How is Internet anonymity affected by Section 512(h) subpoenas?
Since anyone who has ever written or typed something is a copyright holder, it is possible that any of these people might misuse the Section 512(h) subpoena to discover identity for purposes other than vindicating copyright rights. In some instances, the fear of improper discovery of their identity will intimidate or silence online speakers even though they were engaging in protected expression under the First Amendment. >>top Question: Don’t judges review subpoenas before they are sent to ISPs? Answer: No. The issuing of civil subpoenas is not monitored by the court handling the case. Under the normal rules of discovery in civil lawsuits, parties to a suit can simply send a subpoena to anyone they believe has information that could be useful. That information doesn’t even have to be relevant to the lawsuit, as long as it could possibly lead to the discovery of relevant information. The only way that a court will evaluate an identity-seeking subpena is if either the ISP or the target o
