Which wins in US Circuit Court? Copyright laws or your constitutional right to free speech. Free speech narrowly wins, so far. When the Recording Industry Association of America subpoenaed Verizon Internet Services to obtain the identity of alleged users of peer file sharing programs, the real issue was the interpretation of a Congressional act to enforce copyright laws over the Internet.

The RIAA has been known for using strong arm tactics to prevent people from using the Internet to download music. In one of the RIAA’s efforts to curtail file sharing it went after Verizon Internet Services an ISP. The RIAA wanted to force Verizon in court to provide the identity of subscribers alleged to be using peer file sharing programs like KaZaA.

The court was requested by the RIAA to enforce a pre-litigation subpoena under a statutory provision of the “Digital Millennium Copyright Act” (DMCA). The Congressional act of 1998 had never before been brought to court. In this case the circuit court decided that Congress didn’t intend for DMCA to reach this far. An ISP only serves as a conduit for a subscriber, if that subscriber is alleged in infringing on copyright laws, it’s not up to the ISP to provide this evidence to the accuser. The Circuit Court sided with Verizon by overturning the RIAA’s Motion to Enforce.

A deeper issue still remains that was never addressed in this case. DMCA allows an unsupported allegation of copyright infringement on an Internet user to have his or her computer ransacked by the court. Furthermore the ISP does stand to be subpoenaed for the identity of the user. However, under the Constitution anonymous speech is protected even over the Internet. Where does the DMCA cross that line over your constitutionally protected right to “free Speech”? The bigger question was never answered in the RIAA  vs Verizon and may yet crop up another day.

Know your rights in the digital age! Read the amici_riaa_v_verizon PDF for more information.