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In Separate Decisions, U.K. and Irish High Courts Order ISPs to Disclose Subscriber Information
Thirteen Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in the U.K. and in Ireland have recently been ordered by High Courts in those countries to disclose the identities of nearly two hundred of their subscribers following court actions similar to that pursued by the Canadian recording industry and others in the Federal Court of Canada.
In the U.K., ten ISPs have been ordered by a High Court judge to provide the Federation Against Software Theft (FAST) with the details of 150 subscribers who FAST alleges have been illegally sharing software over the Internet. The High Court Order follows a covert investigation by FAST which says it will approach the police and Crown Prosecution Service once it has been provided with the personal information. FAST says the court action is only the first wave of its on-going strategy to prevent software piracy in the U.K.
In a similar ruling, an Irish High Court judge has ordered three ISPs to disclose the names, addresses and telephone numbers of 49 subscribers who, a number of music companies allege, have been illegally uploading music files onto file-sharing networks. Digital Rights Ireland (DRI) has complained that the order violates European privacy laws and is inconsistent with a U.K. decision which held that Internet users whose identities might be revealed should be given an opportunity to be represented in Court.
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