Private ISP Justice, Dutch-Style

When Dutch civil rights organization Bits of Freedom posted a public domain text on websites with ten different Dutch internet service providers and then e-mailed copyright infringement notices under the name of an imaginary copyright holder, 7 out of 10 ISPs took down the material, sometimes within hours and without even informing the account holder. Their report compares the European E-Commerce Directive with the American DCMA Safe Harbor Provisions and concludes that "It only takes a Hotmail account to bring a website down, and freedom of speech stands no chance in front of the Texan-style private ISP justice."