Supreme Court tosses $1B copyright verdict in record companies' battle over illegal internet downloads

The Supreme Court unanimously ruled Wednesday that internet providers are not liable for copyright infringement by their users, delivering an opinion in Cox v. Sony and tossing a $1 billion verdict.

"Under our precedents, a company is not liable as a copyright infringer for merely providing a service to the general public with knowledge that it will be used by some to infringe copyrights," Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in the opinion. "Accordingly, we reverse."

The ruling marks a significant...