Music Piracy Battle: Labels Sue Internet Provider

Over 20 musical labels have filed a lawsuit against Verizon, one of the largest Internet providers in the United States. The lawsuit alleges multiple copyright violations by Verizon, as they provide services to users engaged in piracy.

The complaint accuses Verizon of knowingly allowing customers to use high-speed Internet for illegal activities such as downloading, copying, and distributing music protected by the Bittorrent network. Despite receiving over 340,000 notifications of copyright violations in recent years, Verizon allegedly did not take sufficient action to stop these illegal activities.

Major music companies like Sony Music and Universal Music Group have joined the lawsuit, claiming that Verizon promotes and benefits from widespread copyright violations in P2P networks. The complaint points out that Verizon could easily identify and disable repeat offenders, as required by US law, but failed to do so. A list of allegedly stolen works has been provided as evidence in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit aims to prove that Verizon is not fulfilling its legal obligations. The plaintiffs argue that Verizon only accepts complaints about copyright violations through one email address, limits the number of complaints from one copyright holder, fails to pass on complaints to alleged violators, and does not process complaints in a timely manner.

Furthermore, over 500 Verizon subscribers have received 100 or more notifications of copyright violations, with one individual receiving 4,450 notifications from the plaintiffs alone. Verizon has declined to comment on the lawsuit, and the trial is expected to be drawn out.