Anne Youderian reports:
Major record labels have the right to know who’s illegally downloading their music, the 2nd Circuit ruled Thursday. The court said a computer user’s right to remain anonymous does not trump the labels’ right to enforce their copyrights.
The alleged infringer, identified only as “Doe 3,” asked a federal magistrate judge to quash a subpoena served on his Internet service provider, the State University of New York at Albany. The record labels wanted to learn the names of 16 people who allegedly downloaded or distributed copyrighted songs through an online file-sharing network.
Doe 3 objected to having his identity revealed, claiming he has a First Amendment right to remain anonymous.
The magistrate judge refused to quash the subpoena, and U.S. District Judge Glenn Suddaby rejected Doe 3’s claims on appeal.
Read more on Courthouse News.
In the decision, the court rejected all of the defendant’s arguments, holding that
to the extent that anonymity is used to mask copyright infringement or to facilitate such infringement by other parties, it is unprotected by the First Amendment.
The case is Arista v. Doe 3.
Update: David Kravets of Threat Level also provides coverage of the decision.