More song swappers sued
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - The nation's record companies Wednesday sued another 532 people for illegally distributing copyrighted music over the Internet, stepping up their attack against online music piracy.
The move is part of an ongoing effort by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) to protect the rights of record companies and songwriters, and to bolster the legal distribution of music online.
The U.S. recording industry filed 261 lawsuits last September against people it claimed have illegally downloaded and distributed copyrighted music.
"The message to illegal file sharers should be as clear as ever ? we can and will continue to bring lawsuits on a regular basis against those who illegally distribute copyrighted music," RIAA president Cary Sherman said in a statement.
The RIAA said that once again it would be targeting people it deemed to be "major offenders".
But a big difference between the lawsuits filed Wednesday and those in September is the group is now using what is known as the "John Doe" process to sue defendants whose names aren't known.
The lawsuits identify the defendants by their numerical computer address, or Internet Protocol address, and once the suits have been filed, record labels will be able to subpoena the information necessary to identify the defendant by name.
The music industry has been suffering from declining sales of album and singles, according to figures from research firm Nielsen SoundScan, and the RIAA says a big reason for the decline is the proliferation of free and illegal music downloads on the Web through sites such as Kazaa, Grokster, and Gnutella.
http://money.cnn.com/2004/01/21/tech...uits/index.htm
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - The nation's record companies Wednesday sued another 532 people for illegally distributing copyrighted music over the Internet, stepping up their attack against online music piracy.
The move is part of an ongoing effort by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) to protect the rights of record companies and songwriters, and to bolster the legal distribution of music online.
The U.S. recording industry filed 261 lawsuits last September against people it claimed have illegally downloaded and distributed copyrighted music.
"The message to illegal file sharers should be as clear as ever ? we can and will continue to bring lawsuits on a regular basis against those who illegally distribute copyrighted music," RIAA president Cary Sherman said in a statement.
The RIAA said that once again it would be targeting people it deemed to be "major offenders".
But a big difference between the lawsuits filed Wednesday and those in September is the group is now using what is known as the "John Doe" process to sue defendants whose names aren't known.
The lawsuits identify the defendants by their numerical computer address, or Internet Protocol address, and once the suits have been filed, record labels will be able to subpoena the information necessary to identify the defendant by name.
The music industry has been suffering from declining sales of album and singles, according to figures from research firm Nielsen SoundScan, and the RIAA says a big reason for the decline is the proliferation of free and illegal music downloads on the Web through sites such as Kazaa, Grokster, and Gnutella.
http://money.cnn.com/2004/01/21/tech...uits/index.htm
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