High Court rules against Newzbin

[smirnoff_rules]

High Court rules against Newzbin
Author: Gareth Halfacree
Published: 31st March 2010
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High Court rules against Newzbin

Newzbin's Usenet gateway service - which provides a way to search for files, including copyright content - has been found to infringe copyright.
In a move designed to send shivers down the backs of downloaders everywhere, the High Court of Justice has ruled that a company providing a gateway to binary Usenet files can be held liable for breach of copyright carried out by its users.

In the ruling, Newzbin Ltd - a UK-based company which provides links to files held on Usenet servers, enabling its customers to easily find and download copyright and public domain content - was found to be engaging in copyright infringement, despite not actually hosting any files itself. Although the details of the court order have not yet been made public, it is believed that the court will order Newzbin to cease its operations until such time as it can reasonably guarantee that copyright material is not made available through its service without rights holders' permissions.

The ruling was welcomed with open arms by UK rights group the Motion Picture Association, with general counsel Ted Shapiro stating that Newzbin represented "a source of immense damage to the creative sector in the UK and worldwide," and claiming that the ruling "sends a clear message that websites focusing on providing viewers with pirated films and TV programmes infringe copyright and are liable for their actions even where those websites don't themselves host the content."

The move comes as file sharers come under increased scrutiny ahead of the proposed Digital Economy Bill, which seeks to introduce punishments including disconnection from the Internet for those who stand accused of participating in the illicit trade of copyright content online.

Although considered a victory for rights holders such as the MPA and the companies it represents, the court's ruling will come as a blow to those who used Newzbin's services and could very well spell the end of the company's operations in the UK.

Do you believe that services such as Newzbin should be held accountable for the actions of their users, or are they blameless as they don't host the files in question themselves? Share your thoughts over in the forums.

[patkins]

Smirnoff, while I don`t use or know anything about Newzbin, it has annoyed me over the years to take for example a group like The Who.Through the 60`s 70`s and 80`s they turned out million selling albums and singles. Now if someone decides to bring out say the Ultimate collection you find that there is nothing cheap in the price of this collection eventhough the W ho have already made a mint out of the originals where as a newspaper can give out a free cd (well maybe not the Who) but I hope you get my drift. Ok, if newzbin are facilitating the downloading of new material well then I can see why they would/might be persued. But as stated above in my example how much money do they want for their work. I`ve been given work in previous jobs - say a corner of a room- we want a workdesk put in there- I get the materials and build the workdesk-collect my wages at the end of the week-workdesk is used for years but I dont get a commision for it everytime it`s used. Hope you understand what I`m coming at. Rant over.

[skegsagypsy]

Wtf would some oul fart in a wig know about the tinternet.....its a ~~~~in joke !

[smirnoff_rules]

this is always going to happen even behind closed forums , l dont think its the end of newgroups , thats a good thing , there will always be some type of search tool in some Eastern block country , lm sure most on here have used p2p of some kind over the years

[chroma]

Sets a dangerous precedent, now all newsgroup hosts are wide open to attack.

Its like someones been murdered by gunfire and rather than go after the murderer theyve gone and sued the gunshop.

The legal system in this country is rapidly becoming a joke, more concerned with "stats" than actual crimes, only pushing for a prosecution on misdemeanours because its easy to bulk up a win rate.

[BigBalloon]

this is the press release from newzbin


Regretably we have lost the case. The MPA got a finding in their favour although the wide injunction they sought was denied to them.

Our press release:

"
We are very disappointed with the judgment. Regrettably the court has accepted the distorted and flawed evidence that Hollywood presented. Contrary to the finding of the court our site has not deliberately sought to index infringing material, nor to assist those of our users who use it for that purpose. The site provides a generalised search facility for binary content found on Usenet and not just infringing material. Any of the material we index can be found on any one of thousands of sites on the Internet so pursuit of us is a futile waste of everyones time and money.

Sadly the MPA are stuck in a technology stone age. Rather than addressing their own broken business models & monopolistic commercial practices they seek to curtail innovation and freedom on the Internet. It is notable, for example, that the MPA are the sponsors behind attempts to introduce Chinese internet censorship into the UK through the Digital Enterprise Bill. Perhaps if they used their energy providing what people want, rather than buying laws to sustain their own house of cards, they might have a stronger future. We certainly reject their attempt to use this decision and our site as an excuse for rushing through undemocratic laws in a wash-up just before an election.

We lacked the limitless legal funds and legions of lawyers the MPA had and that is the only reason for their win. That said, we are looking at our grounds of appeal and how we move forward to continue to provide innovation and useful search resources for our users.

Ultimately, the dinosaurs of the content industry will need to face reality; the sad thing is that winning cases such as this only damages them and puts their own future in doubt.
"
We will have more to say when we have digested the case and we shall put up a legal page with more details in due course.

[icemantaz]

Yep, i think its unfair to punish the people that are not actually uploading/ hosting the files that are illegal.

[patkins]

It`s down to MPA`s legion of lawyers to find the right sheep to scare the flock.