Small ISP Beats Back Copyright Troll RightsCorp

A small ISP by the name of Birch Communications has stood up to, and defeated, copyright troll Rightscorp. For a few years now Digital Rights Corp (aka Rightscorp) has been trying to turn copyright infringement notices into a revenue stream, sending accused pirates letters telling them they can avoid court battles if they just pay a $20 fee.

While most ISPs have agreed to turn over customer information quickly, some ISPs like Mediacom Communications and Windstream have been fighting these requests for several years now.

Birch Communications was one of these ISPs, and in a media statement says the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia has sided (pdf) with the ISP and quashed Rightscorp's latest subpoeana for user information.

“Our first order of business when anyone requests access to a customer’s private information is to refuse, absent a valid subpoena or court order, which we then scrutinize as we did with Rightscorp’s illegal subpoena in this matter," said Christopher Bunce, Senior Vice President and General Counsel for Birch. "Rightscorp’s attempt to gain access to our customers’ data was in essence a piracy fishing expedition.”

While Rightscorp hoped to turn piracy into a new revenue stream, the company's finances haven't been looking too good lately after a number of these protracted legal battles with smaller, annoyed ISPs. Last quarter, the company spent about $1.24 million in data collection and legal fees to collect just $308,000.