There's a strict limit on what information can be shared in EU rules seeking to stem intellectual property rights violations, Advocate General Henrik Saugmandsgaard Oe of the EU Court of Justice said in a non-binding opinion on Thursday.
The case stems from a German court dispute in which the owner of the rights to "Scary Movie 5" and "Parker" wanted to hunt down details on three users who uploaded the movies to YouTube in 2013 and 2014.
They asked the platform to provide them with the email addresses, telephone numbers and IP addresses used by those users.
"To my knowledge, there are no examples of EU legislation where the terms ‘names and addresses,' used alone and in a general context, refer to the telephone number, IP address or email address," the advocate general said.
