RapidShare’s Measures Against Piracy Are Sufficient, Court Rules

Ernesto
January 6, 2011
78
Atari,
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Swiss based file-hosting service RapidShare has booked another clear victory against a copyright holder in a German Court. In their appeal against the computer game distributor Atari, the court ruled that RapidShare has taken sufficient measures against copyright infringement, while it dismissed Atari’s demands for a keyword filter and other stringent anti-piracy tools.

Like most file-hosting services, RapidShare hosts a wide range of movies, music and software files that are distributed without the consent of the rightsholders. This situation has caused the company to be dragged to court on multiple occasions, but the file-hoster has often come out the winner.

In May last year a US court already ruled that RapidShare is not guilty of copyright infringement, and in the same month a German court ruled that company could not be held liable for acts of copyright infringement committed by its users.

Today, RapidShare booked another major win against a copyright holder. In the appeal of their case against game distributor Atari, the Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf acknowledged that RapidShare already takes sufficient measures against copyright infringement.

Atari had asked for additional tools to prevent their game “Alone in the Dark” from being downloaded from RapidShare. One of the suggestions they made was a filtering mechanism that would search RapidShare’s database for keywords and delete files that would match.

The Court sided with RapidShare’s stance that such a measure would be unreasonable, since it would create a risk of also deleting legal files that match the same keywords. Other measures such as manual verification of ‘suspect’ files and the removal of links on third party search engines were also deemed to be impossible, unreasonable or pointless.

RapidShare’s lawyer and spokesman Daniel Raimer is pleased with the Court’s decision and said: “The ruling demonstrates once again that RapidShare is operating a fully legal range and has taken measures against the misuse of its service which go beyond the level that is legally required. We are confident that copyright holders will gradually come to accept this conclusion.“

The successes of RapidShare in Germany and abroad set a favorable precedent for other cyberlocker sites and file-sharing platforms, including BitTorrent sites. Together with RapidShare’s lobbying efforts in Washington the verdicts add to the legitimacy of such online file-sharing services.

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SL

A key word filter is pointless, anyone with an ounce of intelligence will change the filename anyway as it will likely be removed if it has the proper name.
Blskxianki

i wonder…… what reason they (file sharing websites) used to win all the appeals in the court.
what!?!

So, you’re on Rapidshare’s side now? Despite the number of times you’ve written articles to criticize them? Well, isn’t that a little bit, erm, hypocritical?
Autonomous

I’m not sure that this is “taking sides”, more reporting what happened.
Nick

And this is why i have been with Rapidshare for over 4 years. They stand their ground. Congrats on the victory.
mshenrick

so TPB dont host material, and they get charged. but rapidshare do, and get dismissed!
okokok

ARE YOU SERIOUS? THEY’RE ACTUALLY GOING BY THE DMCA NOW? NOT SOME NON-EXISTENT PIECE OF UNLEGISLATED LAW THAT THE COPYRIGHT OWNERS WISH WAS THERE? FINALLY!
anon

“The Court sided with RapidShare’s stance that such a measure would be unreasonable, since it would create a risk of also deleting legal files that match the same keywords. ”

Well look at that, Germany knows what “prior restraint” is. Too bad America has forgotten.
Anonymous

Congratulations, RapidShare.
Please lobby in the US to combat the RIAA and MPAA.
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umm

Has anyone considered that all the filesharing sites should join together to lobby Washington?? (and fight the MAFIAA)
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matt

Finally, some common sense. I think i am going to like living in Germany
Anonymous

Congratulations to Daniel Raimer and Rapidshare for taking on this important issue, which reflect the needs and interests of their customers.

Also it’s appropriate to acknowledge the sensible decision made by the Court in Dusseldorf.

To Atari and others, understand the precedent being set here and stop trying to restrain businesses and users using the internet how we see fit. The internet will not bend to your old world model so we suggest that you innovate faster.
Anonymous

@10 Great idea. I’m sure lobbying against the RIAA could be done highly effectively and with considerably more skills than they do.
blackat

atari.. the brand itself is so 90ish
of all file-hosting I have try, rapidshare is still the fastest.
jen

Yeah, Rapidshare and all the other cyber-locker sites are above the law.

These sites earn income by (indirectly) stealing the work of others. If they were in it out of altruism, that would be one thing. But that’s not the case.

