Among the Verizon cites for refusing to comply with the subpoena served on the telco by attorneys for John Wiley & Sons is that the requested information is "protected  from  disclosure  by  third  parties'  rights  of privacy  and  protections  guaranteed  by  the  First Amendment."

Wiley's lawyers counter that in cases involving alleged copyright infringement, the rights' holders "right to use the judicial process to  pursue  what appear  to  be  meritorious  copyright  infringement  claim" trumps an accused constitutional rights.

New York Federal District Court Judge Katherine B. Forrest is expected to hear arguments on Verizon's actions on a conference call scheduled for Monday, May 14, at 2:30 p.m. ET.

In its subpoena, Wiley seeks the personal information of Verizon subscribers whose IP addresses have been linked to illegal downloads from BitTorrent file-sharing sites. Wiley's action appears to be the first time that a bookseller has gone after online book thieves in court.

Typically, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) when lawyers appear on their transoms with court orders for subscriber information on alleged pirates, but Verizon may be showing some initiative and taking advantage of recent judicial decisions casting doubt on the use of IP addresses to nail online buccaneers.