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eff/en/tor-dmca-response.wml   1) ## translation metadata
eff/en/tor-dmca-response.wml   2) # Revision: $Revision$
eff/en/tor-dmca-response.wml   3) 
eff/en/tor-dmca-response.wml   4) #include "head.wmi" TITLE="Response template for Tor server operator to ISP"
eff/en/tor-dmca-response.wml   5) 

eff/tor-dmca-response.html     6) <div class="main-column">
eff/tor-dmca-response.html     7) 
eff/tor-dmca-response.html     8) <!-- PUT CONTENT AFTER THIS TAG -->
eff/tor-dmca-response.html     9) 
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    10) <h2>Response template for Tor node maintainer to ISP</h2>
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    11) <hr />
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    12) <p>Written by the Electronic Frontier
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    13) Foundation (<a href="http://www.eff.org/">EFF</a>). Last updated 19 Feb 2005.</p>
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    14) 
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    15) <p>Note to Tor server operators:   In this litigous era, anyone
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    16) providing routing services may face copyright complaints under the
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    17) Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Thankfully, the DMCA safe harbors
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    18) provide immunity from many of them -- both to you and to your
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    19) upstream provider.  If your Internet host forwards a DMCA complaint
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    20) to you, here's a template you can use to write a response.  You can
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    21) tailor this to your own circumstances: if you think your host would
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    22) be disturbed to hear you're running a server on the network, you may
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    23) want to take that part out.  Of course it's up to you to comply with
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    24) your ISP's terms of service.  If you're not comfortable including so
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    25) much legal explanation, feel free to invite the ISP to contact EFF
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    26) for a fuller discussion.</p>
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    27) 

eff/tor-dmca-response.html    28) <p>This template letter is for informational purposes only and does not
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    29) constitute legal advice. Whether and how you should respond when you or
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    30) your ISP has received a DMCA notice will turn on the particular facts
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    31) of your situation. This template is intended as a starting point. Before
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    32) sending any response to your ISP, you may want to seek the advice of an
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    33) attorney licensed to practice in your jurisdiction.</p>
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    34) 

eff/tor-dmca-response.html    35) <p>Also, if you received this document from anywhere besides <a

eff/en/tor-dmca-response.wml  36) href="https://torproject.org/eff/tor-dmca-response.html">https://tor.eff.org/eff/tor-dmca-response.html</a>,

