Coming Soon
Scheduled to release on November 27, 2026
The Billion-Dollar Wire: Cox v. Sony Music & The Death of DMCA Safe Harbor
Can your internet provider be sued for a billion dollars because a subscriber downloaded a song?
Can your internet provider be held liable for a billion dollars because a subscriber downloaded a copyrighted song—and should an entire household lose access to the modern world over an automated piracy notice? In 2019, a federal jury handed down an astronomical $1 billion verdict against Cox Communications, the third-largest broadband provider in the United States. Major record labels led by Sony Music Entertainment accused Cox of willful secondary copyright infringement after the provider refused to terminate paying subscribers who racked up hundreds of thousands of BitTorrent piracy notices. In this episode of reWandt, we deconstruct Sony Music Entertainment v. Cox Communications (93 F.4th 222). Explore the architecture of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. § 512), how internal company emails exposed a 'black hole' policy prioritizing subscriber fees over copyright enforcement, and the Fourth Circuit's landmark 2024 ruling that affirmed contributory infringement but vacated the $1 billion award by reversing vicarious liability. Finally, we examine the terrifying dilemma facing modern society: when broadband is an essential utility for work, school, and healthcare, can we allow automated private bot notices to cut entire families off from the modern world? Explore more deep dives at https://reWandt.com #reWandt #CyberLaw #DMCA --- *Disclaimer: Assembled by AI from Professor Wandt's lectures and research; this overview may not reflect his exact views or wording.*
Key Takeaways & Core Ideas
- ▪Under DMCA 17 U.S.C. § 512(i)(1)(A), an ISP forfeits Safe Harbor protection if it fails to adopt and reasonably implement a policy to terminate repeat infringers.
- ▪Internal Cox records exposed a 'black hole' procedure and temporary 'soft disconnects' designed to preserve recurring subscription revenue rather than enforce copyright compliance.
- ▪The Fourth Circuit affirmed contributory infringement (knowingly providing the broadband facility for ongoing piracy) but reversed vicarious liability (flat subscription fees are not direct profits from infringement), vacating the $1 billion award.
- ▪The modern utility dilemma: broadband is essential infrastructure for work, education, and healthcare, making household-level termination via automated bot notices a grave digital due process risk.
Source Excerpt
"Can your internet provider be sued for a billion dollars because a subscriber downloaded a song?"