Copyright groups may not be able to demand that telecom companies hand over the names and addresses of suspected pirates.
According to a senior legal adviser to the EU's highest court Advocate General Juliane Kokott EU law directs governments to resist the disclosure of personal data on Internet traffic in civil cases.
The comment follows the case of Promusicae, a nonprofit group of Spanish music producers, which complained that Telefonica had refused to hand over the names and addresses on a Kazaa server.
The Spanish court had asked the EU court for guidance and it is likely that Kokott's legal opinion will be used to help judges at the EU court come up with a recommendation, which the Spanish court can use to rule on the case.
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