US cableco challenging RIAA's attempt to hand over customer names

October 7, 2003

Quakester2000 and GristyMcFisty both used our news submit to report that the US cableco, Charter Communications, is challenging the RIAA. As most of our readers will know the RIAA is attempting to force ISPs to hand over names of customers who illegally swap music files via the Internet.

The RIAA has also asked Charter Communications to hand over the names of 150 of its customers who allegedly swapped music files illegally, but the company filed suit on Friday in its home town of St Louis, Missouri seeking to block subpoenas obtained by the RIAA:

Tom Hearity, associate general counsel for Charter, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "We are the only major cable company that has not as yet provided the RIAA a single datum of information," AP reports.

In September, the RIAA filed suit against 261 American file traders, armed with information obtained from their ISPs. Among the haul included a 12 year-old girl and a 66 year-old female pensioner. The latter's case was quickly dropped by the RIAA, when it realised that the woman was entirely innocent.

The recording industry blames unauthorised downloading and CD bootlegging for an 11 per cent fall in music sales in the first half of 2003.

Source: The Register