No reasonable expectation of privacy in Internet subscriber information

InternetCases.com has a summary of a recent American decision in which the Court found that AOL subscribers have no reasonable expectation of privacy with respect to their identities. AOL disclosed a subscriber's identity to police without a warrant and the subscriber sued:

InternetCases.com: No reasonable expectation of privacy in Internet subscriber information:

"...First, by signing up for service, a subscriber knowingly discloses information to the ISP, which is accessed and used by the ISP to provide services. Second, AOL's terms of service provided that AOL would release subscriber information 'in special cases such as a physical threat to [its customer] or others.' Such a provision was especially relevant given the underlying facts of this case. Third, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C. ss 2510 et seq. provides that subscriber information can be divulged in situations where the risk of physical injury justifies its release..."