In case you'd forgotten - the Recording Industry Association of America is still fighting internet service provider Verizon Communications, who they reckon should hand over the name and address of customers who the record labels suspect of illegally uploading serious amounts of music. Verizon have resisted the RIAA's demands saying the current Digital Millennium Copyright Act only commands them to give out the details of people who post illegal MP3s on their website, not customers who use email access to transfer copyright material.
However the RIAA scored a victory last week when the US Department of Justice said the ISP's interpretation of the DMCA is wrong. Officials also disagreed with the other argument that implementing the copyright act in this way violated First Amendment rights. RIAA legal man Matthew Oppenheim told reporters that government's filing supported the notion that "copyright owners are entitled to determine who is infringing their copyrights online" and "that entitlement passes Constitutional muster." Verizon are yet to respond.