ISP appeals 'name and shame' music piracy ruling

NEWS Verizon Communications is asking an appeals court to block a court order demanding it reveal the identity of an alleged peer-to-peer pirate to the music industry. In what is widely viewed as a test case pitting privacy against copyright laws, Verizon said on Thursday that it would file the request for a stay with the District of Columbia Court of Appeals by the end of the day. John Thorne, a senior vice president for Verizon, said: "Verizon will use every legal means to protect its subscribers' privacy. If this ruling stands, consumers will be caught in a digital dragnet, not only from record companies alleging infringement of their copyright monopolies, but from anyone who can fill out a simple form." As previously reported, Verizon has pledged to appeal the 21 January decision by US district judge John Bates, who said the wording of the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) requires Verizon to give the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) the name of a KaZaA subscriber who allegedly downloaded hundreds of music recordings. An RIAA spokesman said his organisation did not immediately have a response. This case represents the entertainment industry's latest legal assault on peer-to-peer piracy. If its invocation of the DMCA is upheld on appeal, music industry investigators or other copyright holders would have the power to identify thousands of music pirates at a time without filing a lawsuit first.