Court of Appeals Rejects Subpoena to Reveal SIIA Informant’s Identity
For those of you interested in the legal aspects of license compliance and software audits, here’s an interesting development that took place in the D.C. Court of Appeals just a few weeks ago: After an anonymous employee filed a bogus piracy claim with the SIIA against his/her company, Solers Inc, the firm filed a defamation lawsuit against the “John Doe” informant and tried to subpoena the SIIA to reveal the defendant’s identity. Unfortunately for Solers (and fortunately for the defendant), the Court of Appeals ruled that because Solers couldn’t provide sufficient evidence that it had suffered economic or other losses as a result of the false accusation, the subpoena would be quashed and the case dismissed.
Although the ruling doesn’t apply to areas outside the District of Columbia, it still potentially serves as a precedent both to businesses and would-be whistle-blowers. First, businesses may be more or less inclined to pursue the identity of a John Doe depending on their ability to furnish evidence of economic damages, and the perceived strength of such “proof.” Perhaps more interestingly, employees considering filing a confidential license infringement claim to the BSA or SIIA may think again if they know that under certain circumstances, particularly when economic harm results, their anonymity may not be protected in the event of a subpoena.
