{"id":62675,"date":"2022-03-01T09:03:01","date_gmt":"2022-03-01T09:03:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/?p=62675"},"modified":"2022-03-01T09:03:01","modified_gmt":"2022-03-01T09:03:01","slug":"uk-based-cdn-company-datacamp-sued-for-hosting-pirate-iptv-services","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/?p=62675","title":{"rendered":"UK-Based CDN Company Datacamp Sued For Hosting Pirate IPTV Services"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"IPTV\"<\/a>Late September 2021, a group of independent movie companies filed a lawsuit<\/a> against DataCamp, alleging that the CDN company provided services to several VPN providers.<\/p>\n

According to that complaint, DataCamp failed to terminate the accounts of these providers after being sent several warnings. As a result, the company was accused of contributory and vicarious copyright infringement alongside calls for an injunction.<\/p>\n

A new lawsuit filed against DataCamp in the United States makes similar copyright infringement allegations.<\/p>\n

Pirate IPTV Services Used DataCamp<\/h2>\n

Filed in an Illinois district court Friday, the lawsuit sees US broadcaster DISH Network taking on UK-based DataCamp on foreign soil. DISH explains that IPTV services often depend on Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) to deliver their product to the end-user. <\/p>\n

According to DISH, DataCamp operates a CDN for this purpose, one that is utilized by at least 11 providers that have illegally distributed DISH content. These include Banjo TV, Bollywood IPTV, Comstar TV, Express IPTV, Gennie TV, Gold TV, IPGuys, Istar, Red IPTV, Sky IPTV, and Zumm TV.<\/p>\n

Lawsuit Highlights MPA Complaints About DataCamp<\/h2>\n

Setting the stage against DataCamp, DISH\u2019s lawsuit draws attention to a 2018 submission to the USTR which saw the Motion Picture Association (MPA) complain that DataCamp\u2019s infrastructure was being used by pirate IPTV services to distribute copyrighted content. <\/p>\n

In common with the earlier lawsuit filed by the movie companies, DISH further alleges that despite receiving \u201chundreds of notices\u201d requesting removal of content under the DMCA, DataCamp failed to respond in an appropriate manner. Furthermore, it\u2019s alleged that DataCamp was sent copies of lawsuits and judgments relating to pirate IPTV services but the company\u2019s responses were completely lacking.<\/p>\n

US Company Sues UK Company Overseas<\/h2>\n

DataCamp Ltd is a tech company based in the UK operating under robust local laws that limit the liability of hosting companies when it comes to the actions of third parties. The system is not dissimilar to that in the United States. However, case law in the United States is undoubtedly richer and the possibility of high statutory damages awards are absent from the UK.<\/p>\n

Whether these factors encouraged DISH to sue DataCamp in the US is unknown but according to the broadcaster, a local lawsuit is appropriate. DataCamp operates some of its \u2018CDN77\u2019 servers in Illinois, has websites that are visible there, while end-users of pirate IPTV services are also located in the district.<\/p>\n

DataCamp\u2019s CDN77 Service<\/h2>\n

According to the complaint, the named pirate IPTV services utilize DataCamp\u2019s CDN to transmit their illegal services. It alleges that DataCamp markets its CDN as specializing in \u201clive stream processing\u201d while assisting customers with IPTV\/OTT delivery.<\/p>\n

\u201cSend us your live stream over standard protocols\u2026and let us convert and transcode your video\u2026to optimize viewer experience,\u201d its marketing alleged read. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it comes to protecting the video content from unwanted attention, there are several access management and content protection features that [Datacamp] offers for free, e.g. Secure Tokens, built-in DRM, origin protection, hotlink protection or IP & geo whitelisting\/blacklisting.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition, DISH claims that DataCamp provides additional products that enable the pirate IPTV providers to offer services such as a DVR and time-shifting. In summary, the broadcaster claims that without CDN77, their ability to offer a top-tier service would be limited.<\/p>\n

DataCamp \u2018Conceals\u2019 Pirate Service Operators<\/h2>\n

Complaints against Cloudflare are well documented, including those that allege that the CDN company hides the identities of pirates. Here, DISH says that DataCamp acts in a similar fashion and that by hiding the true location of pirate services, CDN77 hinders their investigations. <\/p>\n

