County Judge Tosses Out Naperville Woman's Internet Privacy Case

proved to be short lived in DuPage County court.

Iris Tam had filed an “emergency” request in late 2010 asking a judge to block Internet provider Wide Open West, known as WOW!, from divulging personal information to Los Angeles-based Voltage Pictures, which is suing thousands of "John Doe" defendants in a copyright infringement case involving illegal downloads of the Academy Award-winning film The Hurt Locker.

A judge recently threw out the case after attorneys for WOW! argued Tam’s paperwork was “woefully inadequate.”

“A plaintiff must file a complaint alleging sufficient specific facts,” attorney Lawrence Stein wrote in the dismissal request.

Also lacking in Tam’s filing was her signature, a basic requirement of any legal complaint, Stein said.

Tam’s name has not appeared in court records from the Voltage case, which was filed in May 2010 in the District of Columbia. However, Voltage has until mid-March spell out how many alleged illegal file sharers it's identified.

Based on Internet addresses alone, Voltage stated there were 10 WOW!-Illinois customers the company wanted to identify, according to court documents.