Not sure why this is a surprise.. ranks right up their w/ illegal search and seizure laws in my mind.In a surprise setback for the beleaguered recording industry, a U.S. appeals court ruled Friday that record labels cannot force Internet service providers to name customers who illegally copy music online.
Existing copyright law does not allow record labels to force Internet providers to turn over customer names without a formal lawsuit, the court said, adding the industry's legal argument ''borders upon the silly.''
The decision complicates the recording industry's efforts to stamp out the online traffic in copyrighted songs over ''peer to peer'' networks like Kazaa, a practice the industry says has contributed to plummeting CD sales.
I wish the media, who are basically owned by a lot of the same people, like to keep pushing this BS that mp3s affect CD sales detrimentally. =)
