ISP user, 'Jane Doe,' resists record industry subpoena

Peterson said the woman was accused of offering songs for free downloading via an Internet file-sharing network. "This is more invasive than someone having secret access to the library books you check out or the videos you rent," said Peterson.

But Matt Oppenheim, senior vice president for legal and business affairs at the RIAA, said Jane Doe's lawyers were simply trying to obtain "a free pass to download or upload music" from the court.

"When we get a subpoena, we notify the customers the RIAA is seeking their identity, and we ask them to notify us if they are planning on challenging it," a Verizon spokeswoman said.

She said Jane Doe's lawyers asked Verizon to withhold her name because she was planning on challenging the subpoena.

Sarah Deutsch, vice president and associate general counsel for Verizon, said the company would have faced liability had it turned over the woman's name. "We informed the recording industry that one of our customers intended to challenge and asked the RIAA to deal with the lawyers directly.

Instead, according to Deutsch, the RIAA went to court recently and filed a motion to compel Verizon to provide the name.

"This is just inconsistent with U.S. law. If someone is issued a subpoena requesting identity, you as a citizen or consumer, have the right to hire an attorney and try to prevent your identity from being turned over," Deutsch said. "We think this is yet another indication of why this law needs to be fixed," Deutsch said, noting that Verizon on Thursday filed a motion to oppose the RIAA's motion to compel.

But Oppenheim countered that "their arguments have already been addressed by a federal judge -- and they have been rejected. Courts have already ruled that you are not anonymous when you publicly distribute music online."