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As part of an ongoing piracy liability lawsuit, Internet provider WOW! was ordered to hand over the personal data of hundreds of subscribers to a group of filmmakers. Among other things, the rights holders want to cross-check the details with the YTS and Reddit accounts. Backed by WOW!, several subscribers refuse to have their identities exposed.
WOW! is being sued by a group of smaller film companies, including millennium media Y voltage images.
The filmmakers accuse the ISP of not being able to finish the accounts of subscribers who were repeatedly flagged for sharing copyrighted material. They want to celebrate WOW! responsible for these hacking activities, which could cause millions of dollars in damages.
The ISP disputed the claims and filed a motion to dismiss the case. Among other things, it argued that an IP address is not enough to prove that subscribers downloaded or shared infringing material. The filmmakers opposed this motion, which has yet to be decided by the Colorado federal court.
Filmmakers want subscriber details
Meanwhile, another problem has arisen. Both sides are gathering evidence to prepare for the case to move forward. As part of that process, the filmmakers demanded the personal data of approximately 14,000 subscribers whose WOW! accounts were allegedly used to hack content.
WOW! objected to this request, arguing that the names and addresses of its subscribers are irrelevant to the central question of whether it reasonably implemented a repeat infringer policy. The filmmakers disagreed, noting that the information can be cross-checked to determine whether the ISP notified its subscribers and terminated accounts in response to the infringement notices.
After hearing both sides, the Court finally reached a compromise. The filmmakers offered to narrow down the selected IP addresses to the Top 375 Unique Hacking IP Addresses. The Court saw this as a reasonable request, especially considering the damages at stake.
168 Objections
The Court said that the subscribers' objections would be dealt with at a later stage. That moment has come. Over the last few months, 168 subscribers objected and the filmmakers and WOW! they disagree on how they should be handled.
The subscriber's arguments are not available to the public, but the filmmakers suggest that, aside from two subscribers who have passed away, they boil down to outright denials.
The filmmakers are not convinced by the objections. They want WOW! deliver the data anyway, as this will allow them to check whether 'repeat' ads were sent to the same subscribers each time.
โ[T]The names of the subscribers are relevant because they will show if the IP address was assigned to the same subscriber during the duration of the advertisementsโ, the filmmakers informed the Court.
Links to YTS and Reddit users?
The filmmakers also want to check if the subscribers had accounts on the popular YTS torrent site. The companies previously obtained data from the YTS User Database as part of an agreement with the torrent site. Since then, this information has been used as evidence in various demands.
On top of that, the film companies argue that they can link the publicly available data of two Reddit users. These anonymous Redditors claimed to use the WOW! to hack content.
โIn addition, the names of the subscribers are relevant because Claimants can match the names of the subscribers with the email addresses of users who signed up for accounts on the YTS hacking website or with those who have bragged on the social networks of how the Defendant allows them to pirate content without any problem. .โ
If the filmmakers find any links to YTS or the two Reddit users, they can argue that the subscribers in question are willful and repeat infringers.
WOW! You can help without exposing subscribers
WOW! disagrees with the reasoning of the filmmakers. The ISP believes that there is no need to share subscribers' personal data as alternative means are available.
For example, the Internet provider says that it can check its own systems to establish whether a particular IP address was assigned to a subscriber or multiple subscribers over time.
Instead of handing out names and contact information, WOW! you can simply share the associated account number, which would suffice. The ISP can also help determine if any of the objecting subscribers were YTS users, by cross-checking their data without exposing their personal information.
No sign of YTS and Reddit users
So far no sign of YTS users. The filmmakers previously shared an exhibit with nine YTS user IP addresses and emails, but none matched the subscribers who objected.
โNone of those IP addresses correspond to an Objector, and the Plaintiffs do not suggest otherwiseโ, WOW! write
"Claimants could obtain information about the alleged users of YTS without involving the Objectors or other third parties, for example, by informing WOW whether WOW's subscriber records include any of the nine email addresses to which reference in Claimants' annex".
Similarly, the ISP argues that there is no public information to suggest that the two Redditors are among the opposing subscribers.
โThere is no reason to believe that these two users are among the Objectors. Indeed, from the objections the Court has received, it is apparent that none of the objectors' names bear any resemblance or connection to 'Servalpur' or 'rickselest'."
In addition to the arguments discussed above, the parties also disagree on the type of notice that is required before any information is released.
After hearing from all parties involved, the Tribunal must now decide how to proceed. Does WOW have to hand over all the data or are objections justified?
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A copy of the filmmakers' motion to compel is available here (pdf) and the objections of WOW! can be found here (pdf) Y here (pdf)
