The End of Broadband As We Know It?

The Courts are about to eviscerate Internet privacy in the name of protecting large record labels. In his January 21, 2003, ruling, U.S. District Court Judge John Bates ruled that Verizon had to disclose the personal information of a Verzion customer who was file-sharing.

The Judge made a flawed interpretation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), because the allegedly infringing content never resided on Verizon’s servers.

Yesterday, Judge Bate’s decided to let the privacy abuse begin by lifting a stay on revealing the personal information of the Verizon user in the case. Verizon is making an emergency appeal.

CSE President Paul Beckner commented, “As Judge Bates would have it, anyone who is file-swapping on the Internet might as well mail their personal information directly to the RIAA. The right to privacy and anonymous speech on the Net is in jeopardy.”

“Bate’s decision directly impacts millions of users of Peer-to-Peer technology (P2P). P2P networking holds great promise as a more efficient way to distribute and manage all kinds of information. It literally may be the next form of the Internet.

“Instead of embracing this new technology and creating market-based business models that will protect and benefit content creators, the RIAA instead wants to hunt down individual citizens who swap music online.

“I don’t think the Justice Department, which regrettably supported the RIAA’s position in a filing last week, fully understands the privacy implications in this case. Consumers have an expectation that an ISP will protect their identity. With this ruling, any copyright holder can demand to know the consumer’s identity without appropriate judicial oversight. That’s outrageous.

“This decision will launch a litigation bonanza, where the RIAA and others can use the DMCA’s streamlined subpoena process to harass ISPs and consumers with millions of legal notices. What’s more, this decision undermines the fundamental expectation of privacy on the Internet, which in turn deals a significant blow to the broadband economy. It’s a bitter irony that the U.S. government is on one hand working to get Americans online and on the other restricting the ability of our citizens to communicate freely on the Net.

“The Court is wrong, and the members of CSE are mobilizing to fight this attack on consumer rights.”