In December 2023, Optimum (an ISP owned by Altice) was the target of a major complaint. Some fifty record companies and labels, supported by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America), the organization representing the American music industry, accused the access provider of doing nothing against pirate customers.
Down with pirates
Despite “tens of thousands of infringement notifications” of illegal downloading of works, “Altice has knowingly allowed repeat offenders to continue to use its services to infringe copyright,” the plaintiffs deplore. The legal process is ongoing, and in this context the court has given the green light to a request from the rights holders: to obtain the personal information of 100 Altice customers who have been repeatedly warned of their illegal activities.
It is not a question of the industry going to knock on the door of these licensed pirates to break their knees (although) or to ask them to pay a fine, but to obtain proof from these customers that Altice allowed this to happen. The names, emails and addresses of the individuals are classified as "highly confidential" and can only be consulted by the lawyers representing the record companies. The court will hear any objections from the people concerned.
This is not the first time that such a tactic has been used by the rights holders, as [TorrentFreak] explains. These same record labels have previously obtained information about pirates to incriminate their ISPs.
In the Altice case, the plaintiffs are seeking not only financial compensation, but also to establish a legal precedent forcing ISPs to cut off access to repeat offenders.
Source: TorrentFreak
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