According to the New York Times this morning, the NetCoalition says the record industry is trying to force the ISP's to become the "police of the Internet." The group represents at least 100 Internet service providers as well as several companies, including Bway.net in New York. They intend to deliver a letter to the industry's trade association today. The letter will ask questions about plans to sue people accused of illegally trading music files online.
Record industry officials said they could not comment on the specifics of the letter because they had not yet received it. But Matt Oppenheim, a lawyer for the record industry group, said Internet providers were protesting the subpoenas because file-swapping attracts customers, now accounting for more than half of the traffic over broadband cable networks. "We're not asking them to police the Internet," Mr. Oppenheim said. "We're asking them to comply with the law. If they were policing we wouldn't have this problem." |
In 1998, a new copyright law was passed to limit the liability of Internet providers over how subscribers use their resources. But the law also gave the copyright holders the ability to obtain subpoenas from court clerks, without filing suit or going before a judge in order to identify the scofflaws.
The NetCoalition letter will question how the record industry is carrying out its goal of filing thousands of subpoenas in the coming months. In the letter they will request a meeting to discuss the accuracy of the subpoenas, how they target and it raises concerns over the cost of compliance.
"There has to be a better answer than litigation," the letter says.
Source: nytimes.com
