German Court: ISPs Must Hand Over File Sharer Info

itwbennett writes "The German Federal Court of Justice has ruled that ISPs have to turn over to rights-holders the names and addresses of illegal file sharers, but only 'if a judge rules that the file sharer indeed infringed on copyright,' said the court's spokeswoman, Dietlind Weinland. The ruling overturns two previous rulings by regional courts and is significant because the violation doesn't have to happen on a commercial scale, but applies whenever 'it is possible to know who was using an IP address at the time of the infringement,' the court said."

Comments

Re:"..know who was using an IP address..." ?

[AK Marc]

Owners of cars are responsible if their car is stolen when it's left idling and unlocked in the parking lot. Owners are responsible if they loan their car to a neighbor to get to work, and the neighbor, unknown to the owner, uses it to rob a store.

Now, if your car is locked in your garage and the keys are in your pocket, you are not responsible if someone breaks into your garage and hotwires it and drives off and uses it in a robbery. So your "car in robbery" example seems to match the poster you are apparently disagreeing with. Perhaps you should look at how car use is prosecuted before you speak about it.

Re:"Since when...."

[Johann Lau]

All of that lasted 4 years, while your "started in" implies it's still the case. So unless you offer more, I'm pretty sure you haven't got the faintest fucking clue, just flag flag flag.