Producing the identities of Internet users alleged of wrongdoing happens so regularly, says a lawyer for Videotron, that he’s bewildered as to why other ISPs are fighting a motion from the music industry to hand over the names of people who share large volumes of songs online.
“We do it on a regular basis. It’s not very complicated,” said Serge Sasseville, following the conclusion of weighty Federal Court of Appeal hearings about file-swapping, which could lead to the start of lawsuits against so-called music pirates.
Headed by chief justice John D. Richard, the three-judge appeal panel adjourned late Wednesday after lengthy arguments about the applications of privacy and copyright law.
The judges will now review the case. There is no scheduled date for a ruling although some expect a decision by late summer.
Lawyers for the Canadian Recording Industry Association argued they need the identities of 29 people deemed “large scale uploaders” in order to charge them with copyright infringement.
The five Internet service providers named in the case – Shaw Communications, Rogers Cable Communications, Bell Canada, Telus Communications and Videotron – can’t divulge the information without a court order because privacy legislation requires them to keep customer information sealed.
One of the major issues is determining whether making songs available on a peer-to-peer network contravenes Canada’s Copyright Act.
Videotron is the sole ISP not fighting the request to turn over the names. The other ISPs argue they are simply looking out for the interests of their customers. Some argued that an IP address doesn’t necessarily lead to the actual person doing the alleged uploading since it only reveals the account holder. Many people could be using the same computer, they say.
There’s also been some question about how the music industry group linked online nicknames of Kazaa users to actual IP addresses.
“We just want to make sure CRIA proves its case . . . not just merely allegations that something has gone on,” Jay Thomson, the lawyer representing Telus, said Thursday.
“We’re not in a position to make a determination if some activity is legal or illegal. Certainly if the court determines that it’s illegal (to upload to Kazaa) we will respond to it.”
Videotron has aligned itself with the music industry’s motion saying it agrees that putting songs in a shared directory on peer-to-peer networks like Kazaa and IMesh constitutes copyright infringement because it allows users to copy and download the material for free.
Read the story @ Sympatico MSN
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