RIAA Wants Fed Judge to Compel Verizon to “Give Up” Swapper

Declan McCullagh reports:

On Tuesday, the RIAA asked a federal judge in Washington, D.C., for an order
compelling Verizon Communications to reveal the name of a customer accused of
illegally trading hundreds of songs. Citing privacy concerns and potential
legal liability, Verizon has refused to comply with a subpoena the RIAA sent
last month.

“It’s not that they don’t want to turn over the name,” said Mitch Glazier, an
RIAA senior vice president. “It’s that they don’t want to be liable for
turning over a subscriber’s name.”

Until now, the entertainment industry has relied on civil lawsuits aimed at
corporations, not individuals, to limit widespread copyright infringement on
peer-to-peer networks. Now, however, the RIAA is revising its strategy and
appears ready to sue individuals swapping songs over the Internet.

At issue in the RIAA’s request is an obscure part of the Digital Millennium
Copyright Act (DMCA) that permits a copyright owner to send a subpoena
ordering a “service provider” to turn over information about a subscriber. It
is not necessary to file a lawsuit to take advantage of the DMCA’s expedited
subpoena process.

Making friends.