Supreme Court Denies Cert in RIAA v. Verizon

Copyfight
http://www.corante.com/copyfight/archives/026521.html

October 12, 2004
Supreme Court Denies Cert in RIAA v. Verizon
- Posted by Donna Wentworth

This just in: the Supreme Court has denied cert in RIAA v. Verizon, the
case in which the recording industry initially won the right to unmask an
anonymous KaZaA user with a special non-judicial, PATRIOT Act-like
subpoena under the DMCA. The DC Circuit reversed (PDF) that ruling, but
the RIAA appealed. Now the Supreme Court has declined to hear the case.
It's wonderful news.

Despite the rhetoric surrounding P2P, this case is not about filesharers
"hiding" from the law. It's about making sure that the law keeps
protecting innocents until there is a bare minimum showing of illegal
activity. Just because someone suspects you of being a "pirate" – or
would like to use claims of copyright infringement to gain easy access to
your personal information – does not make you guilty until proven
innocent.

The DMCA allows anyone simply claiming copyright infringement the ability
to get your name, address, phone number, etc. This removes critical
constitutional and privacy safeguards on the mere assertion of wrongdoing.
Many people are angry about the PATRIOT Act for removing these kinds of
safeguards. Shift the context to filesharing, and they tend to shrug it
off because it's about "pirates." But it's the same Consitution, and the
same rights are being eroded.
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