Supreme Court Shields ISPs From Piracy Liability

The Supreme Court unanimously ruled that an internet service provider cannot be held liable for subscribers' mass copyright infringement unless the provider intended and actively encouraged the infringement, not merely knew it occurred. The decision throws out a pathway to multi‑hundred‑million or billion‑dollar damages against ISPs and shifts the burden of stopping piracy back toward rights holders and law enforcement. — This changes incentives for copyright enforcement, platform design, and policy proposals about intermediary duties, making it a pivot point in debates over who must police online wrongdoing.