One File Swapper, One Lawsuit

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

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Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2004 01:53:30 -0500
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From: Monty Solomon <monty () roscom com>
Subject: One File Swapper, One Lawsuit

One File Swapper, One Lawsuit

By Katie Dean
12:37 PM Mar. 08, 2004 PT

A federal judge ruled on Friday that the music industry cannot sue
over 200 alleged file sharers in one swoop and that the companies
must sue each defendant individually.

The Recording Industry Association of America grouped 203 so-called
"John Doe" defendants -- "John Doe" because their identities are not
yet known -- into one lawsuit when it sued them in federal court in
Philadelphia last month. All of those sued use Comcast as their
Internet service provider.

Since a federal court barred the RIAA from using the Digital
Millenium Copyright Act to subpoena names of suspected copyright
infringers in December, the recording industry has resorted to the
"John Doe" method. The RIAA now must identify alleged file swappers
by their Internet Protocol addresses, but does not know the
individuals' names.

On Friday, Judge Clarence Newcomer authorized a subpoena in the case
of John Doe No. 1, because the RIAA had submitted a detailed case
against the individual. But the judge ordered the music industry to
file separate suits against the remaining 202 alleged infringers.

Each of the lawsuits will be doled out to judges in the U.S. District
Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and the RIAA will have to
make separate requests to seek the identity of each alleged file
sharer.

...

http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,62576,00.html

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