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Förderverein Informationstechnik und Gesellschaft
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http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1007-202-3595113.html
eBay not liable for bootlegged content
A judge has ruled that online auctioneer eBay cannot be sued for allowing people to sell bootlegged audio recordings on its Web site.
In a ruling late Tuesday, Superior Court Judge Stuart Pollak in San Francisco County dismissed a lawsuit brought by a Grateful Dead fan who sought to stop sales of illegal concert recordings of the band.
"The suit argued that no legitimate brick-and-mortar auction house or no legitimate brick-and-mortar record store could sell infringing sound recordings to the extent that these are being sold on eBay and get away with it," said Charles Perkins, the lawyer for plaintiff Randall Stoner.
The litigation did not focus on copyright infringement, as has the Napster case. In that suit, the recording industry is suing the song-swapping service in federal court for allegedly contributing to copyright infringement by allowing millions of people to download copyright music over the Internet for free.
In dismissing the suit, Pollak said he based his ruling on the Communications Decency Act, which forbids computer service providers for being punished for the speech of others.
"Plaintiff's attempt to impose responsibility on eBay as the seller of items auctioned over its service is no different from the unsuccessful attempts that have been made to hold computer service providers liable as distributors rather than publishers of defamatory or pornographic materials," Pollak wrote.
Courts have found that America Online, for example, was immune from a suit brought by a mother who discovered pornographic pictures of her young boy offered for sale online.
eBay attorney Jay Monahan said the ruling allows it "to continue to operate our business and not fear facing liability at every turn."
He said the San Jose, Calif.-based company regularly pulls postings from its site upon receiving complaints from copyright or trademark holders of licensed music, software, movies, clothing and other goods.
Perkins said he is considering an appeal.
"We are trying to hold eBay responsible for its auctioning conduct, not for the speech of somebody else," he said.