In Voltage Pictures LLC v. John Doe and Jane Doe, 2014
FC 161, the Federal Court ruled that while the plaintiff Voltage
could have access to ISP subscriber information for the purposes of
pursuing copyright infringement claims against BitTorrent users,
subsequent efforts to pursue litigation will be subject to active
judicial oversight.
In November 2012, Voltage, a film production company behind such
movies as The Hurt Locker, commenced an action in the
Federal Court alleging copyright infringement of a number of its
cinematographic works against BitTorrent users that have allegedly
copied and distributed these works without authorization.
Voltage sought the names and addresses of some 2,000 subscribers
of the independent ISP TekSavvy through a motion for a Norwich
Order - a litigation tool subjecting non-parties, in this case
TekSavvy, to discovery or to being compelled to provide
information. Voltage alleged that it sought the names and addresses
so that it
