The action by CRIA (an entity owned by the big five record labels) against alleged music file swappers continued this week. They were in court attempting to compel the ISPs to disclose the identity behind the 29 IP addresses alleged to be swapping music files.
Four of the five ISPs involved are opposing the motion. They argued that the IP addresses will not necessarily identify the individuals involved. An IP address represents a unique computer on the internet. What it does not do is identify who was using the computer at any particular time. It could be analogized to a telephone number. Knowing who the telephone number belongs to will not tell you who was using it at any particular time.
It was also argued that CRIA cannot establish that any copyright infringement took place. The fact that a KaZaA user has music files on his computer in Canada does not establish copyright infringement. The Copyright Act permits copying of music for personal use. See discussion in a previous post.
The issue is whether Canadian privacy rights should be trumped by allegations of copyright infringement where the disclosure may not be conclusive and the plaintiff cannot establish the copyright infringement occurred.
Justice Konrad von Finckenstein of the Federal Court heard arguments this week. No decision has been released yet.
For a discussion of IP addresses see p2pnet.
CanadianPress Globe & Mail CBC News CTV P2Pnet
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