RIAA given green light to identify some file-sharers

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has successfully challenged the court ruling that gave anonymity to individuals it has filed suit against over peer-to-peer file sharing.

ISPs will now have to match IP addresses to people, after US District Judge Denny Chin of Manhattan ruled that Cablevision and other ISPs must hand over details of alleged file swappers to the RIAA so that it can subpoena them.

Judge Chin explained that the First Amendment does not guarantee anonymity. His ruling only applies in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

But the decision comes after a ruling by the Washington DC Appeals Court in December 2003, which said that the RIAA cannot force ISPs to identify subscribers swapping music online.

This obliged the RIAA to prosecute downloaders as 'John Doe'. It could only find out the identity of the alleged music swapper when the case got to court.

Meanwhile as the war against file sharers spreads across Europe, French ISPs have clubbed together to block P2P users from downloading music files.

Free, Noos, Club-Internet, Wanadoo and Tiscali France have all signed a government-backed charter to crack down on music swappers.

The charter, which has also been signed by record labels, will use a series of measures to stamp out music swapping.

The first step will be to send warnings to subscribers identified by music groups as having downloaded music illegally.

ISPs said they will remove copyrighted tracks posted by subscribers and pass on subscriber details to music labels when asked.

If all else fails, the ISPs said they would suspend internet accounts, but only on the decision of a judge, according to French news agency AFP.

See also:

RIAA launches P2P file sharing legal blitz

Hundreds of alleged downloaders hit with lawsuits  19 Nov 2004

P2P company wants RIAA to face the music

Altnet accuses US trade body of patent infringement  10 Sep 2004

Senate backs piracy plan to sink file sharers

Art Act and Pirate Act provide sweeping new powers to imprison offenders  28 Jun 2004

RIAA files another 482 lawsuits

Trade body welcomes new copyright infringement legislation as it issues more subpoenas  23 Jun 2004

RIAA vs P2P

The US trade body is now bringing the full weight of the law to bear on individuals who dare to download a track or two from the web. But the users are fighting back ...  01 Aug 2003

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