James Delahunty
5 Jan 2005 9:00
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) cannot force Charter Communications Inc. to supply them the identity details of subscribers it alleges to have distributed copyrighted music through P2P networks, a U.S. appeals court ruled. A federal judge issued the subpoenas in 2003 but the appeals court said the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) doesn't allow the RIAA to subpoena Charter for user information because the files at issue aren't stored in the company's computers. The RIAA is currently on a campaign against illegal filesharing, suing thousands of music sharers in the United States.
"Because the parties do not dispute that Charter's function was limited to acting as a conduit for the allegedly copyright protected material, we agree that the 1998 act doesn't authorize the subpoenas", U.S. Circuit Judge Kermit Bye wrote in the majority's opinion released today. However, as always, the RIAA had nothing but tough words to utter after this defeat. "For the past year, we have successfully utilized the 'John Doe' litigation process to sue thousands of illegal file sharers," the RIAA said in a statement. "Our enforcement efforts won't miss a beat."
Source:
Bloomberg