Abstract:
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are vitally attending our information society since
they are assessed as a gatekeeper to the Internet. In other words, they are a crucial technological
tool that provides access to the Internet. The main function of ISP is to transmit content or
material through its service, but this sort of function has recently been in a difficult situation
due to some legal issues. Not only the public but also copyright holders have initiated to require
ISPs to monitor the content which transported to the Internet for a reason when some users
are infringing copyrighted material on ISP’s sites. Thus, it leads to a legal question of whether
ISPs are liable for Internet piracy taking place on their websites. The purpose of this article is to
examine the liability of ISPs for digital piracy by their users. The novelty of this paper is to offer
some recommendations to enhance the safe harbor provisions of ISP by comparing jurisdictions
of some countries such as the US, the EU, and China. To answer the abovementioned question,
the author will mainly rely on comparative-legal, formal legal, and historical methods. The
outcome of this paper suggests that to avoid copyright responsibility, ISPs must not promote the
infringing actions of Internet users on their platforms. Moreover, the Chinese service providers
should carefully monitor content which shared or posted by subscribers on the Internet.
