The government is preparing a national crackdown on file traders that would crush the rogue swapping networks in the same manner

The government is preparing a national crackdown on file traders, such as MP3 sharing, that would crush the rogue swapping networks in the same manner hackers were pushed underground 12 years ago.

Washington lawmakers have been crafting bills that would give the entertainment industry the go-ahead to identify individual users, disrupt file-trading services and prosecute anyone suspected of digital piracy.

The fear and loathing focused at the file-trading community is reminiscent of 1990, just before the Secret Service and the FBI conducted raids in order to smash the loosely affiliated hacker organizations around the country.

The hacker raids have faded into memory, but they shook the foundation of the burgeoning BBS scene. Billboards, as they were called, were precursors to Web pages. Instead of typing in a URL, people had to dial directly into the computer that hosted the page.

The national raids were staged in Arizona under the name Operation Sun Devil and took down 25 billboards. Several hackers faced lengthy prison sentences, and many believe Sun Devil was only sidetracked when the government mistakenly targeted Steve Jackson Games, an Austin, Texas company that made Dungeons & Dragons style games.

Agents raided the business, shutting down the computer system because they claimed it contained information on how to hack into phone systems. Eventually, they realized they had confiscated the specs for a new game. The resulting publicity took the wind out of the sails of the federal agents.

"(The Jackson raid) was a situation where a federal judge said that the raid was crazy, but so far the early responses in the new era have not been particularly helpful," said Cindy Cohen, the EFF's legal advisor.

"A lot of people thought the actual prosecuting of Americans will be the tipping point. We're talking about 70 million people who use file-trading services. But honestly, I don't know where the 'wait a minute' moment will come from."

"We're basically legalizing tactics that are, for all intents and purposes, illegal for all other groups to do," said Kraus. "The media companies are launching a full-tilt assault on taking away fair use rights from consumers. The reason they are doing that (is because) they are after far greater amounts of control over how consumers use media."

Until recently, people could be relatively safe in assuming that their ISP would protect their identity. That protection would also slow attempts by the government to stage large-scale national raids.

Many believe that eroding that protection is at the heart of the Recording Industry Association of America court battle with Verizon.

The RIAA asked the federal District Court of the District of Columbia to force Verizon Internet Services to turn over the identity of a user who allegedly made thousands of pirated songs available on Kazaa, the most popular file-trading application.

The company refused to comply with the order, arguing the entertainment industry is presuming the guilt of its users without any due process. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act gives entertainment companies the ability to have ISPs remove infringing users, however Verizon is arguing that it doesn't given them the right to demand to get the identity of individual users.

"They are trying to attack peer-to-peer file sharing on many fronts," said Sarah Deutsch, Verizon's general council. "They are trying to shortcut the proper legal process to go after users."