COPYRIGHT ISSUES IN NET NEUTRALITY DEBATE: A NORMATIVE ANALYSIS

Abstract The debate on network neutrality has raged fervently in recent times. Although verbose arguments have been placed against and in favour thereof, the intertwined issue of online copyright infringement hasn’t quite received the deserved attention. Therefore, the paper proposes to focus on the ability of the ISPs to take reasonable actions to prevent the unlawful distribution of copyrighted works over internet. However, such affirmative efforts to protect creators’ IP rights might condition, limit or eliminate consumers’ fair use opportunities and also their privacy expectations. Abiding by a doctrinal methodology, this paper furnishes a backdrop by elucidating the internet architecture, conceptual contours of net neutrality and aspects and prospects of copyright filtering. Since the inception of the internet occurred much later the promulgation and development of the copyright laws, it has been safely observed that the internet, vis-a-vis the access to contents, could never be, and has never been neutral. The conceptual paradigm of a neutral net must take note of the fact that safeguarding the rights of the copyright owners is paramount as well, and towards this end allow intervention of the ISPs to a certain extent, besides inspiring exploration of new, innovative business models by the content industry