Justice Department Sides with RIAA in Battle with Verizon

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 21, 2003 - 1:44am.

Washington, D.C. -- The U.S. Department of Justice filed a brief with the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. on Friday siding with the Recording Industry of Association of America (RIAA) in its dispute with Verizon Communications Inc. over whether Verizon must disclose the identity of a customer who is an alleged copyright infringer. The Justice Department argues that the provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright (DMCA) invoked by record labels to require ISPs like Verizon to turn over information about subscribers who are alleged copyright infringers does not violate the U.S. Constitution. Verizon argues that the law violates consumers' rights to privacy and due process. "It is manifest that the DMCA's subpoena provision targets the identity of alleged copyright infringers, not spoken words or conduct commonly associated with expression," the Department of Justice said. The district court ruled in favor of the RIAA in January, and Verizon appealed the decision. "The government's filing today supports the proposition that we have long advocated: copyright owners have a clear and unambiguous entitlement to determine who is infringing their copyrights online and that entitlement is constitutional," said Matt Oppenheimer, Senior Vice President for Business and Legal Affairs at the RIAA.
http://www.verizon.com
http://www.riaa.org/PR_Story.cfm?id=631
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53387-2003Apr18.html