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The \u201crepeat infringer\u201d issue remains a hot topic in U.S. courts, with ongoing lawsuits against several ISPs.<\/p>\nThe \u201crepeat infringer\u201d issue remains a hot topic in U.S. courts, with ongoing lawsuits against several ISPs.<\/p>\n
Internet provider RCN is one of the companies targeted. In 2021, the ISP was sued by several film companies<\/a>, including the makers of The Hitman\u2019s Wife\u2019s Bodyguard, London Has Fallen, and Hellboy.<\/p>\n The movie companies alleged that RCN wasn\u2019t doing enough to stop subscribers from pirating on its network. Instead of terminating the accounts of persistent pirates, the Internet provider turned a blind eye, the companies argued.<\/p>\n The stakes are high in these liability lawsuits. Internet providers face damages claims reaching hundreds of millions of dollars, while tens of thousands of Internet subscribers risk having their accounts terminated.<\/p>\n The two camps are currently in the discovery phase where they gather evidence to support their arguments. In this quest, the filmmakers stumbled upon several comments from Reddit users which they believe could be useful. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n A few weeks ago the movie companies obtained a subpoena<\/a> asking Reddit to share the personal details of these users, including IP-address logs. The filmmakers believe that the commenters can provide evidence to show that RCN didn\u2019t have a proper repeat infringer policy, among other things.<\/p>\n Reddit was unhappy with the subpoena and characterized it as overbroad. According to Reddit\u2019s lawyers, the subpoena was more akin to a fishing expedition than regular evidence gathering. As such, Reddit only handed over the details of one user whose comment mentioned RCN, denying other \u2018less relevant\u2019 ones, citing the users\u2019 First Amendment right to anonymous speech. <\/p>\n Reddit\u2019s rejection prompted the filmmakers to file a motion to compel<\/a>. They argued that the targeted comments are relevant, proportional, and may help to back up their legal arguments in court. <\/p>\n In court this week, Reddit filed its official response. According to the discussion platform, courts have repeatedly protected people\u2019s First Amendment right to anonymous speech. <\/p>\n If a party wants to unmask users through the court, it has to meet a stringent standard, which isn\u2019t the case here.<\/p>\n \u201cThat standard requires the requesting party to establish that it is an \u2018exceptional case\u2019 where a \u2018compelling need\u2019 for the discovery outweighs the users\u2019 First Amendment rights,\u201d Reddit\u2019s attorneys write.<\/p>\n \u201cPlaintiffs are far from meeting that strict standard here. First, they cannot overcome the Reddit users\u2019 First Amendment rights because the users\u2019 posts Plaintiffs have identified as the basis for this subpoena are completely irrelevant to Plaintiffs\u2019 lawsuit.\u201d<\/p>\n Reddit writes that the targeted posts are \u201ccompletely irrelevant\u201d to the lawsuit against RCN. In fact, four of the comments don\u2019t even mention the provider by name, and simply refer to \u201cmy provider\u201d. <\/p>\n Other comments are not about piracy or are too old to be relevant, including one comment published nine years ago. A summary of these irrelevancy factors is shown in the table below, which accompanied Reddit\u2019s objection.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Reddit further argues that the type of information the filmmakers seek can be obtained elsewhere. If the companies want to know more about RCN\u2019s repeat infringer policy, they could get this information from the company directly, instead of targeting anonymous third parties.<\/p>\n \u201cMost obviously, Plaintiffs could seek discovery directly from RCN. That would be far more efficient than taking wild guesses about which Reddit users might be RCN customers or might have engaged in copyright infringement at some point in the last decade. <\/p>\n \u201cAnd, more importantly, it would not involve setting aside the fundamental First Amendment rights of uninvolved third parties,\u201d Reddit adds. <\/p>\n The filmmakers previously argued that the Redditors didn\u2019t seem to have any objections, as they didn\u2019t respond in court. However, we later learned that Reddit didn\u2019t inform the eight remaining users until after the motion to compel was submitted.<\/p>\n TorrentFreak spoke to one of the targeted Redditors, who wasn\u2019t aware of the filmmakers\u2019 request until it hit the news. This person, who wants to remain anonymous for obvious reasons, expects Reddit\u2019s opposition to be succesful.<\/p>\n \u201cMy attorney and I are both under the assumption that the court will side with Reddit, and that the motion to compel will be denied,\u201d the Redditor says, warning that the alternative will set a dangerous precedent.<\/p>\n \u201cGranting the motion would set a precedent, allowing other companies to do the same. That would be a huge violation of everyone\u2019s privacy and, in my opinion, Reddit would take action and ban the piracy subreddit.\u201d<\/p>\n Whether Reddit would take such drastic action is unknown. The company informs TorrentFreak that it is committed to protecting our users\u2019 privacy\u201d and that it will oppose legal requests when appropriate<\/a>.<\/p>\n At the same time, history has shown that the filmmakers don\u2019t give up easily either. They will likely counter Reddit\u2019s arguments, so it will eventually be up to the court to decide which party is right.<\/p>\n \u2014<\/em><\/p>\n A copy of Reddit\u2019s opposition to the motion to compel, filed at a federal court in California, is available here (pdf)<\/a><\/p>\n From: TF<\/a>, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.<\/p>\nRedditors as Evidence<\/h2>\n
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<\/center><\/p>\nReddit Opposes Motion to Compel<\/h2>\n
Irrelevant & Unneeded<\/h2>\n
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<\/center><\/p>\nRedditor Responds<\/h2>\n