Furthermore, the broadcaster says that DataCamp did not remove or disable content when the company sent DMCA notices. Interestingly, it also criticizes the company for not giving its customers (in this case pirate IPTV services) the ability to send DMCA counter notices to DISH. Had it done so, DISH would\u2019ve been able to identify the operators of those services.<\/p>\n

\u201cDatacamp did not remove or disable access to the content identified in the Infringement Notices \u2013 nor did it require its customers to submit DMCA-compliant counter notices, which would have identified the operators of the Pirate Services to DISH,\u201d the company writes.<\/p>\n

DMCA and DataCamp\u2019s Infringement Policies<\/h2>\n

The complaint alleges that since October 2017, DataCamp has \u201cdeliberately refused\u201d to take reasonable steps to prevent the pirate IPTV providers from using its services. As the image below shows, DISH sent hundreds of complaints over a period of almost four years.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\"dish-datacamp-complaints\"<\/a><\/center><\/p>\n

DISH said it provided detailed information about infringements but accuses DataCamp of doing little by way of preventative action.<\/p>\n

\u201cDatacamp failed to remove or block the Protected Channels or the Works from being transmitted through its servers and failed to terminate the Pirate Services responsible for the infringement, despite receiving the Infringement Notices and other evidence provided by DISH and Networks,\u201d the lawsuit adds.<\/p>\n

DISH says that DataCamp was not powerless to act. It could\u2019ve found out whether the pirate IPTV services were legally authorized to transmit the works before the company transcoded them. It could\u2019ve responded or responded more promptly to complaints. It could\u2019ve been tougher on \u2018pirate\u2019 customers who falsely claimed they had done nothing wrong or that the reported infringing behavior had stopped. <\/p>\n

Perhaps most importantly, DISH says that DataCamp could\u2019ve implemented a repeat infringer policy that would see an account suspended for receiving one infringement notice and then terminated for receiving more. At the least, it could\u2019ve enforced its own customer service agreement which states that accounts can be terminated for \u201cany reason\u201d.<\/p>\n

All of this and more leads DISH to one conclusion \u2013 DataCamp is liable for its customers\u2019 actions.<\/p>\n

No Safe Harbor<\/h2>\n

Referencing the DMCA and the \u2018safe harbor\u2019 that limits service providers\u2019 liability, DISH says that DataCamp can claim none under copyright law for the following reasons.<\/p>\n

Starting with the fundamentals, DataCamp failed to designate a DMCA agent and\/or failed to publish the agent\u2019s details on the DataCamp websites. DataCamp failed to remove or disable content in response to complaints, even when it had \u201cknowledge or awareness\u201d that the content was infringing. <\/p>\n

The company also failed to \u201cadopt and reasonably implement\u201d a repeat infringer policy which, according to DISH, means that the company received financial benefit from the pirate IPTV services\u2019 infringements.<\/p>\n

\u201cDatacamp decided not to terminate the Pirate Services\u2019 accounts or remove or disable access to the Works because it wanted to maintain the revenue that would come from the accounts,\u201d the complaint adds.<\/p>\n

Claims for Relief<\/h2>\n

DISH says that since it owns the exclusive rights to its TV shows, these were directly infringed by the pirate IPTV services and DataCamp\u2019s CDN was used to publicly perform them. As a result, DataCamp \u201cmaterially contributes\u201d to that direct infringement under 17 U.S. Code \u00a7 501<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In addition to such contributory infringement, DISH says that DataCamp is liable as a vicarious copyright infringer since it profited from its clients\u2019 infringement despite having the ability to stop them.<\/p>\n

Describing DataCamp\u2019s actions as \u201cwillful, malicious, intentional, purposeful\u201d, the broadcaster is demanding a permanent injunction against the CDN company that would require it to disconnect the pirate IPTV services and implement a robust repeat infringer policy.<\/p>\n

For 217 or more registered works, DISH is also demanding statutory damages of $150,000 per work, to a total of $32.5 million.<\/p>\n

The complaint can be found here<\/a> (pdf)<\/em><\/p>\n

From: TF<\/a>, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.<\/p>\n

Powered by WPeMatico<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Late September 2021, a group of independent movie companies filed a lawsuit against DataCamp, alleging that the CDN company provided services to several VPN providers. According to that complaint, DataCamp failed to terminate the accounts of these providers after being sent several warnings. As a result, the company was accused of contributory and vicarious copyright […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":62676,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[308],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-62675","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-torrent"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62675","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=62675"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62675\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/62676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=62675"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=62675"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=62675"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}