The Britney Spears concert was uploaded in high-quality YouTube back in July. After the incident, the Recording Industry Association of America requested a subpoena against YouTube. In fact, this was the first time when music industry targeted the online video service.
Mark McDevitt, Vice President of Online Piracy for the music group, made a declaration to the court, where he requested a subpoena ordering video website to offer information on the identity of the unknown user, responsible for uploading the concert, like his e-mail address, IP address, and whatever else the site could know that might lead to his identification.
Meanwhile, the RIAA’s representatives rejected to provide any comments over the issue when contacted by industry observers. Despite the fact that the original video was removed from the streaming website, its copies could still be found on YouTube and everywhere else on the Internet. At the same time, online service may not be held responsible for copyright violation as the filling is for a DMCA subpoena.
The media reported that according to the court’s record of proceedings, the lawsuit was filed back in July, but the case was closed after just 7 days. The lawyers confirmed that this may only mean that the court granted a subpoena. In response, YouTube might have agreed on its terms by offering the required information.
Earlier in 2011, Box.net’s users were pursued by the Recording Industry Association of America after the latter filed a similar declaration at a federal court in California. That time, the suspected pirates were supposedly storing pre-released songs on their accounts. Like YouTube, Box.net agreed on the terms if the subpoena was to be granted by the court, saying that it took the confidentiality of its users’ information very seriously, but like any other business, the company was legally demanded to comply with court orders. Thus far, no criminal suits were launched as a result of hunting down those suspected copyright violators. We’ll what will happen to the YouTube user if any is found.
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