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Google Ordered to Release eBook Pirate’s Details to Dutch Anti-Piracy Group

5736954579_896755ca20_bA judge in the Netherlands has ordered Google to hand over the account info for the ebook pirate behind the Flâmanca Hollanda account.

About three weeks ago Google was sued by the Dutch anti-piracy outfit Brein. Brein was seeking the contact info for one of the many ebook pirates that had set up shop in Google Play Books earlier this year. This particular pirate had been uploading Dutch-language titles to GPB under the author name Flâmanca Hollanda, and was only stopped when Dutch publishers protested loudly and sicced Brein on the problem.

Brein pressured Google into closing the pirate’s account in May, and they also asked for the account info so that Brein could pursue legal action against the pirate.

Google refused, so Brein filed a lawsuit and won. Google has three weeks to give Brein the IP address, mailing address, bank account number and first and last name belonging to the Google account that uploaded the pirated ebooks. Even if the person is outside the EU, Google must hand over the data.

That three-week period includes a fortnight where the account holder can lodge a protest and try to prevent their info from being released. The protest would be anonymously handled through Google and forwarded to the judge, but stands little chance of success.

There’s no word yet on how Google pans to proceed, and whether they plan to continue to fight the case in court. Google was contacted for this piece, but has not responded.

Tweakers

image by pasukaru76

 

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