Earlier today, House Energy and Commerce Committee leaders demanded answers from operators of Internet sites like "phonebust.com" and"datafind.org" that offer criminals, stalkers and any other paying customers detailed personal-call records.

Letters were sent by Chairman Joe Barton (R-Texas) and Ranking Member John Dingell (D-Mich.) co-signed by Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) and that subcommittee`s Ranking Member Bart Stupak (D-Mich.). The letters constitute the first stage of an investigation that could include subpoenaed records and testimony from uncooperative witnesses.

Letters were sent to Steven Schwartz, director of First Source Information Specialists Inc., of Tamarac, Fla., that manages the datafind.org, locatecell.com, celltolls.com, and peoplesearchamerica.com sites; and Patrick Baird, director of PDJ Services of Granbury, Texas, that manages phonebust.com.

At a related hearing this week, Barton said, "I can only guess at the excuses that will be offered by people who profit by engaging in an obvious fraud, by invading personal privacy and by assisting criminal behavior." In today`s letters, the congressmen wrote, "It is very disconcerting that certain online data broker companies are exploiting consumers` personal records and selling the information to whomever pays for the records. With the exception of the legitimate activities of law enforcement authorities, who in any event have legal means for acquiring such information, we struggle to find any ethical justification for marketing this data."

The committee wants Schwartz and Baird to provide the following information:

>Detailed company records, including annual gross and net revenue, the identities of top customers, a description of services provided and a list of all business/Web sites with which they are affiliated;

>All methods used by the companies to acquire the information they sell over the Internet, including whether or not employees pose as telephone company customers in order to seek account information for buyers (a practice known as "pretexting");

>The legal basis, if any, that exists for their business;

>All records related to any inquiries by law enforcement or regulatory officials; and

>An explanation of whether any effort is made to obtain consent from consumers before selling their account data or to notify them after their records have been procured or sold.

The two men must respond by Feb. 17.