Commentary: Privacy, Piracy and Due Process in Peer-to-Peer File Swapping Suits (Findlaw)

Findlaw's commentary section contains an interesting article by Professor Ramasastry of the University of Washington School of Law about the privacy protections for alleged file-swappers in John Doe suits by the RIAA and others:

Ramasastry: Privacy, Piracy and Due Process in Peer-to-Peer File Swapping Suits:

"....Here's how the RIAA typically proceeds. It files a 'John Doe' lawsuit based on an Internet Protocol (IP) address connected to P2P trading via Kazaa, Grokster, Limewire, or another, similar system. The suit is often filed in the jurisdiction where the relevant Internet Service Provider (ISP) is located.

Once the suit is filed, the RIAA subpoenas the ISP to force it to disclose the real name of the 'John Doe' associated with the IP address. That person, however, is not necessarily the file trader - it may instead be a relative, college roommate, or landlord. And neither that person - nor the file trader, if he or she is a different person - is given prior notice and a chance to fight the subpoena.... Fortunately, however, that may change."