COPYCENSE

"A federal judge has handed a preliminary victory to the recording industry by granting its request to unmask anonymous file swappers accused of copyright infringement.

"U.S. District Judge Denny Chin ruled  (.pdf) Monday that Cablevision, which provides broadband Internet access in Connecticut, New Jersey and New York, can be required to divulge the identities of its subscribers sued over copyright violations.

"This ruling is the latest decision to clarify what legal methods copyright holders may use when hunting down people who are trading files on peer-to-peer networks."

Declan McCullagh. Judge: RIAA can unmask File Swappers. News.com. July 27, 2004.