While ISPs shouldn't be obliged to hand over details about anyone using their networks for illegal file sharing, the rights of copyright holders must be respected, a European court has said.

The European Court of Justice, in its judgement on a case involving an organisation that looks after the interests of Spanish musicians, Promusicae, and ISP Telefonica, concluded that ISPs were not obliged to provide information on anyone accused of piracy or copyright theft on their networks.

The case centred on Promusicae's demands that Telefonica should hand over details of several customers accused of illegally sharing music on peer-to-peer (P2P) network Kazaa.

The court backed Telefonica's refusal, saying that as European law stands, the right of the individual to privacy is guaranteed.

However, the court also said that European member states, such as the UK, needed to strike a balance between respecting the privacy of an individual and protecting the interests of copyright holders.

According to the judgement, the case highlighted "the need to reconcile the requirements of the protection of different fundamental rights, namely the right to respect for private life on the one hand and the rights to protection of property and to an effective remedy on the other."

The issue of ISP responsibility for illegal activity that takes place on their networks has been in the news recently after the IFPI and the BPI, both representing the music industry, attacked ISPs for failing to act on copyright infringements.

One ISP responded by saying that individuals had to be held responsible for their actions, and that it was not the job of ISPs to act as a law enforcement agency.

"We don't believe it is the place of an ISP to police what people download. We expect our customers to take responsibility for their actions," PlusNet's Neil Armstrong told Web User.

However, Tiscali took a more diplomatic approach.

"We do not want illegal material travelling across our network any more than the music industry and we have worked with the BPI to suggest a three strikes policy that is workable for us and them.

"We would welcome a meaningful higher level debate, engaging with rights holders to see what we can achieve practically, economically and within a legal framework," Tiscali spokeswoman Jody Haskayne told Web User.

John Kennedy, IFPI chairman cautiously welcomed the verdict in the Promusicae-Telefonica case.

"The judgment has sent out a clear signal that Member States have to get the right balance between privacy and enforcement of intellectual property rights and that intellectual property rights can neither be ignored nor neglected," he said.

www.ifpi.org
www.bpi.co.uk
www.plus.net

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