New York – Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) has asked a federal judge to
limit the number of requests from copyright holders to look up the Internet
service provider’s subscribers’ identities in infringement investigations to
just 28 per month, Ars Technica reports.
The U.S. Copyright Group, representing
producers whose films were downloaded on BitTorrent, is in the process of suing
tens of thousands of suspected file-swappers, and has served subpoenas on Time
Warner Cable for the identities of thousands of its subscribers.
The company
told one court handling the cases that it gets over 500 lookup requests monthly
from law enforcement that are its "immediate priority," adding that
it would require a large increase in staff to comply with the requests from the
entertainment industry without compromising requests from law enforcement.
U.S.
District Judge Rosemary Collyer agreed in the specific case before her to limit
Time Warner Cable’s responsibility to at least 28 subscriber lookups per month.
Ars notes that the ruling doesn’t affect other ISPs, or necessarily other
lawsuits being brought in other jurisdictions by U.S. Copyright Group.
Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/257wue2
(Ars Technica)
http://tinyurl.com/2asd97v
(DMW previous coverage)
