File sharers can check a new online database to see if they are wanted by the recording industry.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has created a site where users can plug in their file-sharing user names. That name is checked against the list of those subpoenas filed in the Washington, D.C., district court.
The group, which is gleaning its information from the publicly available Pacer database, said it will be an important resource for those who are concerned that the recording industry might be seeking their identities.
"The recording industry continues its futile crusade to sue thousands of the over 60 million people who use file-sharing software in the U.S.," Fred Von Lohmann, senior attorney with the EFF, said in a statement. "We hope that the EFF's subpoena database will give people some peace of mind and the information they need to challenge the subpoenas and protect their privacy."
The EFF said the database includes 125 subpoenas issued through July 8. The group will update the tool as the records become available.
If a user name is located in the database, this does not confirm that the Recording Industry Association of America has issued a subpoena against that person, since user names on file-sharing sites are sometimes shared by multiple individuals.
But if a person's user name is in the database, the EFF site provides a link to a PDF file of the actual subpoena, which includes the name of the ISP, a list of representative songs pirated
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