They will track you down like the lowly… (2003)

coach — Sat, 25 Jan 2003 02:26:53 +0000

A lot of coverage on the court’s order that Verizon to hand over a subscriber’s name–someone who had made some music files available over a file sharing network. I like Wired’s coverage:

“The court should not open the door for anyone who makes a mere allegation of copyright infringement to gain complete access to private subscriber information without due process of law,” said Mike Lamb, AT&T’s chief privacy officer, in a statement.

“The statute at issue requires ISPs to disclose the identity of subscribers expeditiously in response to a subpoena issued by a court clerk,” he added. “Such extraordinary disclosure obligations should be construed narrowly to afford subscribers the opportunity to challenge the requested disclosure.” …

“This is not a debate about privacy, it’s about piracy and the 2.6 billion illegal downloads each month,” the spokesman said. “To suggest that an Internet user’s privacy is more at risk because of this decision is a red herring. Verizon never argued it in the case and there is no First Amendment protection for committing a federal crime.”

Framing the debate as privacy vs. piracy helps illustrate that it’s all about who’s in control.

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They will track you down like the lowly… (2003)