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U.S. Supreme Court Confirms ISPs Not Bound to Identify Music Sharing Subscribers
The United States Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit decision in Recording Industry Association of America, Inc. v. Verizon Internet Services, Inc. It was held in this decision that the music industry cannot, pursuant to the subpoena provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, compel Internet service providers to disclose the identity and other personal details of users illegally swapping music and movies online.
By letting this decision stand, the United States Supreme Court has effectively hampered the RIAA's legal tactic of filing numerous civil suits identifying defendants as "John Doe", and then seeking court permission to get their names from the ISPs. The RIAA has sued 5,441 unnamed alleged copyright infringers since September 2003, but only 382 cases were affected by this decision.
The Court of Appeals stated it was up to Congress, not the courts, to expand the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 to cover file-sharing networks. The U.S. Congress is presently adjourned until after the presidential election, but several important copyright-related bills are still pending before Congress.
For more information, visit:
http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,65321,00.html
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/9899219.htm