Understanding the intricacies of copyright protection
In the United States, owners of copyright material are protected against theft of their property. Copyright material includes computer data with pictures, music, videos, games and also physical goods that have copyrighted designs.
The Congress passed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) in October 1998 and the law became effective in October 2000. The DMCA law has been incorporated into the Copyright Act (Title 17 of the U. S. Code).
People in the USA who share or sell copyright material have suffered the consequences of these unlawful acts. Europe has similar copyright laws that protect copyright holders. Other countries around the world have either basic copyright laws or no laws, and many of those countries that have laws don’t enforce them.
Sharing copyright materials over the Internet
Regarding sharing copyright files over the Internet, the Internet user shares copyrighted files using one of many software’s or services, many use a version of the Torrent protocol. Many people may have heard of services like Pirate Bay that promote illegal file sharing.
How does Starlink know when copyrighted material was downloaded?
The copyright holders can identify the IP address of the person sharing the information. The copyright holder then communicates with the ISP and the ISP has to advise the customer to stop sharing copyright information or else the Internet service will be terminated.
The copyright owner continues to monitor the illegal sharing of its property. If the sharing continues then the copyright owner requests the ISP to terminate the customer’s service. The ISP has a legal obligation to terminate the service of the person illegally sharing the copyright material.
The enforcement of copyright laws has been the responsibility of ISP’s in the USA and Europe. Elsewhere in the world, the ISP enforcement of copyright has been patchy, depending on local laws. This means that many people in these countries have been sharing copyright material for many years without knowledge that they are stealing property that is owned by a US or European company.
Global Starlink users face unexpected consequences
Now people around the world are beginning to use the Starlink Internet service and many are surprised that they receive copyright infringement notices and then have their service terminated.
Starlink is a US company that has to comply with US laws, including DMCA. The copyright holders can track what Starlink customers are sharing and identify the IP addresses if people are sharing their property illegally.
Even when the Starlink customer is in a country that has no or few copyright laws that person has to comply with the US DMCA law. This means that if Starlink customers are sharing copyright material they will receive a copyright infringement warning (in English) and if they continue to share copyrighted material, their Internet service will be terminated.
Many Starlink customers not located in the USA or Europe are surprised when their Starlink accounts are terminated for copyright violations.
We hope that this short article will make Starlink customers aware that they should remove Torrent and similar software from their computers, or else loose their Internet service.
If you need to add controls and impose rules to your Internet service to prevent guests and customers from abusing the service, contact us, we can help you to better manage your WiFi service.