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Via Le Wikipedia
“Hooray for the European Court of Justice,” Europirates exclaimed today. The EU’s top court ruled that European ISPs don’t have to release the identities of downloaders even if industry groups (like Euro versions of the RIAA) demand the information. That’s the good news. The bad news, sorta, is that the Court also said that if member-states want, they can enact laws that force companies to hand over said information when requested.
Put another way, right now the laws aren’t there to force companies to hand over personal data, but they could be passed in the future.
As an interesting side note, Devin and I really tried to figure out just what powers the European Court of Justice has. Then we got tired and started making knock-knock jokes.
EU Court: Downloaders Can Stay Private [AP/NY Times]