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Can RIAA Lawsuits be Blocked by Routers?

Posted by Cliff on from the burden-of-evidence dept.

Chris Frank asks: "With the RIAA stepping up its pressure on internet sharers, what is the legal status of people behind apartment routers? With no logging of who is moving what who can the RIAA prosecute when it tracks a shared file back to that specific shared internet account? I would imagine that many Slashdot readers are behind routers that hold all of their internal IPs private to the outside world. Is the bill payer responsible for all of the users of that router? How can a person be held accountable for the actions of others, especially when there is no proof of who did what?"

4 of 97 comments (clear)

  1. Sure... and use DMCA against RIAA by mTor · · Score: 3, Interesting
    DMCA has provisions that protect ISPs from lawsuits and provide a recourse. You can claim that you own a Wireless router and that you provide free access to anyone in your vicinity. Invoke the DMCA and use the same defense that an ISP would use since you are an ISP.

    DMCA Section 202.512.(a)

    1. Re:Sure... and use DMCA against RIAA by zaphodbblx · · Score: 2, Interesting

      My isp (adelphia) only recently allowed home networks in its TOS. previously if you had 2 computers in your home they wanted you to pay for two accounts. I had a coworker who called the isp(which also provides our cable tv) for some cable service.When the service arrived he spent some time snooping around saying they detected some signal leekage from the house when the service guy saw the wireless router he asked "so your stealing a connection heh?" then he pulled out the TOS and had the guy billed for two accounts retroactive from the account start date. eventually the bill was dropped? why? Because someone sued adelphia for not allowing users to network within their own home. there is a provision in the cable deregulation bill that allows for a subsciber to hook up several units in their own home. point of this is the isps are evil too..ya gotta watch em like a hawk!

      --
      "A towel is the most astounding Mind-boggleing useful thing in the universe, allways know where your towel is"
  2. Actually... by NoMoreNicksLeft · · Score: 3, Interesting

    A variation of this concept could be used to create a largely anonymous, secure network.

    A - B - C - D

    Assume that you are host B, and you VPN to host C, who happens to be in France (with you in the Canada). Host D also VPNs to the guy in france, but he never tells you who that guy is (he is careful to not even give any hints of that).

    You allow host A to VPN to you, and A is someone you thought you could trust, in the USA. But he is only an RIAA narc. He connects to your network, and discovers that host D runs a large mp3 ftp server. But the narc on host A only knows your own public IP (which might as well be your identity, it will lead to it easily enough). You however, are outside of the jurisdiction of the USA. The RIAA won't be able to sic criminal prosecution on you, and even if they tried, you have a good chance of beating extradition "Your Honor, I only participate in an experimental hobbyist network". Besides which, they don't want you, but rather your computer or ISP's logs. The RIAA is big enough to try to prosecute this in civil court... but how can they force you to reveal the identity of host D, when you don't know it yourself?

    And, the network could be made even larger, so that they might have to hop from host to host, forcing the revelation of the next hop's identity. How much would that cost them, and could host D vanish before they got close? Imagine not a chain of hosts, but a square mesh. Now, instead of just the 2 routes, you have 4 or 6... they can't even tell which of your routes is C, which is G or Z. So, at that point, even your ISP's logs aren't enough, they have to confiscate your computer.

    I think the scheme is rather strong, but I'd happily take suggestions. Anyone(not in the USA) want to help me build it?

  3. Re:ISP's by KrazzeeKooter · · Score: 2, Interesting

    But some very good ISP like Speakeasy.net encourage community networks and broadband sharing. Hence our outbound connection is shared through our neighborhood and building with wifi. We have experienced no bothersome abuse, but could the RIAA sue or hold us reponsible if it can not be known for sure who behind our firewall was sharing or downloading music?

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    I am a monkey. This is slashdot.