Privacy, Due Process Rights
Georgia - EFF, Public Citizen, the ACLU, and ACLU Georgia
filed a friend-of-the-court brief this week supporting
Cox Communications, Inc.'s efforts to protect the
rights of its customers. Cox moved to quash a subpoena
from several record companies seeking the identities
of unnamed Cox subscribers. Cox does not provide
Internet service in Georgia, where 100 "Does" were sued.
The amicus brief points out that it is unfair to force
people living outside of Georgia to come to Georgia to
defend their rights and also that it is unfair for the
record companies to indiscriminately lump together 100
people in the same lawsuit simply for convenience.
"Cox is taking an important step to protect the privacy
of its customers," said EFF Staff Attorney Wendy Seltzer.
"It's a basic matter of due process that Internet users
should not have to seek counsel across the country in
order to protect their right to anonymous speech."
EFF, Public Citizen, and the ACLU have joined in several
briefs in similar cases arguing that due process must
not be given short shrift in the record industry's
lawsuit campaign against file sharing.
The motion picture industry has begun to file copycat
suits across the country that are similarly flawed.
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