German Cabinet Adopts Wi-Fi Change, Fails to Limit Infringement Liability

摘要

The German Cabinet adopted an amendment to the Telemedia Act ("TMG") on Sept. 16, which it said would free private and public Wi-Fi providers of liability for third-party rights violations online when "adequate" security measures are in place, with the aim of proliferating Wi-Fi networks across the country. The "Second Law on Changing the German Telemedia Act," initially published by the German Economics Ministry ("BMWi") on March 11, stipulates that Wi-Fi providers would not be made liable for third-party copyright infringements carried out over their online networks due to the so-called "liability privilege". Specifically, under proposed amendments to Article 8 of the TMG, to evade culpability for third-party online activity, commercial and public Wi-Fi providers would be required to implement "reasonable security methods through recognized encryption methods" to protect their networks from unauthorized access by "outside parties", and obtain non-rights violation declarations from users prior to granting access."