Josh Hatfield was sued by porn maker AF Holdings for copyright infringement, but it was someone else who illegally downloaded the copyrighted content using Hatfield’s internet connection. A judge in California just ruled that since Hatfield didn’t know about it, it wasn’t his fault. Obviously.
Here’s what happend: Josh Hatfield left his Wi-Fi connection wide open and some sneaky porn fiend snuck onto his internet and torrented AF Holdings movies. According to the order written by Judge Phyllis Hamilton of the Northern California District Court, AF holdings claimed that Hatfield had a “duty to secure his internet connection” and thus he is responsible for the theft. In short, they’re accusing Hatfield of negligence. The logic of the claim is that the world is full of bad people and so everyone should rigorously monitor their internet to preempt evil.
That’s obviously ridiculous, so Hatfield motioned to dismiss the case and Judge Hamilton agreed. Securing your Wi-Fi is probably a good idea, but you can’t sue someone for failing to use a password just like you can’t sue people for leaving their front doors unlocked. [Scribd via Torrent Freak via Geekosystem]