Internet Exposed

The cable and telecommunications operator R will not cut off Internet access to a P2P user for infringing copyright, as ordered by the Barcelona Court of Appeal, because, as it explains on its blog, it is "impossible to comply with". Specifically, it states that it cannot "identify any customer who is located behind any 'nickname, as is the case", it adds. The Barcelona Court of Appeal sentenced the operator R Cable y Telecomunicaciones Galicia S.A. to suspend "immediately and definitively" the Internet connection of a user for infringing the intellectual property rights of several record labels by using the P2P file-sharing program to make more than 5,000 songs available to other Internet users in a shared folder. Thus, the Fifteenth Section of the Barcelona Court of Appeal agreed in an order, following an appeal by the companies Promusicae, Wea Internacional Inc, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music, Universal Music, and Emi Music against a dismissal ruling by Commercial Court No. 6 of Barcelona. The commercial court had considered that it was simply a file exchange between individuals without profit motive and that the user 'nito75' did not violate the Intellectual Property Law when he made 5,097 audio files available to the rest of Internet users through a shared folder so that they could request to download them. However, the Barcelona Court of Appeal considered that this activity violates the intellectual property rights of the record labels and, although the Galician operator did not commit "in itself" any infringement, it has accepted the request of the plaintiff companies to immediately suspend the Internet connection of this subscriber. R'S ARGUMENTS However, on its blog, the telecommunications operator explains that it received the court ruling whereby the claims of the plaintiffs were entirely dismissed. "Therefore, in the first instance R was not ordered to do or perform any action and, consequently, there was no point in appearing in the judicial proceedings", it clarifies. Regarding the ruling of the Barcelona Court of Appeal that now obliges it to definitively suspend the provision of the Internet access service to the user who uses the nickname 'nito75', it states that "this obligation will be impossible to fulfill, since at R we cannot identify any customer who is located behind any nickname, as is the case", it adds.