Network Service Provider Copyright Infringement Responsibility Identification

With the development of internet technology, the internet service has been expanding; thedivision of internet industry has been specialized and refined; also the provider of internet servicehas been generalized. Since internet provider provides internet users with access, transmission,content and platform and so on, a lot of legal issues have emerged. As for the developed internettechnology, the cost of infringement of copyright has been reduced, which leads to thedecentralization and non-specialization of the infringement behavior. Therefore, it is much harderto identify the infringers, and the copyright owners are always frustrated when they pursue tortliability.Usually, the reason for the internet-service providers to assume tort liability is that they areintermediary, easy to identify, and also able to provide the compensation. However, it is wrong toconfirm the tort liability just according to the category of the internet-service provider. Take BBSfor an example, usually, it is an indirect infringer; but it can be a direct infringer only if it makesslight modification on the public links. Through the study of several related cases, after classifyingthe internet-service providers, this paper analyses the basic reasons; and proves: it is the behaviorsthat confirm the tort liability but not the internet service.