[hapakenya.com]If parliament passes a new bill targeting online intellectual property thieves, managers of internet service providers (ISPs), who fail to expunge copyrighted content that has been illegally posted on their networks could face up to five years in jail.After its legal owner has informed them of the infringement through a formal takedown request, ISP providers who continue transmitting such material after 48 hours will be liable to a Sh500,000 fine if found guilty of the offence.The penalties are contained in the recently published Copyright (Amendment) Bill, 2017.The bill states “The ISP which fails to take down or disable access when it receives a takedown notice shall be fully liable for any loss or damages resulting from non-compliance to a takedown notice without a valid justification”.However, Internet firms must, prove they were not complicit in the infringement by showing that they did not initiate transmission of the content, modify or promote it or select the recipient.Kenyans, who illegally download movies from the Internet or even stream premium sports content will not be able to access these websites if the ISPs are requested to block them by the copyright holders. If the bill becomes law, Owners of blogs and websites that publish copyrighted literary content from newspapers or books without permission will also find themselves in trouble.

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