French court favors personal privacy over piracy searches

PARIS: A French court has ruled that music companies and other copyright holders cannot conduct unrestrained Internet monitoring to find pirates.

The decision, which could leave record companies open to lawsuits in France for invasion of privacy, pits European Union-sanctioned data protection rules against aggressive tracing tactics used by the music and film industry.

"The judge's decision defends the privacy of individuals over the intrusion from record labels," said Aziz Ridouan, president of the Association of Audio Surfers, a group that defends people charged with illegal downloading. "This should send a strong message and hopefully affect every one of the hundreds of people defending themselves."

The case involved an Internet user in the Paris suburb of Bobigny whose internet provider address — a unique computer identifier — was traced while the user was on the peer-to-peer software Shareaza.

"The right-holders found the IP address of my client and reported it to the police," said Olivier Hugot, the defending lawyer, who declined to name his client. "The annulment of the case is important because it has direct impact on the tactics used by record companies in dozens of cases in France."

The organization responsible for tracing down Internet users, the Society of Music Authors, Composers and Publishers, played down the impact of the court decision and said that it would appeal.

"This is just an isolated decision amid the many cases that we have successfully pursued," said Sophie Duhamel, communications director for the organization. "That said, it is not so good to have the decision in the jurisprudence."

The ruling sends a strong message about privacy, said Mathias Moulin, a legal adviser at the French government watchdog that defends privacy on the Internet, the National Commission for Information Technology and Liberty.

"The rights-holders should now understand that they cannot set up a system to identify downloaders on the Internet without proper authorization from us," said Moulin, whose organization has the ability to grant such permission. "It is important to have these protections established by a court."

Invasion of privacy carries fines of up to €300,000, or $395,000, and five years in prison, Moulin added.

While it is up to the individuals to pursue such legal action, one government-supported organization is considering moves against monitors.

"We do not know how many families or individuals were monitored before they chose who to prosecute," said Jean- Pierre Quignaux, a representative of the government-supported National Union of Family Associations. "Given the judge's decision, we are considering action against those invading privacy to catch music downloaders."

French privacy law is based on a directive from the European Commission, but the ruling is not likely have an impact beyond France because of national laws.