Last.fm, CBS: we have not shared any data with anyone
Last.fm, CBS: we have not shared any data with anyone

                      
                      
          Unsourced rumors that Last.fm handed over user data to the RIAA have resurfaced thanks to renewed and revised accusations against Last.fm's parent company, CBS. We reached out to the targets of the rumor to see if they had official comment. The RIAA, Last.fm, and CBS vehemently deny the claims, in broad terms, with one related party speaking on the condition of anonymity going so far as to call the story an instance of "irresponsible journalism."
It all started in February when TechCrunch published information from an unnamed "source" claiming that Last.fm had handed over individual user data to the RIAA after U2's then-unreleased album leaked onto the Internet. It was argued that this showed the RIAA how many users (and their IP addresses) had downloaded copies of the music and listened to it. The accusations sparked some panic among the Last.fm community. Last.fm quickly issued a "full and categorical denial" of the accusations, and the RIAA told Ars that it hadn't requested the data, and didn't even know where the rumor came from in the first place.
Some months later, Tech Crunch returned to the topic with a new rumor based on yet another unnamed source who is said to be "very close to Last.fm."
The claims now have morphed from Last.fm secreting the data to the RIAA, to CBS doing so. Or, maybe, CBS didn't send it to the RIAA, maybe they sent it to a record label. Or, perhaps, CBS was intending to send it, but never actually did.

          
                      
                  