[Trash-talk] You swap files VIA the net? READ THIS...

[Thomas Young]

>>>another smoke screen or are they for real this time???
>>>the big guys get upset when we little guys take a pinch outa their HUGE 
>>>wallets...


Recording Industry to Sue Internet Song Swappers
Wed Jun 25, 5:32 PM ET  Add Technology - Yahoo! News
By Andy Sullivan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A recording-industry trade group said on Wednesday it 
plans to sue hundreds of individuals who illegally distribute copyrighted 
songs over the Internet, expanding its anti-piracy fight into millions of 
homes.

The Recording Industry Association of America (news - web sites) said it 
hopes to curb online song-swapping by tracking down the heaviest users of 
popular "peer to peer" services like Kazaa and suing them for damages that 
could range up to $150,000 per violation.

The announcement from the RIAA, whose members include AOL Time Warner Inc 
and Sony Corp (news - web sites), marks a sharp escalation in the industry's 
battle against Internet piracy, which so far has concentrated on shutting 
down the services themselves.

Peer-to-peer users now copy more than 2.6 billion songs, movies and other 
files from each others' computers each month, according to industry 
estimates. Executives believe such file trading has led to a 14 percent 
slide in revenues since pioneering service Napster (news - web sites) was 
introduced in 1999.

The RIAA has shut down Napster and several other peer-to-peer networks, and 
has leaned on universities, businesses and other institutions to make sure 
their computers block such activity. It sued four college students who 
operated file-trading networks on campus, reaching settlements between 
$12,000 and $17,500 each.

But the industry has until now shied away from directly suing users, opting 
instead to send them online warnings and clutter up the networks with dummy 
files.

RIAA President Cary Sherman said the time was right to go after individual 
users because a recent U.S. court ruling makes it easier to track down 
copyright violators through their Internet providers. A U.S. appeals court 
in Washington said earlier this month that copyright investigators do not 
need a subpoena to force Internet providers to reveal the name of customers 
who may be distributing copyrighted files.
While peer-to-peer users may believe that they remain anonymous online, "you 
are engaging in an activity that is every bit as public as setting up a 
stall at a local flea market," Sherman said in a conference call.

Other music executives said legitimate services like Apple Computer 
Inc.'s(Nasdaq:AAPL - news) iTunes are beginning to catch on and provide a 
viable alternative.

Starting on Thursday, investigators will track down users who make their 
digital-music collections available for copying, he said. Those who download 
songs but do not allow others to copy them will not initially be targeted.

The trade group will probably file several hundred lawsuits in six to eight 
weeks, Sherman said.
Music fans who wish to avoid legal action should change the settings on 
their peer-to-peer software to block access to their hard drives or 
un-install the software completely, he said.
Reaction to the announcement was mixed.

The president of the Grokster peer-to-peer network said that while he does 
not support copyright infringement, the move could further estrange avid 
music fans.

"The RIAA, in their infinite wisdom, has decided to not only alienate their 
own customers but attempt to drive them into bankruptcy through litigation," 
said Grokster President Wayne Rosso, who won a courtroom victory in April 
when a judge ruled that his network should not be shut down because it could 
not control what users chose to trade.

One copyright expert who has clashed with the RIAA in the past said she 
preferred that the industry go after big violators rather than relying on 
copy-protection technologies that could limit law-abiding citizens' rights.

"On a visceral level it doesn't sound like it's the smartest thing to do, 
but obviously they've done the cost-benefit analysis and they've decided 
they have to do it," said Gigi Sohn, president of Public Knowledge, a 
nonprofit advocacy group.

RIAA members include AOL Time Warner Inc (NYSE:AOL - news), Vivendi 
Universal (NYSE:V - news) , Sony Corp (6758.T), Bertelsmann AG (news - web 
sites) (BERT.UL), and EMI Group Plc (news - web sites) (EMI.L).

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