Pacific Bell Internet Services jumped into the contentious music-downloading fray this week, filing a federal lawsuit against the Recording Industry Association of America and questioning the constitutionality of the industry's efforts to track down online music sharers.
Central to their lawsuit is the allegation that the subpoenas the RIAA serves against the ISPs, in order to get the personal information of music downloaders, are filed improperly. PBIS reckon the subpoenas are being issued from the wrong States and that they are often seeking more than one identity under each subpoena, which isn't allowed. They also reckon the demands made by the subpoenas are too broad.
The string of subpoenas issued by the RIAA started after the US courts sided against ISP Verizon who said current copyright legislation did not force them to issue the contact info of people who share music files via P2P networks – just those who actually hosted illegal music on their websites. Although Verizon are appealing and various other ISP's are dragging their heals via legal action the RIAA remains confident it will get its way eventually.