They steal content from all sorts of content creators (not just big Hollywood studios) and offer “high-speed” download subscriptions and/or advertising on download links. They encourage users to upload files (and earn points) so as to have content that attracts the all-important traffic to their sites.

This isn’t about free speech, it’s about theft. Some are more receptive to copyright holders and offer reasonable solutions (like Youtube, Hotfile…with right’s holder accounts for quick take-down) but with others, it’s open season on theft and they take weeks (or never) respond to DMCA takedown requests.

Everyone makes money in this situation except those who actually made the content.
Autonomous

@15 jen

Failed troll has failed.

Rapidshare is a file host. It in no way ‘steals’ content. Sure, go after the users if you like, but RS aren’t responsible.

By your argument the entire Internet should probably be shut down.

Oh – Wait – That’s what you really want isn’t it?
ReasonAnybody?

@ 12

“To Atari and others, understand the precedent being set here and stop trying to restrain businesses and users using the internet how we see fit. The internet will not bend to your old world model so we suggest that you innovate faster.”

Don’t mis-read this as a massive victory for piracy – it isn’t. The measures Atari were asking for were totally unreasonable and unworkable and it’s a good thing they were told where to shove it, but RapidShare are still obliged to remove content when a rightsholder requests it.
umm

@15 they and others are doing what the industry refuses to do…unlimited content at an affordable price. Plus you OWN what you pay for. I strongly suggest the industry gets over it’s Proprietary gouging of it’s customer base and provide the same.
Miz’

goddamn,, I’ve missed those 2 latest games.
well, downloading now
Anonymous

@15
How about trying to see rs as a way to get big files from your home to our work computer without using USB. And at the same time emailing the link to your co workers.

It is not their fault they get used to share files people do not have rights to.
jeremie

@15

ya failed trole. run along back to big goat baby now.
Anonymous

Big thumbs up to the Düsseldorf court. Seems they saw sense.
uJonesing

@3

Please don’t embarrass yourself by pretending to be stupider than you are. Any fourth-grader can point out that in the pursuit of objective news coverage, journalists aren’t supposed to take sides.

Further, any second-grader can tell you that a victory is a victory. Whether or not Rapidshare has done a “good” job of representing and defending their clients in the course of their business overall isn’t what matters. What matters is this particular victory, as it helps to level the playing field for other file-sharing websites and digital lockers.

The legal fights of the Pirate Bay, Rapid Share, et. al. is just as important as Anonymous’ Operation Payback. Just because you can’t reconcile your personal feelings about one organization with the bigger picture doesn’t mean that this ruling is somehow less momentous. Demeaning it is the equivalent of chopping off your foot because you stubbed your toe, and it hurts.
Madonna

Rapidshare is a business run by the upper echelon of Nuke-nets and creators of rules and standards for scene release groups. Ever wondered why rapidshare has an imposed file size limit, which also happens to be the same size as those .rar files you see released by the scene groups. Maybe people will eventually figure out one day that Rapidshare is owned by the original members of the scene.
Acce

We all know that rapidshare needs piracy in order to survive. Since they generate money, they are able to defend themselves. tpb might learn from them!
what!?!

@23 : go back to your goddamn basement you rat-faced moron. Yeh, journalists aren’t supposed to take sides, but wake the hell up, it ain’t called torrentfreak for nothing you @sswipe. If you’re ever in a real fight on the streets and you don’t get your teeth kicked down your throat, then you can start mouthing off again.
Pirate & Proud

@15 see it’s that simple even you recognised it! See how far innovation can take you if you focused on the real issue. Those crying industries that thought they could screw the consumer forever were proved wrong and instead of innovating(you should look it up sometime)were hoping that the internet would die and they could force feed us their prices, like they have for the past 50 years, anyway you have had enough key stroke from me,

Bye mwah xxx

*INNOVATE*

- progressive – favoring or promoting progress;

being or producing something like nothing done or experienced or created before!
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Anonymous

I just got a toy story cd from the store and it came with a digital copy that is locked to my computer. The digital copy is a 1.7 gig rip. The rip is a mediocre rip.

I would expect more from industry. I could make my own rip or dl a rip someone else already made both would have no restrictions and be better.

I used to read a lot and most of my books I bought used at the used book store or checked out of the library. Funny how no one whined about how the creator or distributor did not get paid. Sometimes I would actually buy a new book because I liked the author or wanted to read the last in a series.

The point is a creator or distributor who puts a work out there cannot reasonably expect to paid for every copy or performance. They ought to thankful people are interested in their work and not just greedy pricks.

