EU Internet Providers Can ID Customers Accused of Illegal Downloads
The EU court’s ruling came in the case of a Cypriot company that accused Belgian internet customers of illegally downloading erotic films like “Malibu Massage Parlor 3” and “The Girl Next Door 16.”
LUXEMBOURG (CN) — European internet service providers can hand over the personal details of customers who are accused of illegally downloading content, the EU’s top court ruled Thursday.
The Court of Justice of the European Union found that, in some cases, internet providers can be compelled to hand over the names and addresses of their customers, so long as the requests are justified, proportionate and not abusive.
“The registration of IP addresses of persons whose internet connections have been used to upload pieces of files containing protected works on peer-to-peer networks, for the purposes of filing a request for disclosure of the names and postal addresses of the holders of those IP addresses, can be regarded as lawful,” the five-judge panel wrote.
The case was referred to the Luxembourg-based court by a court in Antwerp, Belgium, after Belgium’s largest internet provider, Telenet, refused to hand over the names and addresses of its customers that a Cyprus-based company, Mircom, had requested during a copyright infringement investigation.
