Stefan Mileschin

A court case by a porn outfit against two students could kill off free public wi-fi in the US.

According to an Electronic Frontier Foundation press release, the case has been bought by Liberty Media Holdings which is suing two roommates in New York.

It claims that the pair illegally downloading of a pornographic flick even though LMH argues that only one made the infringing copy.

But the LMH claims that the non-downloading roommate is also responsible for copyright infringement, simply because the Internet subscription is in his name.

EFF said that lately Copyright trolls have been trying to game the legal process, using improper claims and procedures to pressure alleged copyright infringers into settling lawsuits against them even where they have legitimate defenses.

But if the LMH is successful with this latest ploy, Internet users across the country would be in deep trouble.

Cities, cafes, libraries, schools, and individuals operate open Wi-Fi networks, and according to the EFF that could all be under threat.

It means that Wi-Fi providers could be held responsible for users' behaviour and public access to the Internet will disappear over night.

The EFF on Friday filed a brief in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York urging a judge to dismiss LMH's claim that the roommate of the person who made the download acted negligently.

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