Newpapers and other sources reports that the Canadian music industry is going to court to force isp to identify those sharing music on p2p. From these reports. it appears that Isp Bell (Sympatico) say they will immediately comply with all court orders and supply all requested private customer information to the music industry. Bell will not protect criminals and apparently compared p2p users to pornographers.
While they are not the only one's they are the first major Canadian ISP to state their position so blatantly. While this issue involves p2p sharing there are now serious concerns that private information can so easily passed on from companies like Bell to third parties without the customers permission.
Some cable providers said that they respect the right to privacy of their clients and will appeal any court orders forcing them to release private information. cable providers like Shaw have stated that customers have a right to expect privacy when they sign up for their internet services and that this privacy should be respected. In the end they may be forced to comply but will only do so as a last resort. Early indications are that Bell does not plan to be part of the appeal group. Observers noted that some isp have there own interests in pay per download and this could influence their reasons for quickly complying with requests from the music industry.
One has to wonder how many Bell customers will jump ship regardless of how this turns out.
Cable companies may benefit in the long run if it is seen that they at least are trying to defend the privacy of their clients.
The saga continues.