James Delahunty
3 Jul 2007 18:18
A U.S. appeals court panel has ruled that companies processing credit card payments for web sites that offer pirated content are not liable for infringement. The decision confirms a lower court decision against Perfect 10 Inc. in its dispute with Visa International Service Association, MasterCard International Inc. and affiliated banks. Perfect 10 Inc. operates a web site featuring nude pictures of models.
Norm Zada, president of Perfect 10, said that the ruling will encourage theft of intellectual property and gives thieves a means to profit from piracy. "On the Internet, it is easy to steal and almost impossible to defend against that," Zada told Reuters. "How much business do I lose? There are least 70 sites I subscribe to that sell every picture that I own."
"The plaintiffs want to create an economic blockade of anybody accused of infringement," Andrew Bridges, the lawyer who defended MasterCard said. Writing for the majority, Judge Milan Smith Jr. said credit card processors do not assist or enable Internet users to find infringing content. "Here, the infringement rests on the reproduction, alteration, display and distribution of Perfect 10's images over the Internet," Smith wrote.
Perfect 10 Inc. has also faced Google Inc. in court, accusing the search giant of infringement for linking Internet users to sites that republish its images without authorization.
Source:
Yahoo (Reuters)