Online service provider - Definition and Overview

An online service provider is an entity which provides a service online. It can include ISPs and web sites, such as the Wikipedia or message board operators.

This broad definition is significant for the Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act (OCILLA) portion of the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which defines an online service provider in two different ways for different portions of the law:

• (A) As used in subsection (a), the term service provider means an entity offering the transmission, routing, or providing of connections for digital online communications, between or among points specified by a user, of material of the user's choosing, without modification to the content of the material as sent or received.
• (B) As used in this section, other than subsection (a), the term service provider means a provider of online services or network access, or the operator of facilities therefor, and includes an entity described in subparagraph (A).

These broad definitions make it possible for a large number of web businesses to benefit from the OCILLA.

See also: Online service provider law