Volume II

Issue : 8: April 15, 2004

• U.S. Broadband Industry May be Forced to Share Following Cable Modem Decision
• UN E-commerce Group Releases Revised Draft Convention on the Use of Data Messages in International Contracts
• Supreme Court of Canada to Hear Criminal Spam Case
• U.S. Senate Bill Introduced to Grant Federal Government Exclusive Regulatory Authority Over VoIP
• U.S. Advocacy Groups Lobby FCC to Protect VoIP from Regulations
• CRTC Releases Preliminary View on VoIP Services
• PGA Tour Wins Battle over the Internet Posting of Real-Time Golf Scores
• British Columbia and Alberta Exempt from PIPEDA
• Canadian Privacy Commissioner's E-kit for Businesses
• Eight European Nations Fail to Implement the E-Privacy Directive
• Google Mail Alleged to Violate European Privacy Laws
• Florida Court Orders RIAA to Bring Individual Suits against Alleged File Swappers
• Federal Government Called Upon to Ban Internet Pharmacies
• Internet Pharmacy Sues Health Canada

Home > Volume II > Issue 8: April 15, 2004 > Florida Court Orders RIAA to Bring Individual Suits against Alleged File Swappers

Florida Court Orders RIAA to Bring Individual Suits against Alleged File Swappers

The Recording Industry Association of America ("RIAA") was once again ordered to sue file swappers individually instead of grouping them together under one action. The RIAA brought a joint suit against 25 suspected file swappers who share the same Internet service provider. Judge David Baker of the U.S. District Court in Orlando found that no facts connected the defendants beyond the circumstances of accessing the Internet through the same service provider and stated that the claims against the various defendants were "not logically related to each other." This decision follows a similar recent decision in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The legal director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation states that these decisions "are simply requiring the record companies to follow the rules that everyone else has to follow when bringing lawsuits."

For more information, visit:
http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,62915,00.html
For a copy of the decision, visit:
http://shorl.com/fepysoprumyge