At some point the law needs to recognize that the internet is an electronic library and used book/movie store of sorts. The law needs to embrace a certain level of sharing and put a stop the assault of the RIAA and MPAA on the internet
uJonesing

@26

O SNAP INTERNET TUFFGUY IZ MAD AT ME!!1

Meanwhile, in the Land of Stuff I Actually Care About…
Tor who?

Gotta agree with Atari here. The last Alone in the Dark is a POS unworthy of its name. Nobody should download that shit, let alone play it.
Little gy on your shoulder

The way it works in court has everything to do with money. The more money you have the better your legal team, the better your chances.

I have been charged with drunk driving some years ago, the cops did a rotten job during the arrest (did not respect the law and used the machine wrong) and only because my lawyer was top notch and had the best research team and access to the best experts that he managed to prove the cops incompetence and end up clearing me.

My case was one where the cops “wanted” to charge me with anything they could. They had spent hours trying to catch someone driving out of a huge party and were unsuccessful. They technically fabricated the alcotest results to justify their paycheck.

Now Rapidshare, unlike BT sites, has money. Their users pay a monthly fee to access their service. With money comes resources in the form of experts. When experts talk to the court, the court listens because most judges have no clue what an IP address is. Judges have little choice but to accept an expert opinion as fact.

To link this with TPB, reading on their trial I feel they might have been luckier if they could have afforded to present more expert testimony.

Justice is very expensive, many guilty go free because they have money, many innocent go to jail because they have none.

In my case, I was innocent but the total cost of my defense was 26,000$ US. So in essence, I got punished even though I did nothing wrong.
Little guy on your shoulder

#28 Obviously someone with brains! I am in total agreement!
curiousBob

why dont Atari get a subpoena for the details of the user who uploaded the copyrighted material to rapidshare?
Little guy on your shoulder

#33 Simply because Atari want to go after the one who has money. They know Rapidshare has money, they can’t know if the guilty user has money or not. There is no point giong after someone who has no money at all!

The second point is that if Atari starts going after the users, they would be making the statement that Rapidshare is not responsible for the actions of its users. If Atari ever does that, then they would deprive themselves of the option of going after Rapidshare.

There are profit 2 models out there:

1) Chase the website and get their money in one lawsuit, which ends up being cheaper.

2) Chase many defendants in the hopes they will pay without going to court and take the chance to be involved in a thousand costly lawsuits.

Of course, one can argue with reason that ACS:Law never intended to bring anything to court. They only hoped everyone would pay without asking questions. In that case you have to consider that the procedure is an abuse of the legal system and is closer to blackmail than justice.
curiousBob

#34 thanks
seyss

I used to like Atari, but after playing their latest SHITTY games I understand why they are trying to use the legal system to make money.

LOSERS
Anonymous

I don’t honestly mind the DMCA laws at all. They get what’s needed done– that is, take down some commonly downloaded files– but they don’t infringe by being easily exploitable.
Frank

I think Atari should go back to making hardware.
NoTownKasper

Thank god…another precedent set for the CyberLockers. Seriously, if RS is liable for the files on their site…so is youtube, MegaUpload, hundreds of TV sites, most social networks…the list goes on. One can not be held responsible for the actions of their users once that userbase gets beyond a certain size…it’s just not feasible.
walrus

Isn’t this what Isohunt is appealing right now. Maybe this can help them with their filter problem.
Jovialau

At last…A vote for common sense!!!
Anonymous

Illuminati losers
Marcus

@26,
That was hysterical.
I can see you now, 13 yrs old, 15 stone eating sweets and drinking sunny delight.

Bullied like a little bitch at school and pretending to be hard on the internet.
Sean

As much as I dislike RapidShare, congrats to them for pissing off MAFIAA and winning.
theyankinlondon

People who fileshare films, songs, DVDs are stealing from the creators.

Period.
theyankinlondon

A person who says “I am not responsible for what people put up on my site” is like saying I wouldn’t be responsible or complicit if someone murdered someone in my house and I knew that they were going to do it, and I did nothing about it.
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Anonymous

@45 Jan 07, 2011 at 11:48 by theyankinlondon

It is a period of transformation, the environment is changing and only the fit will survive, you and your kind will just stay behind in history and be known as “the a-holes who couldn’t cut it”.

