The New Vigilantism: Combating the Piracy of Copyrighted Materials on Peer-To-Peer Networks

Non-existent just a few years ago, peer-to-peer networks have experienced phenomenal growth. One consequence of the expansion of these networks has been extensive unauthorized downloads of copyrighted materials. Losses attributable to music piracy alone are estimated to exceed $4 billion. In response to this problem and to combat the misappropriation of copyrighted materials, the Peer-To-Peer Piracy Prevention Act (“Act”) was introduced in the United States Congress in 2002. The aim of the law is to enable copyright holders to utilize technological self-help measures to stop copyright infringement on peer-to-peer networks. This paper describes the developments leading to the introduction of the Act and briefly analyzes the provisions of the Act. In addition, the paper discusses the legal issues raised by the self-help remedies contained in the Act and concludes that there is ample precedent to support the legal propriety of these measures.