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A Dutch court has extended the definition of "making available copyright content" to even just talking about it.
Originally, "making available" meant actually hosting the illegal downloads. Then it was extended to include linking to the websites that contained the downloads, but a Dutch court now says that even talking about the general locations of possible pirated downloads is indeed "making available". The ruling was in relation to Usenet community FTD, which was sued for copyright infringement by movie studios.
FTD's lawyer, Arnoud Engelfriet, says he was "flabbergasted" by the court's decision, and even the objection that was filed with the court has since been rejected.
If the Dutch court's decision holds elsewhere, even saying things like "you can download free movies at The Pirate Bay" could be interpreted as "making available", and freedom of speech could very well be under threat.
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Originally, "making available" meant actually hosting the illegal downloads. Then it was extended to include linking to the websites that contained the downloads, but a Dutch court now says that even talking about the general locations of possible pirated downloads is indeed "making available". The ruling was in relation to Usenet community FTD, which was sued for copyright infringement by movie studios.
FTD's lawyer, Arnoud Engelfriet, says he was "flabbergasted" by the court's decision, and even the objection that was filed with the court has since been rejected.
If the Dutch court's decision holds elsewhere, even saying things like "you can download free movies at The Pirate Bay" could be interpreted as "making available", and freedom of speech could very well be under threat.
More:
