Canadians who illegally download music, movies and other copyright material may no longer be able to hide from potential lawsuits.

In a groundbreaking decision released Thursday by Canada’s Federal Court, the Internet service provider TekSavvy Solutions was ordered to release to Voltage Pictures LLC the names and addresses of more than 2,000 Internet users suspected of pirating movies. Voltage is a Hollywood production company that has made films including The Hurt Locker, which won six Oscars, and the upcoming American Heist.

While the decision relates to movies, it could affect millions of Canadians who listen to pirated music on their iPods or download pirated TV shows onto hard drives.

The decision, which comes eight months after the case was heard in Montreal, takes away a shield that Canadians have enjoyed but Americans lost long ago — being able to hide behind an Internet Protocol address. The IP address is the only link forensic software companies in Canada had to identify illegal downloaders.

The Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic intervened in the case, arguing that “privacy considerations and broader interests of justice should prevail.”

Thursday’s ruling would give copyright holders the ability to identify copyright infringers and use that information to enforce their copyright. In the mid-2000s in the United States, parents, college students and others were surprised by notices of expensive lawsuits over illegal downloading. In one of the recent successful prosecutions, a Minnesota woman was ordered in September 2012 to pay damages of US$220,000 over 24 illegally downloaded songs.

The court ruling ordered TekSavvy to release the names and addresses of subscribers linked to IP addresses suspected of illegal downloading. That means if your kids, your tenants, or anyone else using your Internet connection is illegally downloading digital files, you could be held liable.

“CIPPIC characterizes Voltage and Canipre Inc. (Canipre), the forensic investigation company retailed by Voltage to track the names of the Subscribers, as “copyright trolls” engaged in “speculative invoicing” which seeks to intimidate individuals into easy settlements by way of demand letter and threats of litigation,” the judgment read. “It is alleged that the cost and the uncertainty or stigma of litigation coerces most individuals into making payments, whether or not they were involved in the unauthorized copying and distribution of films on the Internet.”

The court decision, in which Voltage Pictures LLC took TekSavvy to court to force it to produce the names, is related to more than 2,000 subscribers. But Canipre, the Montreal-based forensics software company that identified the suspected illegal downloads, has files on more than five million Canadians who have been illegally downloading copyright material — including many in British Columbia.

“What is important is that the court has decided that infringers, pirates and digital content thieves can’t expect to hide behind the anonymity of an ISP,” said Barry Logan, managing director of Canipre. “A user can’t expect they have a level of shielding with their IP address. Their ISP will be ordered to release information as to who that IP address belongs to.

“It’s an important decision for copyright holders.”

Logan’s company has collected the IP addresses of five million Canadian who are engaged in peer-to-peer file sharing and have downloaded from BitTorrent sites. In Canada, people held liable for illegal downloading could face statutory damages of up to $5,000.

Under Bill C-11, Canada’s Copyright Modernization Act rights holders have been able to send copyright infringement notices to Internet providers, who in turn notify subscribers linked to the IP address. Many of these notices have been dismissed by subscribers since up until now, their names and addresses have not been available to the rights holders.

The latest Federal Court decision means that instead of a warning letter, Canadians could find themselves liable for statutory damages.

gshaw@vancouversun.com

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