Screen Media Ventures’ Dec. 27 complaint against RCN Telecom Services for secondary copyright infringement and secondary liability under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (see 2312290005) is the latest development in SMV’s quest “to add itself and hundreds of its works to an unrelated copyright action,” said RCN’s motion to dismiss Monday (docket 3:23-cv-23356) in U.S. District Court for New Jersey. That unrelated action, Bodyguard Productions v. RCN Telecom Services (docket 3:21-cv-15310), was filed in the same district nearly three years ago. SMV’s complaint alleges that RCN’s subscribers, or those using their subscriptions, use software such as BitTorrent to infringe SMV’s “exclusive rights of reproduction and distribution.” Whatever the plaintiff’s motivation may be for seeking to join or consolidate this action with Bodyguard, its claims can’t survive a motion to dismiss because they are time-barred, said RCN’s memorandum of law in support of its motion to dismiss. All SMV’s claims are subject to a three-year statute of limitations, and SMV expressly alleges that the underlying acts of copyright infringement and violations of the DMCA occurred as early as August 2018, said the memorandum. The plaintiff doesn’t allege that any relevant act of infringement or violation of the DMCA “occurred within the limitations period,” it said. SMV’s secondary liability claims should be dismissed “for a host of other reasons as well,” it said. The U.S. Supreme Court recently recognized, in its 2023 decision in Twitter v. Taamneh, that it would run roughshod over the typical limits on tort liability to effectively hold any sort of communication provider liable for any sort of wrongdoing merely for knowing that the wrongdoers were using its services and failing to stop them, it said. That principle, which is consistent with decades of Supreme Court jurisprudence on secondary liability, “forecloses” SMV’s claims here, said the memorandum. The plaintiff has also failed to allege facts supporting necessary elements of its claims for contributory and vicarious liability, it said.
Flywire, a U.S.-headquartered global payments company, may have violated U.S. sanctions against Cuba, Iran or Syria, it told the Office of Foreign Assets Control.
New America's Open Technology Institute is raising concerns about the FCC's broadband consumer labels (see 2404100076). In a meeting with Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau staff, OTI asked the FCC to issue best practices for formatting and clarify that ISPs "should not block automated collection and access of CSV files by means other than human directed web browser actions," according to an ex parte filing Tuesday in docket 22-2. The group also found instances of "label implementation that either undermined the purpose of the rule or raised other concerns." OTI said some labels couldn't be accessed without providing a service address. One provider's plan directed a user to a "pop-up with a large block of 'fine print' rather than the label" on its website, OTI said. It also noted some consumers shopping for services in person "may not be aware" they can ask for a broadband consumer label to compare plans.
Mauritius formally accepted the World Trade Organization Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies May 13, moving the total number of countries that have accepted the deal to 75. The WTO requires 35 more to reach the two-thirds threshold needed for the agreement to be able to enter into effect.
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Lionsgate has officially spun off its motion picture group and TV studio segments and film and TV library, creating Lionsgate Studios, it said Monday. The spinoff was enabled by Lionsgate Studios' business combination earlier this month with Screaming Eagle Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company. Lionsgate said the transaction is part of its larger plan to separate its studio and Starz businesses.
Mauritius formally accepted the World Trade Organization Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies May 13, moving the total number of countries that have accepted the deal to 75. The WTO requires 35 more to reach the two-thirds threshold needed for the agreement to be able to enter into effect.
BookTix, a virtual box office for local community performances, conceals processing fees until the final moments of checkout, in violation of New York’s “all-in pricing” mandate, alleged a fraud class action Monday (docket 7:24-cv-03670) in U.S. District Court for Southern New York in White Plains.
The Oregon Public Utility Commission granted Lumen’s request to extend its 2018 price plan through Aug. 1. The plan would have expired Wednesday. The carrier needs more time to implement a successor price plan that the PUC approved in February (see 2402090074), said Administrative Law Judge Nolan Moser in an order Monday (docket UM 1908).