Hollywood studios, recording labels and AT&T will join forces to combat the illegal uploading of music and movies. They will work to develop technology that recognizes pirates who use the AT&T network for such purposes.

In June, technology officers from the leading entertainment companies met in San Antonio, Texas to discuss the effort, which concerns privacy advocates. They are afraid that AT&T will monitor web sites visited by customers and view shared computer files.

AT&T's senior executive vice president, James W. Cicconi said, "What we're trying to do here is see if we can devise a technology that can address the problem. Then we'll have to address the legal issues that flow out of using such a technology." Some legal issues may include customer privacy, as well as lawful distributions.

AT&T's interests have become more focused on the concerns of content providers. They do not wish to act as enforcement agents against their customers, according to Cicconi.

Pirates who set up operations in foreign countries and upload unlawful files using the company's network will be the target of AT&T's efforts.

Verizon Communications, a telecommunication competitor of AT&T, has fought demands by recording labels to reveal names of those who download illegal copies of songs. They too have been in talks with content providers and studios about piracy issues.  Verizon senior VP of media relations, Eric Rabe said, "….we continue to believe we don't want to be the policemen on this, while at the same time recognizing copyright is a serious issue and needs to be protected."

Consumer advocates expressed concerns that large media corporations have great influence on how the new technology can be used. There are additional concerns over the fact that AT&T has yet to provide specific details about the new technology being developed.