Court Affirms $25m Piracy Verdict Against Cox

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Bad news for Cox today. The courts have upheld a $25 million judgment against the cable provider for copyright infringements committed by its users. The judge ruled that, while Cox felt it was protecting its customers from extortion-like practices, turning a blind eye to piracy was not the way to go either. :(

Cox Communications is liable for the copyright infringements committed by its users and must pay $25 million in damages to music licensing outfit BMG. A federal court in Virginia has denied Cox's request for judgment as a matter of law or a new trial. On the upside, Cox will not be required to spy on its users using deep packet inspection.
 
Hmm...for anyone that pirates, this I feel is not a good ruling for them. ISPs dragging their heels and ignoring whatever you download has been a boon against efforts by rights holders seeking money.
 
Pretty bad judgement. I didn't realize IP Addresses were people. How can BMG confirm who actually pirated material when all they have is an IP Address?
 
Wonder how much BMG had to pay the judge and others surrounding the case for this outcome!

That level of corruption aside, in reality they should target the online sources of copyrighted material.
 
This judgement is whacked! The judge is a total moron who got bought out.

Internet service is like a utility or service. Just like electricity and water. The providers cannot be held responsible for what their customers do, like growing weed, or electrocuting puppies and kittens. If that's the case, then all utility and services providers should be fined similarly.
 
There's something fundamentally wrong with this. It seems to me its similar or exactly like going after gun dealers for the crimes their customers commit. This should be pushed to the Supreme Court.
 
The real question is who even pirates music anymore when services like Spotify exist? Downloading MP3's is so last decade.
 
Kalabalana said:
Wonder how much BMG had to pay the judge and others surrounding the case for this outcome!

That level of corruption aside, in reality they should target the online sources of copyrighted material.
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They already lost that game of whack-a-mole, so they are trying shittier tactics like this...

But I can't believe people still pirate music.... With services like spotify available for free, why bother at all? Movies/TV are a different story since the content 'producers' are still trying to keep their old shitty business model alive instead of adapting.
 
Biznatch said:
They already lost that game of whack-a-mole, so they are trying shittier tactics like this...

But I can't believe people still pirate music.... With services like spotify available for free, why bother at all? Movies/TV are a different story since the content 'producers' are still trying to keep their old shitty business model alive instead of adapting.
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Because the music industry isn't any different. Tons of music not on online services, I have 3, all of them had gaps in things i wish to listen to. I have no use for CD's or Vinyl, none what so ever, don't want them, don't want anything to do with them, I lose them, break them, scratch them, no thank you. Is what it is until proper change is forced.
 
BS ruling. IP's are not people. Cox didn't commit the crime.
Don't phone/cell phones only share data with a warrant? (I'm actually not sure lately). Seems like this would be a case where a warrant should be required.
 
Kalabalana said:
Wonder how much BMG had to pay the judge and others surrounding the case for this outcome!
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This happens a lot, but not via direct payment as that is illegal.

Instead, they will have a private meeting and hint that they could use the judge for legal work, since judges are also lawyers. This legal consulting work they have will be real work, but paid out at insane rates to the judge after the ruling, which is completely legal. Its like how Hillary can't accept direct bribes, but she can accept a round-about bribe in the form of donating say $450,000 to her for her "work" as a motivational speaker for five minutes at some event. That way technically she's paid for real work, but its at an insane rate and obviously just a way to bypass the law.
 
Big correction here.........Cox wont pay that judgement. Consumers will. Just like TWC/Brighthouse customers are paying for the Charter takeover. Already received the "annual" price hike and have seen all the commercials of Charter to come. But havent received any more channels/net speed. Yay FCC! Go monopolies!
 
wizdum said:
What happened to the DMCA safe harbor provision?

17 U.S. Code § 512 - Limitations on liability relating to material online
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they toss that out when they interfered with the legal process. That only applies if they follow through with the process of sending take downs and DMCA violation letters. The moment they decided to act on behalf of their customers and just refuse to let people know that there were reports against them they took full responsibility of any fallout.

it is like being arrest because you won't tell the police where a suspected criminal is. You end up getting arrested also for your action
 
DPI said:
The real question is who even pirates music anymore when services like Spotify exist? Downloading MP3's is so last decade.
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Lots of music is not on spotify. I cancelled my subscription for this exact reason, whenever I searched for an artist that is not in the absolute mainstream, their library was full of holes and missing albums / singles. And I don't mean garage outfits.
 
M76 said:
Lots of music is not on spotify. I cancelled my subscription for this exact reason, whenever I searched for an artist that is not in the absolute mainstream, their library was full of holes and missing albums / singles. And I don't mean garage outfits.
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as one of the 10 people who owned a Zune ;) I used the Zune pass subscription and always found its selection to be decent although I never tried going too crazy, just a few unknown or less known groups.
 
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