Los Angeles – A federal judge has ruled that a Canadian
adult film company cannot file "John Doe" lawsuits seeking the identities of
suspected illegal downloaders of its films, TorrentFreak reported.
In VPR
Internationale v. Does 1-1017, U.S. District Judge Harold Baker cited the weak
connection between an IP address and an ISP account holder, and the fact that a
defendant may be pressured into paying to settle a pornography-related lawsuit
rather than have their identity made public.
"The infringer might be the
subscriber, someone in the subscriber’s household, a visitor with her laptop, a
neighbor, or someone parked on the street at any given moment," Baker
wrote in his ruling.
"Could expedited discovery be used to wrest quick
settlements, even from people who have done nothing wrong?" Baker
questioned, adding, "the embarrassment of public exposure might be too
great, the legal system too daunting and expensive, for some to ask whether the
plaintiff VPR has competent evidence to prove its case."
Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/3rva53b
(TorrentFreak)
