The RIAA (which Rep. Mary Bono has disclaimed interest in chairing), has announced it will send cease-and-desist letters to the Internet users for whose identities it subpoenaed Verizon. (AP Story). I hope one of the recipients will share with Chilling Effects.

First, we know the RIAA didn't need the subpoenas to send a warning -- KaZaA has a messaging application built in, which the RIAA has used to warn filesharers in the past. Second, and more important, this response doesn't change the underlying problem that subpoenas for users' identities are a blunt tool against copyright infringement.

As we argued in an amicus brief supporting Verizon, online users are entitled to privacy in their activities, and should not have that privacy breached on a mere accusation of copyright infringement. While it may have chosen these test cases carefully, the RIAA has been wrong before, and other copyright claimants may be less scrupulous. Internet users deserve due process and judicial oversight -- not a clerk's rubber stamp -- before their identities are disclosed. Although the D.C. Circuit denied Verizon's request for stay pending appeal, it can still get the case right after the full hearing in September.