The Belgian ISP ruling is grabbing headlines this week as a potentially precedent-setting case within the European Union — specifically, the declaration that Internet Service Providers bear responsibility for stopping illegal file-sharing on their network. While the ruling is unlikely to jump the Atlantic anytime soon, it raises broader questions of gatekeepers’ responsibilities and highlights the need for the industry to embrace new technologies that will prevent the issue from being “solved” in the courts.

How do we prevent a litigious ending to this story in the U.S? By creating an online content marketplace in which all players have web-wide visibility into content re-use. And not just ISPs, this marketplace should include anyone who serves, indexes, aggregates or monetizes online content.

Billions of dollars and the future growth of the online content economy depend on it.