British ISPs Ordered to Reveal Identity of Song-Swappers

A British Court has granted an interim order sought by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) to force ISPs to release the names of 28 song-swappers. The order, granted without written reasons, was unopposed by the ISPs. An article in CNET news.com quotes Justice Blackburne of the High Court: "[o]n the face of it this appears to be a powerful case of copyright infringement". To date, this balancing of rights between privacy and ownership of intellectual property has been differently decided in Canada and the United States. Recently, the US Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal by RIAA against a District of Columbia appellate decision in favour of Verizon which successfully avoided disclosure of its customers' identities. For the CNET news.com article entitled "British ISPs must unmask downloaders", visit: http://makeashorterlink.com/?R48862E. The text of the appellate opinion in Recording Indust v Verizon Internet Svc, 03-7015a (US App DC), decided 19 Dec 2003 can be found at: http://makeashorterlink.com/?A1D852E99. In the preceding issue of E-TIPS newsletter (Volume 3, Number 9, October 13, 2004), there are links to earlier news items on the Canadian position: http://makeashorterlink.com/?I2E832E99. Summary by: Nicholas Whalen