Should people lose access to the internet for simply downloading music?
That’s the question the U.S. Supreme Court will look at on Dec. 1, per USA Today. After a jury ordered telecommunications giant Cox Communications to pay $1 billion in damages to the music industry in 2019, an appeals court threw out the damages. SCOTUS, then, agreed to hear Cox’s appeal that it should not be held liable for music piracy that occurs on its network services. On the other side, major record companies are arguing that Cox should be held liable for the act of not preventing piracy, even if it didn’t directly assist with said piracy.
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This case has the potential to create strange implications for the future of internet access because the music industry feels that companies like Cox should simply turn off internet access for IP addresses that are automatically flagged for having illegally downloaded music. Cox, on the other hand, argues that this is too extreme and could result in homes and businesses unfairly losing access for the misdeeds of one unknown user on the network. Cox gave the example of a hospital losing internet access because of music piracy, which feels a bit unlikely, but nonetheless illustrates the point succinctly.
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For what it’s worth, as USA Today points out, Cox has major entities like the Department of Justice and the ACLU on its side, as well as tech companies like Google. That would suggest Cox has a decent chance of coming out on top in whatever legal proceedings take place here, but obviously, nothing is certain when it comes to the Supreme Court.
