Illegal file-share trial ends in acquittal
The UK's first trial for illegal file-sharing ended in acquittal yesterday, revealing how difficult it is to establish when downloading music on the internet involves breaking the law.
Alan Ellis, 26, ran one of the world's largest music sharing websites, Oink, from his flat in Middlesbrough. Yesterday Teesside Crown Court cleared him of conspiracy to defraud.
Oink had almost 200,000 members and facilitated the download of 21m music files between 2004 and 2007. The trial heard that Mr Ellis received £11,000 a month in donations from people using the site.
Mr Ellis, a software engineer earning £35,000 a year, told the court he had no intention to defraud copyright holders, and he had developed the site to brush up on his computer skills.
Lawyers said the acquittal showed how difficult it was to prove criminal cases for file-sharing, despite illegal downloads having become a key focus for the government recently.
"This case is the first - and possibly the last - in Britain against file-sharing," said Robin Fry, copyright expert at Beachcroft, the law firm.
It is extremely difficult to prove liability in file-sharing cases. Prosecuting individuals who have downloaded a handful of music files is costly and generates a lot of negative publicity for music companies, who can appear disproportionate in their response.
Prosecuting the people who run file-sharing sites, however, is also very tricky.
"Under English law they cannot be prosecuted for copyright violations because all they have is the software, they don't hold any of the music files themselves," said Mr Fry.
This is why Mr Ellis faced charges for conspiracy to defraud, rather than for breaking copyright law. However, even the conspiracy charges are difficult to prove, as prosecutors had to show that Mr Ellis knew he was infringing copyright.
The music industry is now moving away from criminal prosecutions and pinning its hopes on new legislation under the proposed Digital Economy bill . Under the bill, internet service providers could be required to cut off web access from customers downloading large amounts of material illegally.
However, yesterday's acquittal indicates that it could still be difficult to pin down illegal downloading.
After a series of warning letters to suspected filesharers, an adjudicator would still have to rule whether infringements had in fact taken place before internet access could be suspended. It would again be easy to find loopholes to show that no laws had been broken. "It will be very rare indeed that anyone will be cut off," Mr Fry said.
Consumer groups and some internet service providers have vowed to resist plans to disconnect file-sharers. TalkTalk, Carphone Warehouse's broadband unit, has said it would challenge the plans in court.
The UK's first trial for illegal file-sharing ended in acquittal yesterday, revealing how difficult it is to establish when downloading music on the internet involves breaking the law.
Alan Ellis, 26, ran one of the world's largest music sharing websites, Oink, from his flat in Middlesbrough. Yesterday Teesside Crown Court cleared him of conspiracy to defraud.
Oink had almost 200,000 members and facilitated the download of 21m music files between 2004 and 2007. The trial heard that Mr Ellis received £11,000 a month in donations from people using the site.
Mr Ellis, a software engineer earning £35,000 a year, told the court he had no intention to defraud copyright holders, and he had developed the site to brush up on his computer skills.
Lawyers said the acquittal showed how difficult it was to prove criminal cases for file-sharing, despite illegal downloads having become a key focus for the government recently.
"This case is the first - and possibly the last - in Britain against file-sharing," said Robin Fry, copyright expert at Beachcroft, the law firm.
It is extremely difficult to prove liability in file-sharing cases. Prosecuting individuals who have downloaded a handful of music files is costly and generates a lot of negative publicity for music companies, who can appear disproportionate in their response.
Prosecuting the people who run file-sharing sites, however, is also very tricky.
"Under English law they cannot be prosecuted for copyright violations because all they have is the software, they don't hold any of the music files themselves," said Mr Fry.
This is why Mr Ellis faced charges for conspiracy to defraud, rather than for breaking copyright law. However, even the conspiracy charges are difficult to prove, as prosecutors had to show that Mr Ellis knew he was infringing copyright.
The music industry is now moving away from criminal prosecutions and pinning its hopes on new legislation under the proposed Digital Economy bill . Under the bill, internet service providers could be required to cut off web access from customers downloading large amounts of material illegally.
However, yesterday's acquittal indicates that it could still be difficult to pin down illegal downloading.
After a series of warning letters to suspected filesharers, an adjudicator would still have to rule whether infringements had in fact taken place before internet access could be suspended. It would again be easy to find loopholes to show that no laws had been broken. "It will be very rare indeed that anyone will be cut off," Mr Fry said.
Consumer groups and some internet service providers have vowed to resist plans to disconnect file-sharers. TalkTalk, Carphone Warehouse's broadband unit, has said it would challenge the plans in court.
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