In our section on Ethics and Business we discussed the IDDR approach to approach to making ethical business decisions. The basic steps of this approach are: Inquiry, Discussion, Decision, and Review. Below are facts from a case filed and decided in the 9th Federal Circuit of Appeals. It is a case involving whether an internet service provider may be liable for distribution of copyrighted material. The facts discussed within the case are as follows:

Defendant Giganews, Inc., owns and operates several Usenet servers and provides its subscribers with fee-based access to content stored on its own servers as well as content stored on the servers of other Usenet providers. Defendant Livewire Services, Inc., provides its subscribers with access to the Usenet content stored on Giganews's servers. Plaintiff Perfect 10, Inc., owns the exclusive copyrights to tens of thousands of adult images, many of which have been illegally distributed over Giganews's servers.

Perfect 10, Inc. v. Giganews, Inc. 847 F.3d 657 (9th Cir. 2017).

The case is published online at: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca9/15-55500/15-55500-2017-01-23.html(Links to an external site.)

Instructions:

• Review the case above and consider the relevant arguments of the parties and arguments of the Court.
• Assume you are on the Board of Directors for a corporation which is an internet service provider.
  • Do you believe the corporation has a duty to prevent infringement and why or why not?
  • Utilizing the IDDR approach for ethical decision making, would you take steps, and if so, what steps would you take to prevent copyright infringement.