eff/tor-dmca-response.html    37) it may be out of date. Follow the link to get the latest version.</p>
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    38) 
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    39) <hr />
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    40) 
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    41) <p>Dear [ISP]:</p>
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    42) 
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    43) <p>Thank you for forwarding me the notice you received from [copyright
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    44) claimant] regarding [content].  I would like to assure you that,
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    45) contrary to the assertions in the notice, 1) I am not hosting or
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    46) making available the claimed infringing materials, and 2) you are
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    47) already protected by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's ("DMCA")
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    48) safe harbor from any liability arising from this complaint.   The
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    49) notice is incorrect, probably based upon misunderstandings about law
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    50) and about some of the software I run.
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    51) </p>
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    52) 
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    53) <p>
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    54) First, in terms of legal liability, this notice does not create any
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    55) risk for you as a service provider.  As you know, the DMCA creates
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    56) four "safe harbors" for service providers to protect them from
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    57) copyright liability for the acts of their users, when the ISPs
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    58) fulfill certain requirements. (17 U.S.C. � 512)   The DMCA's
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    59) requirements vary depending on the ISP's role.  You may be most
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    60) familiar with the "notice and takedown" provisions of DMCA 512(c),
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    61) but those apply only to content hosted on your servers, or to linking
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    62) and caching activity. The "takedown notice" provisions do not apply
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    63) when an ISP merely acts as a conduit.  Instead, the "conduit" safe
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    64) harbor of DMCA 512(a) has different and less burdensome requirements,
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    65) as the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals held in RIAA v. Verizon (see
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    66) <a href="http://www.eff.org/legal/cases/RIAA_v_Verizon/opinion-20031219.pdf">http://www.eff.org/legal/cases/RIAA_v_Verizon/opinion-20031219.pdf</a>)
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    67) and the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals confirmed in RIAA v. Charter
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    68) (see <a href="http://www.eff.org/IP/P2P/Charter/033802P.pdf">http://www.eff.org/IP/P2P/Charter/033802P.pdf</a>).
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    69) </p>
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    70) 
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    71) <p>
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    72) Here, any content that came from or through my computers merely
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    73) passed through your network, so DMCA 512(a) applies.  Under DMCA
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    74) 512(a), you are immune from money damages for copyright infringement
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    75) claims if you maintain "a policy that provides for termination in
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    76) appropriate circumstances of subscribers and account holders of the
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    77) service provider's system or network who are repeat infringers."  If
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    78) you have and implement such a policy, you are free from fear of
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    79) copyright damages, period.
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    80) </p>
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    81) 
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    82) <p>
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    83) As for what makes a reasonable policy, as the law says, it's one that
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    84) only terminates subscribers who are repeat infringers. A notice
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    85) claiming infringement is not the same as a determination of
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    86) infringement. The notification you received is not proof of any
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    87) copyright infringement, and it certainly is not proof of the "repeat
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    88) infringement" that is required under the law before you need to
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    89) terminate my account.  I have not infringed any copyrights and do not
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    90) intend to do so.  Therefore, you continue to be protected under the
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    91) DMCA 512(a) safe harbor, without taking any further action.
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    92) </p>
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    93) 
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    94) <p>
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    95) You might be curious, though, about what did trigger the notice.  The
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    96) software that likely triggered the faulty notice is a program I run
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    97) called Tor.  Tor is network software that helps users to enhance
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    98) their privacy, security, and safety online. It does not host or make
eff/tor-dmca-response.html    99) available any content.  Rather, it is part of a network of nodes on
eff/tor-dmca-response.html   100) the Internet that simply pass packets among themselves before sending
eff/tor-dmca-response.html   101) them to their destinations, just as any Internet host does.  The
eff/tor-dmca-response.html   102) difference is that Tor tunnels the connections such that no hop can
eff/tor-dmca-response.html   103) learn both the source and destination of the packets, giving users
eff/tor-dmca-response.html   104) protection from nefarious snooping on network traffic.  Tor protects
eff/tor-dmca-response.html   105) users against hazards such as harassment, spam, and identity theft.

eff/tor-dmca-response.html   106) In fact, initial development of Tor, including deployment of a
eff/tor-dmca-response.html   107) public-use Tor network, was a project of the U.S. Naval Research
eff/tor-dmca-response.html   108) Laboratory, with funding from ONR and DARPA. (For more on Tor,

eff/en/tor-dmca-response.wml 109) see <a href="https://torproject.org/">https://torproject.org/</a>.)  As an

eff/tor-dmca-response.html   110) organization committed to
eff/tor-dmca-response.html   111) protecting the privacy of its customers, I hope you'll agree that
eff/tor-dmca-response.html   112) this is a valuable technology.
eff/tor-dmca-response.html   113) </p>
eff/tor-dmca-response.html   114) 
eff/tor-dmca-response.html   115) <p>
eff/tor-dmca-response.html   116) Thank you for working with me on this matter.  As a loyal subscriber,
eff/tor-dmca-response.html   117) I appreciate your notifying me of this issue and hope that the
eff/tor-dmca-response.html   118) complete protections of DMCA 512 put any concerns you may have at
eff/tor-dmca-response.html   119) rest. If not, please contact me with any further questions.
eff/tor-dmca-response.html   120) </p>
eff/tor-dmca-response.html   121) 
eff/tor-dmca-response.html   122) <p>
eff/tor-dmca-response.html   123) Very truly yours,<br />
eff/tor-dmca-response.html   124) Your customer, [User]
eff/tor-dmca-response.html   125) </p>
eff/tor-dmca-response.html   126) 
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