Michael Geist writes:
There has been considerable discussion in recent weeks regarding the prospect of court orders mandating ISPs or other intermediaries disclose identifying information about anonymous individuals (Google model case, Ottawa city hall blog). Overlook, however, is a recent order obtained by York University requiring Bell and Rogers to disclose subscriber information. Neither ISP opposed the order, which included some novel requirements in return for ordering the two companies to disclose the names of customers associated with particular IP addresses. First, York University was required to pay the ISPs to compensate them for providing the information – Rogers gets $600, while Bell gets $300. Second, the court added a condition that required notification of the customers identified by Bell and Rogers so that they could apply to the court to vary or vacate the order. Despite constituting only three paragraphs, the order raises some very interesting issues including the questions about why a university would seek this order, the compensation to the ISPs, and the attempt to factor in a response from the identified subscribers.
A copy of the order is embedded in the blog entry.