Hot on trail of pirates — in Utah

It's all about protecting the likes of J. Lo, George Strait and Celine Dion from the pirates. No, not the "Pirates of the Caribbean" type of pirates — music pirates.

The music industry has sharpened and is brandishing its legal swords in an attempt to go after households or individuals caught downloading music from file-sharing, or peer-to-peer, networks.

Now, in one of the first suits of its kind in the state, big record labels have come calling for four yet-to-be-named Utahns, possibly in Utah County.

Suits previously have been filed across the country against 14-year-olds, even an 8-year-old accused of downloading "gangsta" rap. News reports estimate the industry has sued more than 18,000 people.

Some critics say such suits have become a public relations gangplank for the music industry, accusing the industry of throwing its legal weight around as a scare tactic.

The latest salvo has been fired in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City.

In a suit filed Thursday, media companies charge copyright infringement against four "John Does" out of Utah. The companies include Warner Bros. Records, Virgin Records America, UMG Recordings, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Priority Records, Capitol Records, BMG Music and Arista Records.

"Plaintiffs are informed and believe that each defendant, without the permission or consent of plaintiffs, has continuously used, and continues to use, an online media distribution system to download and/or distribute to the public certain of the copyrighted recordings," the suit states.

The suit only names the four individuals by IP, or Internet protocol, address. Research by the Deseret Morning News shows the IP addresses are linked to the Provo-based Internet service company Veracity Communications via the UTOPIA network.

The suit includes a list of several songs each "John Doe" downloaded on the file-sharing network, known as GnutellaUS. File-sharing networks allow people to trade files over the Internet, from photos to music and movies. However, some network users also use such services to trade and download copyrighted media files.

On the list are Jessica Simpson's "I Think I'm in Love with You," Snoop Dogg's "Beautiful," Everclear's "Father of Mine," Celine Dion's "Immortality" and even Michael Jackson's classic "Thriller."