VPN servers are a thorn in the side of movie studios: Anyone who can disguise their identity and location on the Internet can circumvent geoblocking – and thus also access movies blocked in their country or use illegal streaming sites anonymously. Now several film studios have filed a lawsuit.
Litigation in Virginia
The lawsuit filed in Virginia aims to force VPN companies to block certain sites and record users’ data. The movie studios behind the suit, which include Millennium Media, see VPN use primarily as a tool to illegally access their products. In the statement of claim, the plaintiffs allege that VPN services are advertised “as tools to illegally acquire protected content without getting caught.” They also point out that the VPN companies have so far been unable to clear up copyright infringements, as it is not possible to determine which user illegally accessed a film or series via the respective VPN. This circumstance could be eradicated if the companies behind the VPN servers were obliged to collect the data of all users.
The principle of VPN would be reduced to absurdity
If the film studios’ demands were actually enforced, the principle of VPN would be reduced to absurdity, since it aims precisely to enable the most anonymous possible use of the Internet – the collection of personal data would be in extreme contradiction to this. This, in turn, would not only have the effects desired by the film studios, but would also massively harm other groups of people who rely on disguising their identity, as well as representing a general attack on the protection of privacy on the Internet. From the point of view of VPN operators, this is compounded by the fact that it would render their previous business principle impossible. It can therefore be assumed that the defendants will contest the action and reject the claims.
