Subj : music industry fires subpoenas
To   : All
From : August Abolins
Date : Mon Aug 11 2003 11:15 am

31 July 2003

Targeting downloaders, music industry fires subpoenas 

The battle between the record industry and people downloading copyrighted music 
continued this week when the record labels began issuing subpoenas to colleges 
and Internet service providers such as Verizon Online, asking them to turn over 
the names and personal information of 950 people suspected of illegally 
downloading songs from the Internet. Some of those subpoenaed, including 
Verizion, are opting not to comply with the order to turn over data about their 
subscribers.

"This is turning into a subpoena mill," said Sarah Deutsch, associate general 
counsel for Verizon. The company has received over 200 name requests. "We're 
not just going to roll over and allow this kind of process." Despite Verizon's 
defiant stand, others, including Comcast, have announced that they intend to 
cooperate with the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the lobby 
group representing the record companies.

In response to the record industry's subpoena campaign, the Electronic Frontier 
Foundation (EFF, San Francisco, Calif.) has created a Web site that allows 
people who have swapped or downloaded music files to verify whether they have 
been subpoenaed. The page, at http://www.eff.org/IP/P2P/howto-notgetsued.php, 
comes under the heading "How not to get sued by the RIAA for file sharing." 
Should you discover that you are being subpoenaed, the EFF Web site provides 
information on how to beat the charges and how to stay below the record 
industry's radar in the future.




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