Discussion On The Tort Liability Of Internet Service Provider

The Internet service provider (ISP) plays an important role in the Internet service, as it provides the convenient Internet service on one hand, and on the other hand, it acts as the biggest Internet infringer. The ISP is often not the infringer of direct infringement. The existing legal system in China does not contain the theoretical basis for ISP to bear the responsibility, which has caused the embarrassment in the judicial practice. The research on Internet tort legislation in the United States has lasted more than10years and obtained a lot of achievements, and this is worth us to draw lessons from. This paper is divided into the following four parts to discuss:The first part elaborates the significance of studying the tort liability of ISP. Specifically, it discusses that the increase of Internet infringement cases in recent years has a great influence on society but the relevant legislation on Internet infringement in China is not sound, which has led to the serious problems in the specific cases, and plus with Chinese citizens’lack of corresponding legal consciousness and the gap with the Internet legislation in the developed countries, this is not conducive to synchronizing with the world, so as to do a simple matting for later discussion.The second part selects the countries in which the Internet industry is developed in the world to compare with the current situation of legislation in foreign countries from the perspective of comparative method, thus to play the role of reference. This part discusses the current situation of legislation in the United States, and in particular, its issue of Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) well balances the interests between ISP and the rights holders. This provides a good example to other countries and regions and has been endorsed and imitated by most countries. This part also discusses the current situation of legislation in France, Germany and international legislation, which provides valuable experience for the establishment of relevant mechanisms in China. The Internet industry starts late in China and the technical level is relativelv backward, so in order to ensure the smooth development of the industry, our country should protect the industry in legislation. The third part analyzes the tort liability of ISP, and discusses in details the Internet infringement subject, the types of the infringement act of ISP as well as the tort liability of different service providers and the way of tort liability undertaking for ISP and other issues.The fourth part describes the current situation of legislation in China and the understanding of Internet tort liability stipulated in the Tort Law, namely the understanding in Article36in the Tort Law, and then raises the existing problems and gives the modification proposal.China’s legislative process and theoretical research of ISP infringement both have a certain lag, and although China has also made a series of legislative activities, the provisions of looking into the tort liability of ISP seem too broad and lack of pertinence, and they are also vague on the Internet tort liability subject. Therefore, in order to promote the healthy development of the socio-economic and cultural undertakings, the tort liability of ISP is a subject worth studying.