European Court Decides FileSharers Should Stay Anonymous

[Lease]

European file-sharers were given a huge legal boost today, as the European Court of Justice declared that EU law does not allow Internet Service Providers to be forced to reveal the personal details of people accused of file sharing.

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Telefonica, Spain?s largest telecom operator successfully argued that the law only required it to reveal the identities of those accused of a criminal offense and that sharing of music was a civil issue.


The European Court of Justice agreed with Telefonica in its dispute with the Spanish music rights holders association Promusicae. In order to start civil proceedings, Promusicae had asked for the names of Telefonica subscribers, who allegedly infringed copyrighted material by using KaZaA.


The court said that: ?Community law does not require the member states, in order to ensure the effective protection of copyright, to lay down an obligation to disclose personal data in the context of civil proceedings.?
This ruling is a huge victory for EU filesharers, whose privacy is now backed by a ruling from the European Court. For ISPs this should be a huge relief as well, and they can finally put their time and effort in working for their customers, instead of against them.


The tide is changing for European filesharers. Last week we reported that the data protection commissioner in Switzerland criticized the infamous anti-piracy tracking outfit Logistep for helping to breach the privacy of filesharers. A few days before that decision, Greens EFA, a coalition of two political parties that currently have 42 seats in the European parliament, launched a pro-filesharing campaign named ?I Wouldn?t Steal?.


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Quality article leeched from Torrentleech.com

Lease Reviewed by Lease on 30th Jan 2008. European Court Decides FileSharers Should Stay Anonymous European file-sharers were given a huge legal boost today, as the European Court of Justice declared that EU law does not allow Internet Service Providers to be forced to reveal the personal details of people accused of file sharing. --- Telefonica, Spain?s largest telecom operator successfully argued that the law only required it to reveal the identities of those accused of a criminal offense and that sharing of music was a civil issue. The European Court of Justice agreed with Rating: 5

[saxon]

mug:Just read this yesterday on the register. At $9000/MP3 stateside I know which side of the pond I'd rather be on hehehe

[zen]

sweet :> europe

[Vovachka]

Where is rapidshare hosted? Europe?

[Golden Falcon]

Where is rapidshare hosted? Europe?

Host of the IP: rapidshare.com Whois
Host IP [?]: 195.122.131.18 Copy [Whois]
IP address country: ip address flag Germany
IP address state: Brandenburg
IP address city: Herzberg
IP address latitude: 51.683300
IP address longitude: 13.233200
ISP of this IP [?]: Level 3 Communications
Organization: BBBK91667
Local Time of this IP country: 2008-02-05 22:51

same as .de, just domain diff .de/.com is the same