European court protects file sharers
PrintISPs not obliged to hand over subscriber info
Posted in Music and Media, 19th July 2007 10:14 GMT
Free whitepaper – Dell PowerEdge server benchmarks
European telcos and ISPs do not have to hand over subscriber information to record labels which are trying to find file sharers.
Advocate General Juliane Kokott, adviser to the European Court, reckons European internet service providers are not obliged to hand over subscriber information when approached by record labels pursuing civil cases. The information should be handed over in a criminal case.
The case stems from Telefonica's refusal to hand over information on Spanish subscribers accused of sharing music by Promusicae, an affiliate of the IFPI.
Telefonica ended up in court for refusing to give up names and addresses of customers using file sharing software Kazaa.
The Spanish court asked the European Court for advice.
The European Court has still to decide on how to advise Spanish judges, but is likely to follow the legal advice given to it. ®
Free whitepaper – PowerEdge M1000e, M600 and M605 spec sheet
The Register Agile Data Center Summit
What Exchange can't do - and Dell can
Analyst Keynote: The Register Agile Data Center Summit
Dirty, dirty PCs: The X-rated picture guide
Top 500 supers - rise of the Linux quad-cores
Early adopters bloodied by Ubuntu's Karmic Koala
Sign up, sign up for The Register IT security newsletter