AT&T effort to stem Internet piracy raises privacy concerns: "
In a break with other Internet service providers, AT&T (News - Alert) Inc. will work with Hollywood studios and recording labels to devise technology that identifies offshore content pirates who use its network to upload illegal copies of movies and music.

Although details remain sketchy, the effort worries privacy advocates, who fear the San Antonio-based company could become a beat cop, monitoring which Web sites customers visit and what computer files they share.

Technology officers from several entertainment companies met June 5 in San Antonio to discuss the effort, which could take months and quite possibly fail to produce a solution that would be technologically feasible and protect customer privacy.

'It's daunting,' said James W. Cicconi, AT&T's senior executive vice president of external and legislative affairs.

'What we're trying to do here is see if we can devise a technology that can address the problem,' he said. 'Then we'll have to address the legal issues that flow out of using such a technology.'

Legal questions include the privacy interests of customers and legitimate distributions for educational uses or works in the public domain.

Cicconi said such issues will not be ignored.
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