Seinfeld famously noted that taking the reservation is
not nearly as important as holding the reservation. In the same
way, Internet service providers must do more to avoid liability
than enact a repeat infringer policy – they must also enforce
their policy
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals so held in a lawsuit brought
by BMG Rights Management (US), LLC against Cox Communications, Inc.
BMG alleged that Cox was contributory liable for Cox
subscribers' direct infringement of BMG's copyrights that
occurred when the subscribers shared music with BitTorrent
technology.
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) sets up safe harbors
so that service providers generally aren't liable for their
customers' infringements, but the safe harbor provisions
require providers to cut off repeat infringers. Cox claimed it
complied and could not be held liable for its customers'
infringements, but the district court held that Cox had not
reasonably implemented its repeat infringer
