US Court: IP-address does not identify individual Internet user

A possible landmark court ruling in the United States makes a clear distinction between an IP-address used for possible illegal acts and individual persons using a computer linked to the IP-address in question.

In the case VPR Internationale vs. “Does 1-1017”, the judge denied the request of an adult film company to subpoena ISPs for the personal information connected to the IP-addresses of their subscribers. The court said IP-addresses do not equal persons, and especially in ‘adult entertainment’ cases this could obstruct a ‘fair’ legal process.

In the last year various copyright holders have sued well over 100,000 alleged file-sharers in the United States alone. The purpose of these lawsuits is to obtain the personal details of the alleged infringers, and use this information to negotiate a settlement offer. This recent jurisprudence, however, may become a major obstacle for similar mass-lawsuits if adopted by other judges.

Among other things Judge Baker cited a recent child porn case where the U.S. authorities raided the wrong people, because the real offenders were using their neighbors Wi-Fi connections. Using this example, the judge claims that several of the defendants in VPR’s case may have nothing to do with the alleged offense either.

“The infringer might be the subscriber, someone in the subscriber’s household, a visitor with her laptop, a neighbor, or someone parked on the street at any given moment,” Judge Baker writes. In short: the personal details belonging to an IP-address are not sufficient for the court to identify the individuals that should be summoned.

Although the ruling is definitely a setback for the copyright holders in mass-BitTorrent lawsuits, it has yet to be seen whether other judges will reach the same conclusion in future cases. If that happens, the end of this type of lawsuit against “John Doe” in the U.S. may be near.

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