"Brein has sought help from a research company, which has looked at the shared folders on computers of the file swappers. In that process it may have accessed private files," the judge said in the court ruling. This is yet another case where a Judge has ruled for privacy over piracy. "The judge does not deem this correct, because according to Dutch law, privacy is insufficiently protected in the United States," the ruling said.
Brein represents 52 media companies in total including EMI, Sony Music and Universal Studios. Brein manager Tim Kuik said he would take his case to a higher court. The attorney for the ISPs, Christiaan Alberdingk Thijm said the ruling was an important victory for the privacy of Internet users. "Private organizations cannot start sniffing around on someone else's computer and collect data," he said.
Source:
Reuters