As founder of the San Francisco-based community website Craigslist, Newmark already has his name pop up in more browser windows per day than most people could conceivably type.

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However, as lead plaintiff in a lawsuit filed on behalf of users of digital recording devices, Newmark is finding his name listed in a new venue.

Shortly after the suit was filed in a Los Angeles federal court Thursday, it picked up a nickname: Craig vs. Hollywood.

Newmark, who said he joined the suit out of concern for privacy rights rather than desire for publicity, said he was "flattered, amused and embarrassed" by the new name (along with jokes on geek discussion site Slashdot.org over who should play him in the film version of the suit).

Beyond the banter, the suit struck a chord with many users of digital recording devices, such as TiVo and ReplayTV, seeking to protect their ability to skip over commercials and to keep data about viewing habits private.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) assisted in preparing the suit, which was filed on behalf of five Replay TV users. It charges that 27 studios, including Disney, Time Warner and NBC, wrongfully claimed that personal use of the devices constitutes copyright infringement.

The plaintiffs are seeking a court judgment declaring that their use of the devices to record programs and skip over commercials is entirely legal.

So far, the suit hasn't gone over well with Hollywood. On Thursday, the studios named in the action issued a statement through the Motion Picture Association of America that called the suit "nothing more than a publicity stunt." The studios are currently suing Sonicblue, maker of ReplayTV, charging that its devices enable users to steal copyrighted programming.

Newmark said he first considered joining the EFF-led suit after participating on a panel discussion on nonprofits and technology with Shari Steele, the organization's executive director.

Steele mentioned that the EFF was planning to take legal action against film studios seeking to prevent use of digital recording devices like Replay TV. As an avid user of Replay's devices for the past couple of years, Newmark said he would be interested in joining the effort.

The four other plaintiffs named in the suit are Keith Ogden, a broker in the San Francisco area; Glenn Fleishman, a Washington journalist; Phil Wright, a video editor in California; and Shawn Hughes, an electrical contractor in Georgia.

Newmark said he was particularly perturbed by the studio's success several weeks ago in obtaining a court order requiring Sonicblue to turn over detailed viewing data of its users. Sonicblue is seeking to overturn the order.

"I was fairly angry that the Hollywood studios had gotten a court order to force Replay to spy on people," Newmark said. "I thought that this isn't a joke. This literally is a case."