01WhiteCobra
01-21-2003, 09:16 PM
Verizon told: Sing on song-swapper
Judge says telephone company must turn over name of customer suspected of downloading songs.
January 21, 2003: 4:51 PM EST
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Recording companies won a victory in their fight against online piracy on Tuesday, when a U.S. court ordered Verizon Communications to turn over the name of a customer suspected of downloading more than 600 songs in one day over the Internet.
The decision could set an important precedent as the recording industry asks schools, businesses and Internet providers to help them track down the online song swappers that they believe are cutting into their sales.
Under a 1998 digital-copyright law, Internet providers have voluntarily shut down Web sites that contain infringing material, but they have balked at requests to disconnect users who trade songs with each other directly using "peer to peer" networks such as Kazaa and Morpheus.
The recording industry sued Verizon (VZ: Research, Estimates) last summer after it refused to reveal the name of a customer believed to have downloaded more than 600 songs in one day. Verizon said such a move would violate customer privacy and force Internet service providers to serve as online copyright cops.
Verizon said the law should not require it to block customer use of Kazaa and other networks, but in his opinion U.S. District Court Judge John Bates said the law "applies to all Internet service providers ... not just to those service providers storing information on a system or network at the discretion of a user."
The telephone company told CNNfn that it will appeal the decision.
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"Verizon is not attempting to shield customers who break copyright laws," said Sarah B. Deutsch, vice president and associate general counsel for Verizon. "We are, however, seeking to protect the fundamental privacy and due process rights that should be afforded to our customers and all Internet users."
A recording-industry spokesman said the decision validated their position and said illegal song swapping was a serious problem.
"Now that the court has ordered Verizon to live up to its obligation under the law, we look forward to contacting the account holder whose identity we were seeking so we can let them know that what they are doing is illegal," said Cary Sherman, president of the Recording Industry Association of America.
The RIAA represents the five largest recording companies: AOL Time Warner's Warner Music; Sony Music of Sony Corp. (SNE: Research, Estimates); Bertelsmann AG's BMG; Universal Music Group of Vivendi Universal (V: Research, Estimates); and EMI Group Plc.
CNN/Money and CNNfn are also subsidiaries of AOL Time Warner (AOL: Research, Estimates).
Judge says telephone company must turn over name of customer suspected of downloading songs.
January 21, 2003: 4:51 PM EST
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Recording companies won a victory in their fight against online piracy on Tuesday, when a U.S. court ordered Verizon Communications to turn over the name of a customer suspected of downloading more than 600 songs in one day over the Internet.
The decision could set an important precedent as the recording industry asks schools, businesses and Internet providers to help them track down the online song swappers that they believe are cutting into their sales.
Under a 1998 digital-copyright law, Internet providers have voluntarily shut down Web sites that contain infringing material, but they have balked at requests to disconnect users who trade songs with each other directly using "peer to peer" networks such as Kazaa and Morpheus.
The recording industry sued Verizon (VZ: Research, Estimates) last summer after it refused to reveal the name of a customer believed to have downloaded more than 600 songs in one day. Verizon said such a move would violate customer privacy and force Internet service providers to serve as online copyright cops.
Verizon said the law should not require it to block customer use of Kazaa and other networks, but in his opinion U.S. District Court Judge John Bates said the law "applies to all Internet service providers ... not just to those service providers storing information on a system or network at the discretion of a user."
The telephone company told CNNfn that it will appeal the decision.
QUICK VOTE
Should Verizon comply with a judge's order and identify a customer who downloaded hundreds of songs over the Internet?
Yes
No
View results
"Verizon is not attempting to shield customers who break copyright laws," said Sarah B. Deutsch, vice president and associate general counsel for Verizon. "We are, however, seeking to protect the fundamental privacy and due process rights that should be afforded to our customers and all Internet users."
A recording-industry spokesman said the decision validated their position and said illegal song swapping was a serious problem.
"Now that the court has ordered Verizon to live up to its obligation under the law, we look forward to contacting the account holder whose identity we were seeking so we can let them know that what they are doing is illegal," said Cary Sherman, president of the Recording Industry Association of America.
The RIAA represents the five largest recording companies: AOL Time Warner's Warner Music; Sony Music of Sony Corp. (SNE: Research, Estimates); Bertelsmann AG's BMG; Universal Music Group of Vivendi Universal (V: Research, Estimates); and EMI Group Plc.
CNN/Money and CNNfn are also subsidiaries of AOL Time Warner (AOL: Research, Estimates).