[Infowarrior] - French court favors personal privacy over piracy searches

[Richard Forno]

French court favors personal privacy over piracy searches
By Thomas Crampton
Published: December 21, 2006
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/12/21/business/privacy.php

PARIS: A French court has ruled that music companies and other copyright
holders cannot conduct unrestrained Internet monitoring to find pirates.

The decision, which could leave record companies open to lawsuits in France
for invasion of privacy, pits European Union-sanctioned data protection
rules against aggressive tracing tactics used by the music and film
industry.

"The judge's decision defends the privacy of individuals over the intrusion
from record labels," said Aziz Ridouan, president of the Association of
Audio Surfers, a group that defends people charged with illegal downloading.
"This should send a strong message and hopefully affect every one of the
hundreds of people defending themselves."

The case involved an Internet user in the Paris suburb of Bobigny whose
internet provider address — a unique computer identifier — was traced while
the user was on the peer-to-peer software Shareaza.

"The right-holders found the IP address of my client and reported it to the
police," said Olivier Hugot, the defending lawyer, who declined to name his
client. "The annulment of the case is important because it has direct impact
on the tactics used by record companies in dozens of cases in France."

The organization responsible for tracing down Internet users, the Society of
Music Authors, Composers and Publishers, played down the impact of the court
decision and said that it would appeal.

"This is just an isolated decision amid the many cases that we have
successfully pursued," said Sophie Duhamel, communications director for the
organization. "That said, it is not so good to have the decision in the
jurisprudence."

The ruling sends a strong message about privacy, said Mathias Moulin, a
legal adviser at the French government watchdog that defends privacy on the
Internet, the National Commission for Information Technology and Liberty.

"The rights-holders should now understand that they cannot set up a system
to identify downloaders on the Internet without proper authorization from
us," said Moulin, whose organization has the ability to grant such
permission. "It is important to have these protections established by a
court."

Invasion of privacy carries fines of up to €300,000, or $395,000, and five
years in prison, Moulin added.

While it is up to the individuals to pursue such legal action, one
government-supported organization is considering moves against monitors.

"We do not know how many families or individuals were monitored before they
chose who to prosecute," said Jean- Pierre Quignaux, a representative of the
government-supported National Union of Family Associations. "Given the
judge's decision, we are considering action against those invading privacy
to catch music downloaders."

French privacy law is based on a directive from the European Commission, but
the ruling is not likely have an impact beyond France because of national
laws.