London - British music companies said on Friday that they had won the right to force Internet service providers to disclose the names and addresses of individuals accused of uploading large numbers of songs onto file-sharing networks.
The British Phonographic Industry, the music trade group, said a high court granted an order requiring six UK Internet providers to reveal information about 31 people.
"Today's result is a blow for illegal uploaders who believe that the law simply does not apply to them," said Geoff Taylor, the BPI's general counsel.
The group said the order gives the ISPs 14 days to provide the information. Once it has the names, the BPI said it would contact the individuals and offer them the chance to settle charges against them.
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UK music companies earlier this month settled their first lawsuits with Internet users who illicitly share songs, including with some parents who said they were shocked to discover what their children were doing.
"We learned from our first round of cases that people from all walks of life are engaged in this activity," Taylor said.
The music industry typically obtains the Internet Protocol address of users' computers by monitoring file-trading networks like Kazaa, eDonkey and Soulseek, and then goes to court seeking release of their identities.
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