago

      I think it is also the user they disconnect for piracy tend to pay more. They tend to be more premium customers also why should they enforce what happens on their lines. It is an illegal search and seizure. Let the government get a warrant prove something is illegal then the ISP can disconnect them.

      • Graphy@lemmy.world
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        10 hours ago

        Yeah who else is going to pay for 1GB speeds knowing the most they’ll ever get is 400MB

  • Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world
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    20 hours ago

    Sony can’t have your electricity cut off if you pirate. Because electricity is a utility.

    ISPs want it both ways. They want the legal protections of a utility without the obligations.

    The solution is to give them the legal protection they want by declaring them a utility.

    • robotica@lemmy.world
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      11 hours ago

      I wonder if would you get your electricity cut off if you plugged in a 750kW industrial oil drill in your backyard

      • GreyEyedGhost@lemmy.ca
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        2 hours ago

        The people who sell electricity are surprisingly happy to sell you electricity. If you happen to do something horribly wrong and don’t burn your house down, an electrician will be happy to do the repairs. If you have 200 Amp service and draw the full 200 all year long, the most significant reaction would probably be getting a personalized Christmas card.

      • Cort@lemmy.world
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        10 hours ago

        The 200A main breaker on most homes would trip a little above 50kW. Could you even start up 1000hp without 3 phase?

    • Snot Flickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      20 hours ago

      Those moments when you can’t decide if someone’s username means they’re a science nerd or a Venture Bros. fan.

      Me_irl:

  • Bluefruit@lemmy.world
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    21 hours ago

    Not everyday i agree with ISPs but here we are. Guilty of and accused of are two very different things. Innocent until proven guilty.

    • Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world
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      19 hours ago

      Hell, I don’t even want to ban users guilty of piracy. Oh no! Sony and it’s BILLIONS of dollars will surely be affected by pirating their dvd of a movie! Heavens to betsy!

      • sunzu2@thebrainbin.org
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        12 hours ago

        You joke but that’s how Sony feels when you buy a used DVD… They just can’t admit it publicly

        • Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world
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          12 hours ago

          They must HATE me…There’s a thrift shop just up the street from me. I bought Deadpool on DVD/Bluray combo pack. Still sealed new from factory, for $2.50.

          I buy lots of DVDs there. My sisters say my collection is rediculous. She means it in a bad way, like I need to get rid of some stuff. But hell, when it’s $2.50, why NOT buy like 20 movies in an afternoon? And why NOT do that same thing several times a year? Although I will admit I’m running out of room…help! My apartment is filled with DVDs, and I can’t see the walls anymore!

          • acetanilide@lemmy.world
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            11 hours ago

            I aspire to be like you! I finally am going to have a DVD player and I am absolutely THRILLED. No joke. It’s going to be fantastic.

            Not as fantastic as an old VCR since it’s like 2% harder to fast forward through the ads. But pretty close!

    • j4k3@lemmy.world
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      21 hours ago

      Not for potato supreme. I’m sure labels and sony bought vacations for those sub human coup supporting shits

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        19 hours ago

        Never dehumanize fascists or fascist-sympathizers (redundant but ok), it’s always important to remember that bad faith actors or their stooges are human and cannot be entirely eliminated from society, which is why people that fight for positive change have to set the rules such that bad faith actors’ actions are either quickly recognized and mitigated, or have society structured such that even those motivated solely by unempathetic selfishness can only achieve status by masking and contributing positively anyway.

  • Shdwdrgn@mander.xyz
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    20 hours ago

    So Sony wants to punish ISPs for continuing to “allow” illegal things to happen? Hmm remind me again which company it is that has had so many data breaches that users have come to just expect it? Sounds to me like if they are allowed to pursue attacking internet providers then they themselves should start seeing lawsuits for continuing damages until such time as Sony is able to successfully recover all stolen personal data and other parties can no longer use it for profit.

  • Juice@lemmy.world
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    20 hours ago

    It still makes me feel some type of way that Sony (a Japanese company) gets so much sway over US business and policies. It’s something I thought about a lot when Microsoft was trying to close its deal with Activision. I don’t care much either way about multi-billion dollar conglomerates (or trillions in Microsoft’s case) butting heads but it did strike me as odd that a foreign company had that much of a hold on the deal. I get that piracy of media is frowned upon but like the ISP’s are arguing here, the affects of cutting off access to their clientele would have a lot of negative impact. I once again sit here wondering why a foreign company should have that kind of power over American citizens… you know?

  • MonkderVierte@lemmy.ml
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    20 hours ago

    Looks like an old-politician idea to me; a generation late. Nowadays, cutting internet is as bad as cutting electricity.