This post was also written by Chris Cwalina and Frederick Lah.

In VPR Internationale v. Does 1-1017 (C.D. Ill.), Judge Baker opined that Internet Protocol (“IP”) addresses do not — by themselves — qualify as personal information, capable of accurately identifying an individual. While this decision is a landmark ruling for the mass-BitTorrent lawsuits in that it may spell the end of the “pay-up-or-else-schemes”, it may have broader data privacy implications.

In VPR, plaintiff sought to sue over a thousand alleged copyright infringers. The plaintiff did not know the name of these Doe defendants. The plaintiff only knew the defendants by the IP address from which each defendant came. Plaintiff sought to subpoena the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) associated with each IP to learn the identity of each defendant. The court rejected this demand for expedited discovery.Continue Reading Judge Rules IP Address Does Not Identify User