This week, a number of websites that sell counterfeit products were taken offline by hosting provider AltusHost, after a Dutch court decided that AltusHost was responsible for making available the counterfeit products.

The websites hosted by AltusHost sold fake luxury watches by copying brands of Breitling, Chanel, Gucci, Christian Dior and Omega. At first, the brand holders tried to contact the website holders. When they didn't receive any response, the brand owners demanded AltusHost to take the websites offline, but AltusHost refused to do so. AltusHost wrote an e-mail to one of the brand holders, stating that the watches were not stolen, only copied, and that, as a mere hosting provider, it is none of their business. Thereafter, the brand holders started a lawsuit, demanding that AltusHost block access to the counterfeit sites for visitors from the Benelux and should quit the provision of hosting services to these websites.

In court, AltusHost argued that blocking the websites is disproportionate, because it will not lead to the intended purpose: the websites will probably reappear online a few hours after the blockade, as they can easily move to another hosting provider. The court rejected this argument, saying that the strategy of asking for blockades is carried out sensibly by the brand owners, as they already took action against other hosting providers and in other countries, requesting these hosting providers to take the counterfeit websites offline. Most hosting providers obeyed this request. A blockade is a cheap and not too radical measure, so it is proportionate in this case, stated the court.

It is indeed likely that the website holders will move to another hosting provider and that their counterfeit sites will reappear on the internet. However, this case clearly demonstrates that it will not suffice for hosting providers to ignore notice-and-takedown requests from IP right holders. As we have seen with blocking requests for The Pirate Bay, Dutch courts are willing to issue court orders in order to force hosting providers to make websites unavailable. It might be impossible to completely eliminate the trade in counterfeit goods, but it can only be reduced if everyone makes its contribution.

The decision of the court (in Dutch) can be found here. 

Read more about notice-and-takedown on FutureOfCopyright.com:

• Takedown of filesharing site Demonoid by Ukrainian authorities causes controversy
• Less internet traffic for The Pirate Bay since blockade
• Dutch Court orders remaining ISPs to block The Pirate Bay

Source: Webwereld

By: Marjolein van der Heide