Intermediary Liability For Intellectual Property Infringement

Introduction

Internet intermediaries refer to entities which provide services that facilitate people to use the internet. They include network operators, network infrastructure providers, internet access providers, internet service providers, social networks, search engines and aggregators, internet cafes etc.¹ The social networks offer platforms for users to publish self-generated content whereas the search engines index and provide access to user-generated content. The e-commerce sites provide the users an online platform for buying/selling of products/services. In the initial days, the social networks and other internet platforms were believed to promote free speech as the users were to voice their opinions and comments on various social and political issues without an editorial process. These online platforms were supposed to be regulating themselves to prevent unlawful content appearing in them. Therefore, the intermediaries were given 'safe-harbour' against