p2pnet - rss feed: EFF, ACLU wade in for PacBell
A friend-of-the-court brief backing PacBell’s struggle to protect its users’ privacy from subpoenas issued under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) section 512(h) has been filed by the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation), American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and 15 other consumer, child safety and privacy organizations.
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, says the EFF.
The ACLU/EFF brief argues the statute doesn’t provide sufficient due process for Internet users, since it doesn’t 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, in addition to the problems raised by PacBell.
"This provision is so devoid of procedural protections that it is an invitation to mistake and abuse," the brief asserts.
