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RIAA Goes After File Traders With Hundreds Of Subpoenas
Thought the music industry was bluffing when it threatened to sue Internet pirates? Then maybe you're one of the 871 file traders hit with a federal subpoena this month.
And with 75 new subpoenas being approved each day, according to a U.S. District Court spokesperson, the figure is expected to crack four digits any day now. The court orders, levied on Internet service providers and colleges, are one of the first steps in the Recording Industry Association of America's promise last month to sue the most fruitful file swappers.
"This should not surprise anyone," an RIAA spokesperson said. "Filing information subpoenas is part of the evidence-gathering process that we announced a few weeks ago in anticipation of the lawsuits that we will be filing against people who illegally make copyrighted music available on P2P networks. We're doing exactly what we said we'd do."
The first wave of lawsuits, which can carry penalties as high as $150,000 per infringement, or shared song, are expected to arrive at defendants' doorsteps in mid-August.
An earlier court victory for the recording industry compelled ISPs to surrender the names and addresses of subscribers suspected of illegal file-sharing, pursuant to the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
The flood of subpoenas is so overwhelming that the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., has called in administrative reinforcements to handle the paperwork. Other civil suits filed with that court are likely to be transferred to another jurisdiction.
But just as car thieves manage to stay one step ahead of theft-deterrent systems, online pirates have devised ways to stay out of the RIAA's reach. The latest version of Kazaa Lite has a way of hiding some of the shared music files on a user's hard drive and can purportedly prevent users with an IP address associated with the RIAA from scanning the list of active users.
The copyright-infringement lawsuits the RIAA seeks are of the civil variety, but that may change if two congressmen have their way. Last week Democrats John Conyers and Howard Berman introduced a bill that would impose criminal penalties of up to five years in jail and a $250,000 fine against convicted swappers.
It's unclear how far the legislation will get, though. "I would not support criminal penalties for the person who just shares music files," said Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona. "If there's some kind of organized and orchestrated organization that does this as a profession to make a profit, then that probably would be appropriate. Look, these artists deserve a return for their talents and their abilities; we've got to try and make that happen. But to throw people in jail because they file-share, in my view, is a terrible overreach."
For complete digital music coverage, check out the Digital Music Reports.
Credit : Joe D'Angelo, with additional reporting by Adam Hootnick for MTV News
Posted on 07.22.2003 @04:10 by deejekyll | 6 comments Post a comment Print
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Thought the music industry was bluffing when it threatened to sue Internet pirates? Then maybe you're one of the 871 file traders hit with a federal subpoena this month.
And with 75 new subpoenas being approved each day, according to a U.S. District Court spokesperson, the figure is expected to crack four digits any day now. The court orders, levied on Internet service providers and colleges, are one of the first steps in the Recording Industry Association of America's promise last month to sue the most fruitful file swappers.
"This should not surprise anyone," an RIAA spokesperson said. "Filing information subpoenas is part of the evidence-gathering process that we announced a few weeks ago in anticipation of the lawsuits that we will be filing against people who illegally make copyrighted music available on P2P networks. We're doing exactly what we said we'd do."
The first wave of lawsuits, which can carry penalties as high as $150,000 per infringement, or shared song, are expected to arrive at defendants' doorsteps in mid-August.
An earlier court victory for the recording industry compelled ISPs to surrender the names and addresses of subscribers suspected of illegal file-sharing, pursuant to the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
The flood of subpoenas is so overwhelming that the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., has called in administrative reinforcements to handle the paperwork. Other civil suits filed with that court are likely to be transferred to another jurisdiction.
But just as car thieves manage to stay one step ahead of theft-deterrent systems, online pirates have devised ways to stay out of the RIAA's reach. The latest version of Kazaa Lite has a way of hiding some of the shared music files on a user's hard drive and can purportedly prevent users with an IP address associated with the RIAA from scanning the list of active users.
The copyright-infringement lawsuits the RIAA seeks are of the civil variety, but that may change if two congressmen have their way. Last week Democrats John Conyers and Howard Berman introduced a bill that would impose criminal penalties of up to five years in jail and a $250,000 fine against convicted swappers.
It's unclear how far the legislation will get, though. "I would not support criminal penalties for the person who just shares music files," said Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona. "If there's some kind of organized and orchestrated organization that does this as a profession to make a profit, then that probably would be appropriate. Look, these artists deserve a return for their talents and their abilities; we've got to try and make that happen. But to throw people in jail because they file-share, in my view, is a terrible overreach."
For complete digital music coverage, check out the Digital Music Reports.
Credit : Joe D'Angelo, with additional reporting by Adam Hootnick for MTV News
Posted on 07.22.2003 @04:10 by deejekyll | 6 comments Post a comment Print
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