Reddit has been operating against a group of filmmakers over the past two years in order to protect the privacy of its users.
The movie companies argue that they are not likely to pursue these people in a legal court but wish to use their comments as evidence on-going piracy liability lawsuits against Frontier Communications and other internet providers.
Reddit sees the demands as invasive, with the firm trying to further protect its users, maintaining anonymity.
The movie companies persisted and took these cases to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to ask it to compel Reddit to comply, feeling that the IP addresses would be key evidence to show that Frontier is liable for its subscribers’ copyright infringements.
This court decision was refused on a number of occasions for various reasons.
Last month, Reddit reported to the opening brief, requesting the Court of Appeals to affirm that the DMCA subpoena should be quashed.
This conclusion can be reached based on the lower court’s finding that the value of the requested information fails to justify the burden.
The anonymous speech concerned with the subpoena is protected by the First Amendment.
EFF warns that Judge Donato’s remark shouldn’t trump existing jurisprudence.
The Court of Appeals should follow the reasoning of the magistrate judge’s analysis regarding anonymous speech.