The U.S. Appeals Court, D.C., refused Wed. to stay a lower court ...

appeals court said Verizon “has not shown so great a likelihood of success on the merits as to outweigh the clearly greater harm that would accrue to [RIAA] if the stay were granted.” The ruling means the ISP must divulge its customers’ information even as it pursues an appeal of the district court’s Jan. 23 order directing it to comply with a subpoena issued under Sec. 512(h) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Not surprisingly, RIAA Pres. Cary Sherman applauded the Wed. order, saying it “confirms our long-held position that music pirates must be held accountable for their actions and not be allowed to hide behind the company that provides their Internet service.” Verizon intends to comply with RIAA’s subpoenas “within the next 24 hours or so,” said Vp & Assoc. Gen. Counsel-Internet Policy Sarah Deutsch. At this point, she said, the ISP “feels it has no choice but to comply.” However, Deutsch said, the ISP is still concerned about the privacy, due process and safety issues it has raised, given RIAA’s stated intent to serve many DMCA subpoenas on Verizon and other service providers. Those issues may be addressed in a bill said to be on the way from Sen. Brownback (R-Kans.), she said. One section of the measure would require anyone who produces a digital media product to obtain a subpoena after filing a lawsuit in order to obtain the names of alleged infringers. Brownback’s office didn’t return a call by our deadline. The underlying appeal is set for oral argument before the D.C. Circuit Sept. 16 at 9:30 a.m.