German ruling may clear victims of legal liability for Wi-Fi theft

By Ed Oswald, BetaNews

July 10, 2008, 5:51 PM

A court in the country has ruled that Internet users who are victims of Wi-Fi theft cannot be held responsible for illegal P2P activity if it occurs as a result of that incident.

The development could lend support to efforts elsewhere to clear victims of any liability when it comes to copyright infringement. The argument that router owners are indeed liable, has been used by Davenport Lyons in its work with the industry in the UK.

With the blessing of the recording industry, the firm has been sending out letters to those who may have not secured their wireless networks. Unbeknownst to them, someone used their connection to download pirated content over a P2P network.

Davenport had been using an earlier German court ruling that seemed to suggest connection owners were liable for any illicit activity over their connection, and expected the courts in the UK to rule in the same fashion.

Letters have been going out to those suspected since at least the beginning of this year. However, supporters of P2P point out that subsequent decisions have been made in the contrary, siding with the individual over the industry.

This week's ruling seems to continue to follow the same premise, and overturns the exact judgment that Davenport was using to justify its own letters. It was not clear whether the firm would reword its letters to reflect the new court decision.

A request for comment from BetaNews likely reached the London firm after the close of business Thursday local time, although Davenport may answer Friday.