This was actually a VERY important decision. If it had gone the other way, you would have seen much of the internet based credit card activity simply stop.
It’s nice that someone has FINALLY found a limitation to “compensatory infringement.
Court upholds ruling vs. publisher
FIRM SOUGHT TO PUNISH CREDIT CARD ISSUERS OVER PIRACY OF ADULT IMAGES
By Dawn C. Chmielewski
Los Angeles Times
San Jose Mercury NewsCredit card companies that process payments for Internet pirates are not liable for copyright infringement, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco decided that a judge in San Jose was right in dismissing a lawsuit brought by a publisher in Beverly Hills against Visa International, MasterCard and other financial companies.
The 2-1 decision found that Perfect 10, a publisher of adult magazines and Web sites, failed to prove that credit card providers were liable because the financial companies played no role in helping people find or download the infringing images.
The decision dealt a setback to Perfect 10’s efforts to cripple Web sites that sell access to its erotic photographs without permission. The company said it would request a new hearing by a larger panel of appeals court judges.
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