San Francisco - Pacific Bell Internet Services will defend the privacy of its Internet service customers from legal threats of the recording industry.
Date: Friday, November 21, 2003
Time: 9:00am PST
Location: Federal Courthouse, 450 Golden Gate Ave., San Francisco, CA
Courtroom: Judge Susan Illston, Courtroom 10, 19th Floor
Case: Pacific Bell Internet v. Recording Industry (Case Number C-03-3560.E)
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and 15 other consumer, child safety, and privacy organizations filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of PacBell's struggle to protect its users' privacy from subpoenas issued under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) section 512(h).
The PacBell case is similar to a case the RIAA filed against Verizon after that Internet Service Provider (ISP) refused to turn over identifying information about its users in response to an RIAA subpoena that required no court oversight or lawsuit.
"Pac Bell has resisted the RIAA's reckless subpoenas because they have a legitimate interest in protecting their customers' privacy," said EFF Legal Director Cindy Cohn.
The ACLU/EFF brief argues that, in addition to the problems raised by PacBell, the statute does not provide sufficient due process for Internet users, since it does not give those users notice or an opportunity to be heard by a judge before their name, address and phone number are turned over to anyone claiming to be a copyright holder. "This provision is so devoid of procedural protections that it is an invitation to mistake and abuse," the brief asserts.
Cindy Cohn
Legal Director
Electronic Frontier Foundation
cindy@eff.org
Wendy Seltzer
Staff Attorney
Electronic Frontier Foundation
wendy@eff.org
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading civil liberties organization working to protect rights in the digital world. Founded in 1990, EFF actively encourages and challenges industry and government to support free expression and privacy online. EFF is a member-supported organization and maintains one of the most linked-to websites in the world at http://www.eff.org/
