Court Order regarding copyright issues

I have received a notice from Enta letting us know that they have been served with a court order requiring them to reveal the contact details of a number of our customers (and, I presume, those of other partners) who are alleged to have been involved in distributing copyright materials - specifically "Two Worlds"

The notice specifies that a firm of solicitors called Davenport Lyons will be making a mass mailing shot to all those whose details have been disclosed in accordance with the court order.

Note that Entanet had no choice but to reveal these details in accordance with the orders of the court and that their policy remains that they will only ever disclose such details where required to by court order or in compliance with a properly served RIPA notice from the police. Customer details are never otherwise disclosed.

Anyone who is using p2p or similar services that distribute copyright materials for which you do not have a license should be aware that a number of copyright holders (or organisations representing groups of them) are now moving towards threats of legal action and that ISPs are required under law to co-operate with court orders for disclosure.

I have already notified all UKFSN customers who are affected by this specific incident.

UK Free Software Network
http://www.ukfsn.org/
ADSL Broadband, Dialup, Hosting, Domains, SSL and more

I read something about this a few days ago (no mention of enta then), here's the link:

http://torrentfreak.com/uk-bittorrent-users-under-more-pressure-from-lawyers-080111/

Thanks Jason for letting us know.

I would assume Enta have sought advice about whether it's worth applying to have the order appealed / modified / discharged.

AndyE
<n>

Why would Enta do that? It isn't them that are potentially in hot water.

Regards,
Steve

There's a long thread about Davenport Lyons Here & Here

ukfsn

Why wouldn't they? The exact details of the order and circumstances under which it was obtained have not been posted but I would expect any company to make sure that the order was properly justified before revealing customer details.

AndyE
<n>

I'm sure Entanet held out as much as they could before providing any details. It must have got to a point where they felt they had no option?

James
ADSL24
Broadband from

As I say I don't know the full circumstances but it is possible (for example) that the order was made without Enta being given notice of the hearing and being unable to examine the evidence.

AndyE
<n>

AFAIK the court order is not enforceable under EU law
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/08/03/europe_music-downloads_identification > http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/08/03/europe_music-downloads_identification
so if Entanet had refused to hand over details, and had been prepared to escalate the case all the way up to the European Courts, it would have 'won'.

But you need a lawyer here - I bet the Labour government didn't sign up to that part (like the other bits they didn't sign up to - anything that is beneficial to 'people' they didn't absorb, like one month pay per year redundancy terms etc.).

Nick