The Canadian Recording Industry Association has kicked off what promises to be a lengthy battle against online music sharing, and the first hurdle may be the most difficult to clear.

The CRIA has asked a number of Internet service providers to hand over contact information for customers it suspects of "egregious" uploading of music files.

"They, on the average, have 2,000 to 2,500 copyrighted music files that they've been making available -- distributing -- on the Internet," said Brian Robertson of the CRIA.

However, the CRIA doesn't' know who "they" are -- only their screen names and Internet service providers, or ISPs.

But at least one of those companies, Calgary-based Shaw Communications, says it intends to oppose the CRIA, citing new federal privacy laws that protect its customers.

"Our customers' right to privacy is very dear to us," said Shaw Communications president Peter Bissonnette.

Arguments in the case begin Monday at a federal court in Toronto.

Working on behalf of major record labels, the CRIA is reportedly hunting for 29 Canadian customers from at least five different ISPs, including Shaw, Telus Corp., Rogers Cable, Bell Canada's Sympatico service and Quebec's Videotron.

So far, Shaw is the only ISP to openly oppose the CRIA's request. The company provides high-speed Internet service to about 900,000 Canadians.

Sympatico, Rogers and Telus want to inform their affected customers first and let those customers battle it out in court with the recording industry.

Videotron has said it will not oppose the request.

Videotron is in a unique position because its parent company, Quebecor, also sells music.  Videotron said it is concerned about copyright protection and considers file sharing to be "theft."

"We've got to fight (file sharing) with all our energy so we will obey court orders -- and we will co-operate as much as we can and we enthusiastically support what the CRIA is doing," said executive vice-president Luc Lavoie told The Globe and Mail.

Record labels contend that online file sharing violates copyright law and has hurt sales of albums and singles. Supporters of it say it stimulates demand for music and say the industry is to blame for falling sales.

The CRIA's search follows the lead of the Recording Industry Association of America, which has sued some 400 individuals in the United States. On both sides of the border, the recording industry is targeting computer users who upload musical files, not those who download songs.

"I don't see it as stealing, I don't see it as doing something wrong," said Web surfer Adrian as he uploaded a digital music file. He asked his real name not be used.

In December, a California court ruled that the recording industry could not force ISPs to identify customers unless it launched a formal lawsuit and obtained a subpoena.

Such a ruling might be considered by a Canadian judge, but would not be a binding precedent.

There are also doubts about whether lawsuits against file sharers will be successful here, since Canadian laws on reproducing music for personal use differ from those in the United States.
 
For example, it has been legal in Canada since 1998 to make a single copy of a recording for personal use, such as copying a CD onto your hard drive or MP3 player. But the practice is illegal in the U.S.

But under the Copyright Act, it remains illegal to give or sell a CD copy to a friend, since it's not for personal use. In the same vein, distributing copies to friends online is prohibited.

For those the industry successful sues, the consequences could be expensive.

"So if somebody is putting a lot of material on to their hard drive to make it available and that's found to be copyright infringement, we could be talking tens of thousands, perhaps even hundreds of thousands of dollars each person," said Mark Hayes, a lawyer with the firm Ogilvy Renault.

The industry said this is just the first wave of such suits, that more are coming, and they won't stop until Canadian music pirates are punished.

CTV's David Akin contributed to this report.