DMCA decision

Recording Industry of America v. Verizon Internet Services Misc. No. 02-323
Memorandum Opinion & Order issued January 21, 2003 by Judge John D. Bates

http://www.dcd.uscourts.gov/district-court-recent.html

http://www.dcd.uscourts.gov/02-ms-323.pdf

U.S. District Judge Bates (District of Columbia) recently granted the RIAA's motion to enforce a subpoena served on an Internet Service Provider, Verizon, to determine the identity of an anonymous user who allegedly downloaded more than 600 songs in a single day. This lengthy opinion provides an extensive discussion of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (DMCA), particularly its subpoena power. The court also discusses the First Amendment implications, but does not need to decide those issues to grant the motion.

This decision is also noteworthy in being quite possibly the first lower court decision to cite to the Supreme Court's Eldred v. Ashcroft decision!

Alan Kabat
(Washington, D.C.) Received on Wed Jan 22 2003 - 01:51:35 GMT