December 4, 2012 | The Biz

Porn companies take on Verizon

In an attempt to force Verizon to release information on alleged copyright pirates, several porn companies have filed a lawsuit in federal court. The companies are looking to secure names and addresses of individuals they claim are illegally downloading and sharing porn videos.

However, Verizon is refusing to hand over the information, defying court-ordered subpoenas by arguing that the information being requested would violate its customers’ privacy protections.

“[The subpoena] seeks information that is protected from disclosure by third parties’ rights of privacy and protections guaranteed by the first amendment,” Verizon’s attorneys stated.

Verizon listed several reasons for non-compliance, including the cost of dealing with the endless requests for information (which can come in by the hundreds or thousands).

"Verizon objects to the subpoenas on various grounds, all of which lack merit," the porn companies countered. "Accordingly, Plaintiffs respectfully request that the Court overrule each of Verizon's objections, compel immediate compliance with Plaintiffs' subpoenas and hold Verizon in contempt for failing to obey the subpoenas."

The porn companies then added that Verizon actually “profit(s) from BitTorrent infringement at the expense of other, lower-tier ISPs and the consuming public at large,” which is why it won’t “aggressively identify infringers on [its] network.”

A company worried more about its profits? We've never heard of such a thing!

Porn Companies Sue Verizon for Refusing to Name John Does [AVN]