A US federal appeals court ruled Friday that the recording industry can no longer subpoena Internet service providers to hand over names of subscribers they feel are swapping songs through file-sharing networks. A major setback for the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the ruling was handed down with the explanation that the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) could not have been written with file-sharing in mind:

"(The DMCA) betrays no awareness whatsoever that Internet users might be able directly to exchange files containing copyrighted works."

While the ruling doesn't mean the end to the RIAA's gestapo campaign against its customers, it will surely make it much more difficult and costly to them as a result. Thanks to Wired for running the story.