Vol 7 No 1 - Roger Williams University School of Law

eport, the White Paper on Intellectual Property and the NationalInformation Infrastructure,123 recommended that ISPs be treatedas distributors under copyright law, and that they should be heldto a strict liability standard for their users’ acts ofinfringement.124 Further, the report did not recommend anymodifications in copyright law to limit ISP liability.125The White Paper met with resistance from ISPs, who arguedthat such a strict liability standard would expose them tounreasonable liability for third-party acts, and would require ISPsto monitor their systems.126 ISPs also claimed that it would beimpossible to catch all copyright violations through monitoring,127and that extensive monitoring would produce a chilling effect onfree speech.128 Internet providers preferred an actual knowledgestandard, whereby they would face liability for third-partycopyright infringement only in cases where a provider knew of theinfringement and took no action to remove it promptly.129 Incontrast, copyright owners argued that a strict liability standardwas appropriate for ISPs, and was the only way to adequatelyprotect owners’ rights.130 Copyright holders directly opposed anactual knowledge standard, arguing that it would remove anyincentive for an ISP to monitor its system, rewarding ignorancewith limited liability.131While the Congressional debate over copyright liability forISPs continued, the United States became a party to two WorldIntellectual Property Organization (WIPO)132 Treaties, created inInformation Infrastructure: The Report of the Working Group on Intellectual PropertyRights (Bruce Lehman ed., 1995).123. See id.124. See id. at 212.125. See id.126. See NII Copyright Protection Act of 1995: Hearing on S.1284 Before the SenateComm. on the Judiciary, 104th Cong., 38 (1996); see also Dmitrieva, supra note 95, at245.127. See NII Copyright Protection Act of 1995: Hearings on H.R. 2441 Before theSubcomm. on Courts and Intellectual Property of the House Comm. on the Judiciary,104th Cong., 17 (1995).128. See id.129. See Dmitrieva, supra note 95, at 235.130. See NII Copyright Protection Act of 1995: Hearings on H.R. 2441 Before theSubcomm. on Courts and Intellectual Property of the House Comm. on the Judiciary,104th Cong., 35 (1995).131. See id. at 20.132. See WIPO Copyright Treaty and WIPO Performances and PhonogramsTreaty: Message from the President of the United States, Apr. 12, 1997, S. Treaty Doc.