I guess I had never considered the repercussions that would be had on internet cafes/bars when their patrons use their IP address to commit illegal or infringing activity. Perhaps the bar can argue that somewhere, somehow by using their internet connection, patrons have agreed to conduct legal activity? Though, without actually clicking “I acknowledge” or typing in a password which leads patrons to a terms of use page, I’m not sure how much the cafes can argue that.

While I offer no solution to remedy this, I do not think the internet cafes/pubs should be held responsible for the activity of its patrons. At the same time, though, someone must be held responsible, and it seems the only way that can happen is by holding the IP address owners responsible. Perhaps cafes can implement some sort of register which requires patrons to manually sign in to various IP addresses. For instance, I, Elizabeth Shelby, sign in to IP Address #1 at Starbucks, and you would sign in to IP Address #2. That way, there’s some sort of log as to who used which IP address, and MAYBE infringers can be tracked that way. Still, within the course of a day, hundreds of people could have signed in to IP Address #1, not really narrowing down the search for the infringer any more. Also, this would only work if Starbucks had a number of IP addresses which matched the number of patrons using their internet, which would be not only expensive but near impossible.