An Important Win Against Internet Piracy
Hoboken, N.J., February 15, 2012 — In a concerted action, a global group of publishers and publishers' associations (of which Wiley was a part) achieved an important success in the fight against copyright piracy on the Internet. Overcoming significant technical and legal obstacles, the publishers were able to locate the alleged operators of two high-traffic rogue Web sites, the sharehoster service, www.ifile.it, and the link library, www.library.nu, and to serve judicial cease-and-desist orders to them. These sites have now shut down.
"This action reflects our commitment to protecting secure, safe, and legitimate use of the Internet," said Stephen M. Smith, President and CEO of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. "It is also evidence of the growing strength of the international community of content creators and providers taking all available legal measures against large illegal platforms" he explained.
The two illicit sites were directly linked to one another to constitute a highly trafficked "internet library" that makes available more than 400,000 high-quality eBooks for immediate, free and anonymous download, without the permission of, and without providing compensation to, the authors and copyright owners. As one of the world's most significant rogue Web sites, its operators made an estimated turnover of €8 million (nearly U.S. $11 million) in revenue from selling advertising and premium-level accounts and from donations.
"The global publishing industry has once again shown that it can and will stand up against large-scale organised copyright crime," says Jens Bammel, Secretary General of the International Publishers Association. "We will not tolerate free-loaders who make unearned profits by depriving authors and publishers of their due compensation. This is an important step towards more transparent, honest, and fair trade of digital content on the Internet."
"This case demonstrates, in particular in the context of current debates, that systematic copyright infringement has developed into a highly criminal and lucrative business. The fight against piracy is not an impediment on one's freedom of expression, but a necessity to reinstate the rule of law on the internet. It is not only in the interest of the thousands of people who dedicate their working lives to the development of our cultural heritage, but first of all in the interest of the authors who depend on fair compensation for their work. Whoever ignores how these issues are intertwined seriously threatens cultural diversity," says Alexander Skipis, CEO of Börsenverein.
