New Canadian legislation came into effect on January 1. It allows copyright-holders to require ISPs to identify downloaders of copyrighted material, and send notifications on the copyright-holder’s behalf. But the users’ names are personal information remain confidential, and are not revealed to the rights holders.
Already, the legislation has led to abuse: BMG and its agent Rightscorp have been sending notifications grossly exaggerating the potential penalty at $150,000 (actually limited to $5,000 total per proceeding). According to Michael Geist, The Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law, said the following:
In a nutshell, Rightscorp and BMG are using the notice-and-notice system to require ISPs to send threats and misstatements of Canadian law in an effort to extract payments based on unproven infringement allegations
Read more, via Michael Geist: Rightscorp Misleading Internet Subscribers With ‘$150,000 Fine’ Claim.