This is somewhat ironic: a Swiss anti-piracy group is being threatened for breaking the law regarding privacy of data.  Even though their goal is to reveal the identities of people stealing copyrighted information, Swiss law states that identities can not be revealed unless there is a criminal intent.  Even though a lot (well… probably everyone) would consider these kinds of acts as criminal, they technically aren’t since people are not being tried for their actions… the anti-piracy group is only supplying the identities to lawyers with no intent of even using the information.  That just goes to show you where pirates will probably be…

LONDON – A Swiss company that tracks file sharers for copyright violations could be telecommunications law, according to the country’s federal privacy agency.

Logistep, which supplies information on suspected file sharers to law firms around the world for use in copyright violation cases, has until Feb. 9 to respond to the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC), said Marc Schaefer, the agency’s legal advisor.

Under Swiss law, the identity of a subscriber to an ISP (Internet service provider) can only be revealed during the course of a criminal case, not a civil one, Schaefer said. The IP (Internet Protocol) address of a computer controlled by the subscriber is considered “personal” information.

In order to try to claim damages from people suspected of trading songs or movies, Logistep has asked Swiss prosecutors to open criminal cases, Schaefer said. As the criminal cases progresses, Logistep receives information from prosecutors that identifies the file sharer.

Logistep then initiates a civil case against the file sharer while the criminal case is ongoing. Prosecutors usually drop the criminal case against the person, Schaefer said.

By starting a criminal case “to obtain the identity behind an IP address … they just found a way to avoid the telecommunication law,” Schaefer said. “Therefore, we told Logistep to stop their work until there is a legal basis which allows such an identification.”[more]

Tags: Piracy