The Justice Department filed court documents Friday supporting the Recording Industry Association of America's (RIAA) lawsuit against Verizon Internet Services, putting the Bush administration clearly on the side of the RIAA in its ongoing legal battles to stop illegal file sharing.

Invoking the subpoena power of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), the RIAA is attempting to force Verizon to turn over the name of a subscriber who allegedly downloaded more than 600 copyrighted music files in a single day. Under the DMCA, subpoenas can be issued without a judge's signature.

U.S. District Judge John D. Bates ruled in January Verizon must comply with the RIAA subpoena, but the telecom giant has appealed the decision. The RIAA, though, has insisted that Verizon not only immediately turn over the name of the alleged infringer and has additionally issued two more subpoenas demanding Verizon finger more accused infringers.

Verizon has moved to quash the new subpoenas and Bates has decided to consolidate the cases.

The RIAA in August asked a federal district court in Washington, D.C., to enforce the original subpoena, which seeks information related to "a computer connected to the Verizon network that is a hub for significant music piracy." The motion said Verizon is the only entity that can identify the infringer behind the computer.

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