CHARTER COMMUNICATION FIGHTS RIAA SUBPOENAS

Charter Communications has filed suit to stop the RIAA’s request for the names Charter customers the RIAA claims have violated copyrights by file-sharing. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Charter’s hometown of St. Louis.

The RIAA has asked Charter for the names of 150 users, none of which have been handed over by Charter. In addition to the suit, filed last Friday (Oct. 4), Charter In addition, Charter also filed a motion for a protective order yesterday, asking the Federal District Court in St. Louis to block the RIAA from trying to enforce earlier subpoenas for many of the same customers that RIAA had filed in Federal District Court in Washington, D.C.

Charter also sent letters to the 150 customers, alerting them to the fact that the RIAA was targeting them and letting them know of its intention to fight on its behalf and they could get three free months of Showtime if they add Cinemax to their basic cable subscription.

Verizon Communications and Pacific Bell have also tried to fight the subpoenas in court. The ACLU also joined the fight Sept. 30. A federal judge in Washington, D.C., ruled that the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, under which the RIAA subpoenas were filed, was constitutional in Verizon's case against the RIAA. That case is on appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.