* Pacific Bell Sues Recording Industry for Custome

* Pacific Bell Sues Recording Industry for Customer Privacy

Electronic Frontier Foundation Supports ISP Resistance

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation applauds a lawsuit
brought by Pacific Bell Internet Services on July 31 against three
organizations that are manipulating copyright laws to violate the privacy
of ISP customers.

The case concerns 97 subpoenas directed to Pacific Bell over the past two
weeks. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has issued
thousands of subpoenas to various ISPs, seeking the identity of music fans
who use peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing networks.

The lawsuit alleges that the RIAA, along with MediaForce, a company that
issues millions of "cease-and-desist" letters to ISPs, and Titan Media, a
gay-themed adult entertainment company, have distorted certain provisions
of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) in an attempt to force
Pacific Bell to breach its customers' privacy.

Pacific Bell seeks a declaration from the court that any further subpoenas
and cease-and-desist letters for peer-to-peer file sharing activity must
follow some court-established safeguards ensuring that there is some
evidence of illegal activity before divulging personal information about
ISP customers.

"The misuse of the subpoena process by an adult entertainment company
emphasizes the potential for abuse with insufficient privacy protections in
the law," explained EFF Legal Director Cindy Cohn. "Without vetting by any
court, companies can issue subpoenas that disclose the identities of
targeted individuals and link their names to gay-themed adult porn, making
it impossible for them to regain their privacy later even if the
allegations are patently false."

This case highlights the privacy problems that led over 44 organizations to
join with EFF in opposing the subpoena process in a similar case involving
Verizon in Washington, DC, currently pending before a federal appeals
court.

"The DC Court dismissed our concerns about subpoena process abuse as
premature," added EFF Staff Attorney Gwen Hinze. "The California Court will
have an opportunity to consider critical privacy concerns in light of the
thousands of subpoenas the RIAA has issued as a clear abuse of the subpoena
process."

The RIAA's crusade has already drawn the concerned attention of Congress.
Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN) recently announced an investigation into the
issuance of the subpoenas and the threatened lawsuits.

EFF applauds both Pacific Bell and Senator Coleman and urges concerned
citizens to learn more about ways to make filesharing legal while getting
artists paid at our Let the Music Play Campaign.