WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Criticism of the recording industry’s anti-piracy campaign increased on Monday as a high-tech trade association said it was worried that its members could be forced to police the Internet for illegal song copying.
NetCoalition, which represents hundreds of small Internet providers as well as larger firms such as Yahoo Inc. YHOO.O and DoubleClick Inc.DCLK.O , sent a letter to the Recording Industry Association of America asking pointed questions about its campaign to track down and sue thousands of Internet users who copy songs without permission.
The letter comes as the RIAA faces a mounting backlash from those who worry that the industry is overreaching in its efforts to stop the trading of its copyrighted songs over “peer to peer” networks like Kazaa.[more @ asia.reuters.com]