Quad9 vs Sony case

[~ True Legend ~]

Sony is suing Quad, a DNS resolver, for not blocking global access to a media piracy site.
Quad9 has lost the case against Sony, but will appeal the verdict.

DNS Resolver Quad9 Loses Global Pirate Site Blocking Case Against Sony * TorrentFreak

The Regional Court of Leipzig has ordered DNS resolver Quad9 to block global access to music piracy site Canna.to.

torrentfreak.com

The DNS resolver stressed that it doesn’t condone piracy. However, it believes that enforcing blocking measures through third-party intermediaries, that don’t host any content, is a step too far.

Agreed.

Sony, for example, referenced earlier jurisprudence where Germany’s Federal Court ruled that services such as YouTube can be held liable for copyright infringement if they fail to properly respond to copyright holder complaints.

Quad9’s expert, Prof. Dr. Ruth Janal, contested this line of reasoning, noting that, under EU law, DNS resolvers shouldn’t be treated in the same fashion as platforms that actually host content

Quad9 is more akin to a mere conduit service than a hosting provider, Prof. Janal countered. Courts could instead require Quad9 to take action through a “no-fault” injunction, a process that’s already used in ISP blocking orders. In those cases, however, the intermediary isn’t held liable for pirating users.

On Quad9's side in this case, 100%.
It's like blocking roads in case criminals use them to travel to places to commit crimes!!!

“The defendant is liable as a perpetrator because it makes its DNS resolver available to Internet users and, through this, it refers to the canna.to service with the infringing download offers relating to the music album in dispute,” the Court writes.

Judge Werner argues that Quad9 should have taken action when the copyright holder alerted it to a pirated copy of the Evanescence album. Its intentional failure to act makes the DNS resolver liable.

Wow.
It doesn't seem like the court is tech-savvy at all, which they really should be.
Sure, it makes its DNS resolver available to users, but NOT the content.

In its defense, Quad9 warned that blocking measures have a significant impact on its system architecture and performance. The Court wasn’t receptive to this argument, as the DNS resolver already actively blocks malware as one of its features.

LOL @ this. I wish I knew more to comment. But the weak argument isn't doing Quad9 any favours, they should have left it out, really!

Thus far, Quad9 has blocked Canna.to only for German users. However, the court order suggests that a global blocking order is reasonable and warranted, which is in line with Sony Music’s demands.

“It would also be harmless if, in accordance with the defendant’s argument, websites were blocked globally and irrespective of a specific jurisdiction for all Internet users who use the defendant’s DNS resolver.

“Even worldwide, no legitimate interest of Internet users in accessing this website with obviously exclusively illegal offers is apparent, so that the question of overblocking does not arise,” Judge Werner adds.

Ludicrous, it's as if they wanna take over the world!!
I bet they wouldn't bring such a frivolous lawsuit at a large DNS provider such as google. Sony is essentially bullying Quad9, as Quad9 wouldn't have the means to defend themselves, from my POV!!

Keen to hear your thoughts? What are your views on this matter? I've had my words

I understand Sony just want to go after Quad9 as lawmakers have been ignoring the issue of piracy for years.
A misplaced frustration? Sure. But the only thing black and white is a zebra.

 

[~ True Legend ~]

Meant to post this here: https://debatehq.net/forums/europe.35/
Whoops!
@fords8

 

[Heatman]

I have known Sony to be very troublesome. I'm not surprised with what they doing with bullying Quad9.

They would have done the same thing to Microsoft after their acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Sony have been doing anything possible to see the deal breakdown.

 

[~ True Legend ~]

They would have done the same thing to Microsoft after their acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Sony have been doing anything possible to see the deal breakdown.

Doubt it, as Microsoft have lawyers to defend themselves. They bully Quad9 as they are smaller and have less resources to spend on legal defences etc