[e-privacy] Re: (USA) privacy e P2P: una sentenza contro la lobby dell'industria musicale

[pinna]

aggiungo che il provider che ha vinto il ricorso ha goduto del sostegno
di una ventina di gruppi per la difesa dei diritti civili e della privacy
e di associazioni di consumatori. tra queste, la Electronic Frontier
Foundation, che nel comunicato seguente definisce la sentenza "una
vittoria per l'anonimato e la privacy". la sentenza e' infatti inerente 
alla privacy degli utenti della rete piu' che al copyright o al P2P
in senso stretto.

ciao
pinna


January 04, 2005
Music Industry Must Respect Privacy of Filesharers

Ruling in Charter Case Smashes DMCA Subpoena Powers

The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision today that will
stop entertainment corporations from gaining access to the names of
people using peer-to-peer (P2P) networks unless the companies file
lawsuits against them and furnish actual evidence of copyright
infringement.

The case was sparked by a series of subpoenas sent by the Recording
Industry Association of America (RIAA) to Missouri-based Internet
service provider (ISP) Charter Communications, Inc. The record companies
claimed that these subpoenas, which demanded that Charter identify
customers accused of offering infringing music on P2P networks, were
authorized by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), along with 21 other groups,
including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Consumer
Federation of America (CFA), and the Computer & Communications Industry
Association (CCIA), filed a "friend of the court" brief in the Charter
case, urging the Eighth Circuit to determine that the same strong
protections applied to anonymous speech in other contexts also apply
when copyright infringement is claimed but has not yet been proven. In a
victory for privacy and anonymity, the Eighth Circuit determined that
DMCA subpoenas could not be used to get this information.

EFF Staff Attorney Wendy Seltzer noted that the RIAA has already changed
its tactics for the better in current suits against filesharers. In
these new cases, record companies generally file suit against "John
Does." Said Seltzer, "In the 'Doe' lawsuits RIAA members are currently
filing, a judge oversees the discovery process and can help protect ISP
customers before their names are revealed." EFF has filed amicus briefs
in several of the Doe cases, and some judges have limited the record
labels' discovery of identities through mass lawsuits.

In December 2003, the DC Circuit ruled that the RIAA could not use the
DMCA's non-judicial subpoenas to obtain subscriber identities from ISP
Verizon Internet Services, Inc. "Charter should be congratulated for
following in the footsteps of Verizon in standing up for the privacy of
its users," said EFF Legal Director Cindy Cohn. The US Supreme Court
rejected the RIAA's appeal of the Verizon case. Today's Eighth Circuit
decision is an explicit endorsement of the DC Circuit's ruling.

Contacts:

Cindy Cohn
Legal Director
Electronic Frontier Foundation
cindy at eff.org

Wendy Seltzer
Staff Attorney
Electronic Frontier Foundation
wendy at eff.org

http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2005_01.php#002178