on whether the activity in question “substantially assists” direct infringement. Amazon, com, 487 F.3d at 729. There is no question that providing direct infringers with server space satisfies that standard. In Visa, 494 F.3d at 799-800, we held as a matter of law that defendants did not materially contribute to infringement because “[t]hey d[id] not operate the servers on which [the infringing images] reside[d].” The opposite is true here. Akanoc’s servers are “an essential step in the infringement process.” Id. at 812 (Kozinski, C.J., dissenting). The district court did not err by narrowing the instruction on material contribution to the only genuine question as' to that element — whether Appellants provided their services to direct infringers. See also Napster, 239 F.3d. at 1022 (<HOLDING>). Appellants further contend that the jury
holding that an appeal is not moot so long as the appellate court can fashion relief that is both effective and equitable internal quotation marks omitted alteration in original holding that a plaintiffs ability to invoke  1983 cannot be defeated simply by the availability of administrative mechanisms to protect the plaintiffs interests alteration in original and quotation marks omitted holding that the reviewing court must accept the adverse credibility finding so long as one of the identified grounds is supported by substantial evidence and goes to the heart of the petitioners claim of persecution internal quotation marks omitted first alteration in original holding that napster materially contribute to the infringing activity because without the support services defendant provides napster users could not find and download the music they want with the ease of which defendant boasts internal quotation marks removed alteration in original holding that where defendant has hyped the claim of superiority by attributing it to the results of scientific testing plaintiff must prove only that the tests relied upon were not sufficiently reliable to permit one to conclude with reasonable certainty that they established the proposition for which they were cited alteration in original internal quotation marks omitted