Music's New Mousetrap

If you're under 35 and own a computer with a high-speed Internet connection, chances are you've indulged in a very 21st century vice: sharing and downloading music (on services like Kazaa, Morpheus and LimeWire) without the music industry's permission. And like millions of others, you could now be in trouble. Last week a federal judge ordered Verizon, a fast-growing telephone company and Internet service provider (ISP), to answer a Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) subpoena for the name of one of its customers, a heavy Kazaa user. Should you be worried?

Not yet but maybe soon; Verizon is appealing the ruling. If it stands, it could open the door to as many subpoenas as the music industry's army of lawyers can churn out. When you share songs online, you broadcast an address that your ISP can link back to you. But right now there are just too many services — and way too many users — for either the industry or your ISP to monitor them all. Subpoenas will aim for obvious targets on the most popular services — like that Kazaa user, who had put more than 600 pirated tunes online. Those who download in moderation should easily escape the RIAA's wrath.