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From Reuters Entertainment:

Recording Industry Campaign Faces Scrutiny

By Bill Holland

WASHINGTON (Billboard) - A top Republican senator wants to bring the recording industry before his subcommittee next month to answer questions about its campaign to root out and sue Internet music swappers.

Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., is the first Republican to voice apprehension about the Recording Industry Assn. of America's campaign, which could end up targeting teens.

"It raised a concern," says Coleman, who is chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. "On the one hand, I recognize the legitimacy of the interests of record companies, but I am worried about the response. Does the punishment fit the crime?"

For the moment, there are no signs that Coleman's action could lead to a GOP backlash against the RIAA on Capitol Hill. But Coleman told Billboard magazine that he might introduce a bill to curb the RIAA's campaign if it proves to be "overbroad."

Billboard also has learned that the Senate Judiciary Committee is considering a hearing on the subpoena process this fall. "The issue falls squarely in our jurisdiction," says a spokesperson for chairman Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, R-Utah. "We will be monitoring Sen. Coleman's involvement in this issue, and should the occasion seem appropriate, we would hold a hearing."

The involvement of the Hatch committee may be rooted in the deep-seated reluctance of committee chairmen to relinquish "turf" jurisdiction. Hatch is already on record as saying he would consider going farther than the RIAA and call for even more drastic measures.

Because Coleman is a Republican, insiders say his potential reform bill, if written as a pro-consumer measure, might find majority support in Congress. Such a development would be the first big test for incoming RIAA chairman/CEO Mitch Bainwol.

Coleman says he knows Bainwol from Republican political fundraising circles and trusts him "to do the right thing."

Coleman, elected in 2002 after the death of Democratic Sen. Paul Wellstone, says he decided to pursue the inquiry "after reading news reports of 'broad sweeping action by the record industry' and 'making criminals out of 14-year-olds.' "

Coleman says he believes the record industry is "so freaked out" about Internet piracy that it felt it had to do something really tough.

"I'm an ex-prosecutor, and I worry about that mentality that if you make an example of somebody, you're going to change somebody's behavior," he says.

The RIAA has complied with Coleman's request to forward copies of the subpoenas by Aug. 14. It will also provide answers to Coleman's questions concerning the methodology used to find infringers and safeguards to protect innocent consumers.

The subpoena program is one of several tools, including public education, that the RIAA is using to counter peer-to-peer (P2P) piracy.

"This is a program of deterrence," RIAA president Cary Sherman says. "We've made it clear from the beginning that for individuals interested in settling out of court, we're certainly prepared to discuss ."

Leading up to Coleman's move, leading Republican lawmakers have given the RIAA the green light to pursue individuals who have been making copyrighted music files available to others over the Internet.

Hatch suggested in a June 17 hearing on piracy that he supported destroying the computers of copyright infringers if it were the only way to control the problem.

In June, after the RIAA began to send subpoenas to Internet service providers (ISPs), the Republican chairman of the House panel that oversees copyright issues also released a statement of support.

"Illegal fire sharing on peer-to-peer networks has reached unacceptable levels," wrote Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, chairman of the House Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property. "Music companies have laid off thousands of employees, music stores have closed and artists are not signing contracts. Today's action is an appropriate and reasonable step."

Earlier this year, Democrats on Smith's subcommittee also voiced support and introduced bills to help the RIAA deal with P2P infringers.

Coleman says that other senators who have shown interest in the issue have contacted him.

His call for a hearing on the subpoenas caught his colleagues by surprise, say sources close to the subcommittee, and did not allow other members the opportunity to study the issue beforehand.

The RIAA claims that its authority to obtain subpoenas is granted by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. If the RIAA's campaign is overbroad, Coleman says he would consider changing the DMCA provision.

Reuters/Billboard