Mexico Senate Passes Bill to Hold ISPs Liable for Piracy

According to a report by Habr, the Mexican Senate approved amendments to the Federal Copyright Law. The new rules impose a duty on internet service providers to implement a policy of identifying repeat copyright infringers and disconnecting them. If providers fail to publish this policy in their terms of service or provide a method to notify users, they may be held directly liable for their subscribers' lawbreaking.

The bill was approved with approximately two-thirds of the votes, though some ambiguity remained during the debate. The document does not specify exactly who constitutes a repeat infringer. These changes were proposed by the Mexican government in May to align with the USMCA trade agreement covering the United States and Canada. Additionally, copyright organizations in the United States had demanded that Mexico adopt clear rules defining provider liability.

This step was observed after the US Supreme Court overturned its decision in the Cox case in March. Before the court, recording companies had sued providers for continuing to serve subscribers accused of repeat piracy. The new ruling emphasizes that merely knowing about piracy and failing to act is not sufficient to hold a provider liable. Now, providers in Mexico must have a clear policy to comply with 'safe harbor' terms.

Within the scope of the new rules, providers must provide a simple method to notify users and implement a mechanism to remove repeat infringers from the system. In such cases, internet access can be cut off. If a provider does not comply with 'safe harbor' terms and fails to act despite knowing of their users' lawbreaking, they will be liable for these violations. The document has currently been sent to President Claudia Sheinbaum for signature.