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Wonder if this will muddy the waters a bit, although there appears to be a sting in the tail and we know the French pick and choose which bits of the EU Law they wish to implement!

EU: File-sharer identities protected 1:04PM, Tuesday 29th January 2008

The EU's highest court has ruled that ISPs can refuse to hand over the names of alleged file-sharers. The European Court of Justice says that under EU law, ISPs only have to disclose their users' identities in criminal cases, not civil litigations."Community law does not require the member states, in order to ensure the effective protection of copyright, to lay down an obligation to disclose personal data in the context of civil proceedings," the court says in a statement. The court was ruling on a dispute between Spanish music rights holders' body Promusicae and Telefonica. Promusicae was seeking the identities of alleged file-sharers, by forcing Telefonica to match their IP addresses to contact details.

The court refused the request, arguing that although several EU directives are designed to protect copyright, personal privacy rights are paramount.

"Such protection cannot, however, affect the requirements of the protection of personal data," the court says.

Individual legislation

The court did note that EU rules do not preclude individual member states from legislating to compel ISPs to reveal personal data in civil proceedings. "The directives on the protection of personal data also allow the member states to provide for exceptions to the obligation to guarantee the confidentiality of traffic data," the court explained.

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