People’s opinion have shifted nobody supports you.
Anonymous

@46 Jan 07, 2011 at 11:50 by theyankinlondon

How are they different from people who say “I’m not responsible for their art”, but still support those financially and claims free expression rights?

Besides I think most people wouldn’t want to support murders we agree, but sharing? everybody supports sharing go to any church and see how many thieves are there sharing, go to any charity and see how many “thieves” are sharing, heck look at yourself and ask your peers how many of them “share”.

Or are you saying that everyone should be an a-hole like you who doesn’t care about others and share nothing?
Anonymous

To all fileshare’s I greet you and come here to invite you to a better place where people will give you your rights back.

Jamendo is such a wonderful place full of talented people who deserve your attention more then the a-holes from the failing record industry.

They don’t want the money from fileshares I say “glad to oblige”.
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ssiisjsgpoist

this comes to mind for private & semi & private & public torrent site that were closed down bcuz of illegal issues,never do key filters bcuz it could accidently delete something thats actually legal to download,everyone needs to think properly on this one
theyankinlondon

Hey anonymous.

Easy to call people names when you’re anonymous. Asshole.

You are totally missing the point. You are stealing, not sharing. When you buy a DVD, CD anything that has cost somebody money, and you choose not to pay for it, you are stealing.
theyankinlondon

And freedom of expression? People use that phrase to interpret the crap out of it irresponsibly, as yourself (anonymous).

Again, what if I want to express myself and steal your car. It’s a freedom of expression, isn’t it?
theyankinlondon

And it will shift enough to where it just doesn’t make financial sense to make movies, games, music. What would be the point if you can’t make a living from it while scroungers like yourself (anonymous) steal from the creators of the content you so want to express yourself and share.

Let me guess. You’re fat, single and still living with your parents and a real contributor to society.

You’re right. The environment is shifting, and it is sad that fuckwits like yourself will someday be in a position of responsibility like parenthood.
DRuNKeN MaSTeR

Rapid$h1t? Is that still around? On the other hand, a nice victory!
Element 115

Hosting illegal content is – looking inside my German brain – far more worse than “linking content but not hosting it”.

LOL – After the governments could not get their hands on international online sales, they are now going after the search engines and file hosts.

Question: if a hosting-company is liable for hosting “malicious websites with stolen goods”, how come rapidshare doesn’t have these kind of problems?

How would spock say? “That’s illogic”!
dg100

@51-53, by Theyankinlondon:

And it will shift enough to where it just doesn’t make financial sense to make movies, games, music. What would be the point if you can’t make a living from it…

Utter drivel, for so very many reasons: the most obvious one being that most people couldn’t be bothered to learn how to program their VCRs, never mind file-share.

Every one of today’s highly-developed corporate industries arose and evolved out of cultural wellsprings of creativity that existed long before there was any money in it. Music was not invented by the record industry, Hollywood did not invent acting. The origin of videogames is more industrial, but most of it’s original workforce started off writing games in their bedrooms, for fun.

Speaking as a worker in a content-creation industry, I know for a fact that the vast majority of today’s creative workers do their jobs despite – rather than because of – the appalling pay and conditions. The vast majority of musicians, artists, writers, etc, are what they are because they enjoy it. It takes real passion and personal commitment to create great works of art. When the nine-to-fivers leave, we don’t even notice.

Even in a worst-case scenario of every content industry simultaneously seeing their turnover go into catastophic freefall (not likely given that they’re all still making countless billions), all that’s likely is that various governments will step in with a compensation plan, based around taxation of ISPs.

It’s a lot more likely that the content industries themselves will shift over to a service-based economies – and thrive. Many of the biggest players in the games industry (just for the least off-topic example) have either already redesigned for online service-provision first and foremost, or have publically declared their express intention to do so. The games industry as a whole describes itself as being in a “transitional period”.

Finally, there is the fact that most people freely choose to support their content providers, if they’re given a deal they feel is reasonable, from a provider they trust. In the case of music, these days, most CD customers buy to support the artist, not because they don’t have access to pirate copies if they want them – and most concert-goers are there to support their artists and cheer them on in person. That’s something that can’t be pirated.

The world is moving somewhere new, but the music and the movies and the games – in whatever form – are all coming with us, whether you or they like it or not. If you let yourself get left behind, don’t expect us to lose any sleep over it. :D
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Ninja

Sanity?! That’s news for me. Gz RapidShare for this victory. It’s not a victory only for RS. Now, Mininova any1?
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