Item — HN Reader

As the owner of my broadband line in the UK, I am legally responsible for everything downloaded with my connection.

As long as this is still the case, this will never happen.

Also, I have to pay if I go over my bandwidth limit. I appreciate there are plans with no limit, but this is a limiting factor for almost everybody.

3 comments

Your first statement is afaik not correct. 1) It would create a serious issue for the BT Openzone network which turns all BT "homehubs" (a glorified wireless router) into open access points for any other BT subscriber and 2) there have been a number of court cases around downloading of pirated content which have hinged on whether or not the subscriber was responsible.

Regardless of what the theory of the law may seem to indicate, then assuming that The Cloud's MD isn't lying, it looks like the courts may sometimes disagree with you.

"A pub owner has been fined £8,000 because someone unlawfully downloaded copyrighted material over their open Wi-Fi hotspot, according to the managing director of hotspot provider The Cloud."(http://www.zdnet.com/-3039909136/).

Personally, while there's this kind of case being brought, I'd rather not take the risk.

didn't a judge recently rule that an ip does not represent a person?

A judge did, but other judges have decided the opposite. I wouldn't like to risk getting the right judge. And even if I did, I wouldn't particularly fancy risking being dragged through the court system simply to give random other people access to the internet.

1) is not a problem on BT Openzone/FON as the subscriber and open networks are kept separate:-

quick google

http://community.bt.com/t5/BB-Out-About/Liability-under-BT-F...

Could you [or anyone] quote statute or an official source for your first line assertion, please?

I don't believe that your first sentence is correct, please can you provide citations?