The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), acting on behalf of all major music labels, used powers under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) in demanding by court order that Verizon, a telco and ISP, disclose the suspect's identity.
The DMCA provides that ISPs are immune from prosecution, if they turn over the names of suspected digital copyright infringers, when served with such demands. The order sought limited information about a "suspicious" computer connected to the Verizon network.
Verizon fought the order, claiming that the DMCA only applies when an ISP hosts the infringing works on its own computer systems. In this case, the company argued, the downloaded music files were on the user's hardware and therefore beyond Verizon's control.
A federal court in Washington rejected Verizon's arguments, characterising the company's interpretation of the DMCA as "a strained reading".
The court said:
"Under Verizon's reading of the Act, a significant amount of potential copyright infringement would be shielded from the subpoena authority of the DMCA... That would, in effect, give internet copyright infringers shelter from the long arm of the DMCA subpoena power and allow infringement to flourish."
The court also rejected Verizon's argument that the subpoena violates constitutional rights of anonymity and free speech. The Constitution, the court said, does not protect copyright infringement, and the suspect is not anonymous anyway, since his identity is known to Verizon.
The court therefore granted the RIAA the right to enforce the subpoena, and ordered Verizon to comply.
RIAA welcomed the decision and said it is "looking forward" to contacting the suspect whose identity it is seeking, and "let them know that what they are doing is illegal."
Verizon characterised the decision as "bad news for consumers." The company said it will appeal the ruling, and that it will not disclose its subscriber's identity immediately.
The decision is available as a 37-page pdf from:
www.dcd.uscourts.gov/02-ms-323.pdf
