ALS Scan's Infringement Suit Against Cloudfare Allowed to Continue

ALS Scan's Infringement Suit Against Cloudfare Allowed to Continue

LOS ANGELES — A Los Angeles federal judge yesterday sided with adult publisher ALS Scan and denied content delivery network provider Cloudfare Inc.’s motion for summary judgment in a long-running copyright infringement case.

ALS Scan, in its lawsuit, has accused Cloudfare — one of the leading CDN and DDoS protection services used by millions of websites across the globe — of various types of copyright infringement, noting that several customers used its servers to distribute pirated content.

While Cloudflare has managed to pare several counts from the complaint, the accusation of contributory copyright infringement still remains on the table.

U.S. District Judge George Wu in his ruling yesterday said that Cloudfare as a CDN provider could have done “something simple” to stop infringers and substantially assisted infringements by hosting cached copies of files.

Wu, however, made no conclusions of fact, one way or another, as to whether any specific infringing images were created as cached copies.

Now the landmark case moves on to jurors to decide whether Cloudfare is liable for damages.

ALS Scan suit, initiated in mid 2016, originally named two other defendants, as well — adult ad network Juicy Ads and cloud computing company Hebergement OVH Inc. But Wu granted their motions to dismiss and both companies were pared from the case.

Wu, in yesterday’s ruling, focused primarily on whether there are simple measures that could have prevented further infringement once Cloudfare was notified.

Cloudflare earlier argued that there are no simple measures it could take in response to alleged infringements. Removing a cached copy based on a takedown notice is not an option because that leaves sites and users vulnerable to malicious attacks, its lawyers said.

Wu, however, was dismissive of whether measures by the CDN couldn’t be taken.

“Both sides also devote significant argument to the technological feasibility of Cloudflare implementing a system by which it could keep certain images out of its cache, or off its network,” Wu wrote in his ruling.

“Much of this discussion is unnecessary to resolve the issue at hand. The simple answer as to whether Cloudflare could have done something simple to stop the infringement is ‘yes’: Cloudflare can, but does not, end its business relationship with websites that it knows (or arguably knows) are serial infringers.”

“Cloudflare’s response to this obvious step is to contend that the internet would be a more dangerous place if it withheld its services from sites like BestOfSexPics.com and CumOnMy.com,” Wu wrote. “While that may or may not be the case, if Cloudflare’s logic were accepted, there would be no web content too illegal, or dangerous, to justify termination of its services.”

“While Cloudflare may do amazing things for internet security, the court would have a hard time accepting that Cloudflare’s security features give it license to assist in any online activity. In sum, the court would not grant defendant’s motion for summary judgment based on these grounds.”

Related:  

Copyright © 2024 Adnet Media. All Rights Reserved. XBIZ is a trademark of Adnet Media.
Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited.

More News

Tyler Wu Guests on Chaturbate's 'Sex Tales' Podcast

Tyler Wu is the latest guest on Chaturbate’s “Sex Tales” podcast, hosted by Melissa Stratton and Vanniall on the company’s “Camming Life” YouTube channel.

Fleshy to Launch Interactive Cam Site 'Eremote'

Male pleasure brand Fleshy has announced that it will launch an interactive, bidirectional cam site next month called Eremote.

XBIZ LA Show Introduces New 'Crib Crawl' Feature

XBIZ is pleased to announce that the 2025 edition of its flagship conference, the XBIZ Show, will debut a brand-new feature: Crib Crawl, offering attendees the chance to meet and greet representatives from leading brands and organizations in dedicated suites at the host venue.

Pre-Nominations Now Open for 2025 TEAs

The pre-nomination period for the 2025 Trans Erotica Awards (TEAs) is now open.

Byborg Invests $22.35M in PLBY Group

Luxembourg-based Byborg Enterprises SA is investing $22.35 million in Playboy parent company PLBY Group.

Supreme Court to Hear Oral Arguments on Texas AV Law in January

The United States Supreme Court has scheduled oral arguments for Free Speech Coalition's challenge to Texas’ age verification law to take place Wednesday, Jan. 15.

2025 XBIZ Exec Awards Nominees for Online Industry Announced

XBIZ is pleased to announce the nominees for the online industry edition of the 2025 XBIZ Exec Awards, set to be presented as part of the annual XBIZ Honors ceremony on Wednesday, Jan. 15 in conjunction with the XBIZ 2025 conference.

Project 2025 Leader Claims Big Tech Companies 'Deliberately Fuel Pornography Addiction' Among Men

Heritage Foundation president and Project 2025 leader Kevin Roberts published on Wednesday the text of a speech in which he persists with his past claim that “predatory Big Tech corporations” are “deliberately fueling pornography addiction” among young men.

FSC Petitions 10th Circuit for Review of Utah AV Dismissal

Free Speech Coalition (FSC) on Wednesday petitioned the United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit to review a decision handed down earlier this month by a three-judge panel of the same appeals court, which denied FSC the right to challenge Utah’s controversial age verification law by suing state officials.

MyAdultAttorney's Corey D. Silverstein to Hold Post-Election Legal Impact Webinar

Industry attorney Corey D. Silverstein will hold a “Legal Impact” webinar titled “We Have a New U.S. President: Legal and Community Implications” on Nov. 12 at 1 p.m. PST.

Show More