multi
July 29th, 2004, 02:04 PM
July 27, 2004, 4:41 PM PDT By Declan McCullagh (declan.mccullagh@cnet.com?subject=FEEDBACK:Judge: %20RIAA%20can%20unmask%20file%20swappers)
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
update
A federal judge has handed a preliminary victory to the recording industry by granting its request to unmask anonymous file swappers accused of copyright infringement.
U.S. District Judge Denny Chin (http://dw.com.com/redir?destUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nysd.uscourts.gov%2 Fjudges%2FUSDJ%2Fchin.htm&siteId=3&oId=2100-1027-5285605&ontId=1023&lop=nl_ex) ruled Monday that Cablevision, which provides broadband Internet access in Connecticut, New Jersey and New York, can be required to divulge the identities of its subscribers sued over copyright violations (http://news.com.com/RIAA+embarks+on+new+round+of+piracy+suits/2100-1027_3-5144558.html?tag=nl).
This ruling is the latest decision to clarify what legal methods copyright holders may use when hunting down people who are trading files on peer-to-peer networks. Courts have spent the last few years grappling with how to reconcile Americans' right to be anonymous with the entertainment industry's own right to sue people who violate copyright law.
Chin, in Manhattan, said that the implicit guarantee of anonymity in the Bill of Rights is an insufficient shield in this case: "Such a person's identity is not protected from disclosure by the First Amendment."
Lawyers following the case said it is significant because Chin's ruling is the most detailed so far in any of the many "John Doe" lawsuits brought by the Recording Industry Association of America. Chin said that while file swapping "qualifies as speech" to some degree, the RIAA's member companies had overcome the hurdle posed by the First Amendment and could compel "disclosure of the Doe defendants' identities."
Paul Levy, an attorney at the nonprofit group Public Citizen (http://dw.com.com/redir?destUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.citizen.org%2F&siteId=3&oId=2100-1027-5285605&ontId=1023&lop=nl_ex), said that "the nice thing about the ruling is that (the judge) recognizes the First Amendment interests at stake here and he applies a balancing test." Levy, who filed a friend-of-the-court brief opposing the RIAA, said that Chin's analysis ensures that companies filing a copyright infringement lawsuit must prove they have a real case and aren't merely on a fishing expedition for someone's name. more.. (http://news.com.com/Judge:+RIAA+can+unmask+file+swappers/2100-1027_3-5285605.html)
:cross
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
update
A federal judge has handed a preliminary victory to the recording industry by granting its request to unmask anonymous file swappers accused of copyright infringement.
U.S. District Judge Denny Chin (http://dw.com.com/redir?destUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nysd.uscourts.gov%2 Fjudges%2FUSDJ%2Fchin.htm&siteId=3&oId=2100-1027-5285605&ontId=1023&lop=nl_ex) ruled Monday that Cablevision, which provides broadband Internet access in Connecticut, New Jersey and New York, can be required to divulge the identities of its subscribers sued over copyright violations (http://news.com.com/RIAA+embarks+on+new+round+of+piracy+suits/2100-1027_3-5144558.html?tag=nl).
This ruling is the latest decision to clarify what legal methods copyright holders may use when hunting down people who are trading files on peer-to-peer networks. Courts have spent the last few years grappling with how to reconcile Americans' right to be anonymous with the entertainment industry's own right to sue people who violate copyright law.
Chin, in Manhattan, said that the implicit guarantee of anonymity in the Bill of Rights is an insufficient shield in this case: "Such a person's identity is not protected from disclosure by the First Amendment."
Lawyers following the case said it is significant because Chin's ruling is the most detailed so far in any of the many "John Doe" lawsuits brought by the Recording Industry Association of America. Chin said that while file swapping "qualifies as speech" to some degree, the RIAA's member companies had overcome the hurdle posed by the First Amendment and could compel "disclosure of the Doe defendants' identities."
Paul Levy, an attorney at the nonprofit group Public Citizen (http://dw.com.com/redir?destUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.citizen.org%2F&siteId=3&oId=2100-1027-5285605&ontId=1023&lop=nl_ex), said that "the nice thing about the ruling is that (the judge) recognizes the First Amendment interests at stake here and he applies a balancing test." Levy, who filed a friend-of-the-court brief opposing the RIAA, said that Chin's analysis ensures that companies filing a copyright infringement lawsuit must prove they have a real case and aren't merely on a fishing expedition for someone's name. more.. (http://news.com.com/Judge:+RIAA+can+unmask+file+swappers/2100-1027_3-5285605.html)
:cross