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RIAA sues 261 file swappers

malebolgia   on 08 September 2003 - 18:00 · 23 comments & 1502 views

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The Recording Industry Association of America said it has filed 261 lawsuits against alleged file swappers Monday, charging the computer users with "egregious" copyright infringement potentially worth millions of dollars.

The long-awaited barrage of lawsuits marks a turning point in the industry's three-year fight against online song-trading services like Kazaa and the now-defunct Napster, and one of the most controversial moments in the recording industry's digital history. After long years avoiding direct conflict with file swappers who might also be record buyers, industry executives said they have lost patience. Monday's lawsuits are just the first wave of what the group said ultimately could be "thousands more" lawsuits filed over the next few months.

News source: C|Net News.com


It is believed that anyone who complies will be excluded from any future legal action by the RIAA.

But the decision will not apply to those already facing legal action, which could begin as early as next week, according to a report from Reuters.

The RIAA has admitted that it is unlikely to take to court all 1,600 people accused of illegally uploading music files from sites such as Kazaa and Morpheus.

But it has warned that those it does take to court will have to take their chances before the judge.

Meanwhile, others in the music industry are also adopting a less combative stance to P2P sites, following the decline in music sales.

Universal Music is cutting the wholesale price of many CDs in the US from $12.02 to $9.09.

It also plans to shelve advertising discounts and has dropped its recommended retail price to $12.98 from $18.98, hoping that retailers will be persuaded to drop the price to below $10.

Sony has also joined the growing market for services that allow consumers to download music legally, putting itself in direct competition with Apple and Microsoft.

The new service will be launched in Japan, with the US and Europe to follow next spring. Sony said that it will also ship a handheld device on to which the songs can be downloaded.

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#1 perochan on 08 Sep 2003 - 18:31
this will just erge the file swappers more for creating more p2p programs or other way to do file swapping.
#2 Coolme on 08 Sep 2003 - 18:43
A how do u expect people to buy CDs after u sue them and MAYBE THAT'S THE BIGGEST REASON THAT THE INDUSTRY IS LOSING MONEY - BUY SUEING CONSUMERS (This comment applies to people who p2p movies and music and if they like it they buy it.)
#3 busdude on 08 Sep 2003 - 18:54
And watch all these lawsuits get thrown out of court when some judge figures out that all this equates to is a great big money grab because of their failing business practices.
#4 Brunation on 08 Sep 2003 - 19:02
Hummm... I wonder if the alleged swappers can blame their own ISP... After all most of the broadband commercials/adds emphasize the capability of "music downloads" as a main reason to go highspeed.
(1 reply) #5 Cristanu on 08 Sep 2003 - 19:12
The ISP will respond by saying "we only thought of ITunes, BUYMusic... are there other ways to download music?"
#5.1 Mav Phoenix on 08 Sep 2003 - 19:33
Not when they have been pushing that "download MP3s faster" line years before either of those existed.
#6 realmccoy on 08 Sep 2003 - 20:57
You guys are right RoadRunner Cable has been pushing user to download music for years . Also computer ad's say burn MP3's.
#7 tapnet on 08 Sep 2003 - 21:47
QUOTE
The Recording Industry Association of America said it has filed 261 lawsuits against alleged file swappers
NOT MANY
#8 Aaron660R on 08 Sep 2003 - 21:52
just keep on swaping guys. This will make us stronger
#9 GiB WaKeR on 08 Sep 2003 - 22:31
A moment of silence for my 261 fallen homies...

...

Stay tough guys...
This is how we roll.
#10 callanish on 08 Sep 2003 - 23:52
Posted on zeropaid as well.

Here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to be honest with myself. If an artist I like comes out with a new CD and I see it somewhere either on kazaa or the newsgroups, I'm going to download it and instead of benefiting the RIAA I'm going to give the money that I would have paid for the CD to the charity of my choice. I'm going to be honest with myself and decide which music I would actually pay for and donate it to one of the needy charities out there. As for the artist creating the music; If this is the kind of Nazi strongarm techniques the artist is happy to stand behind and let the RIAA walk all over their fans, then I won't support the artist either. I've been overpaying for LP's,tapes, CD's, T-shirts, concert tickets, etc. for far too long and it ends now. I am one of the many individuals that download music, but also buy and have bought a ton of music as well. My god, my closet is full of purchased CD's, but I can't forgive the industry for doing this, nor will I help them financially by contributing to their strength. I'm sorry, but my line in the sand is this. Anything associated with the RIAA will no longer receive my support ever. I hope others follow and come up with their own creative ideas on how to boycott the industry.

LTM
#11 James55 on 09 Sep 2003 - 00:00
Maybe we should start a lawsuit against the isps
#12 Daffy_Duck on 09 Sep 2003 - 00:00
261 down, 50 million to go...
#13 lilhaloshaka on 09 Sep 2003 - 02:40
"261 down, 50 million to go..."

HAHAHAHA!!!!!
daffy duck is the truth.
#14 xpablo on 09 Sep 2003 - 06:11
Come to Canada where it's legal to download music and copy it onto Blank CD media.

As the gov't added a "copyright" tax or "levy" on all blank CDs, therefore we pay for the right to copy music onto CD's, the sad truth is the USA Record companies don't see one cent of that, but hey that's not MY problem thats theirs and the Goverment of Canada.

More Info :
http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,57114,00.html
(1 reply) #15 snippet1 on 09 Sep 2003 - 07:17
Maybe if the recors comapies priced the CDs more affordably, then people woulndn't need to download music. I much prefer having something that I can hold, but this is something that I (and probably many others) really can't afford.
#15.1 PeterTHX on 09 Sep 2003 - 10:40
Yeah.

Them damn cars are so expensive too. If they didn't cost thousands of dollars I'll bet no one would steal them.

Face it. No matter what the price, people will always want something to be free.

Music is NOT a right. You want music free? Make it yourself.
#16 s0ldats on 09 Sep 2003 - 15:18
is it only the people sharing or the people downloading too
#17 best_uv_d_best on 09 Sep 2003 - 16:44
downloading too...
#18 DigitalDreamer on 10 Sep 2003 - 19:40
I think this is a bully tactic. I think this is gonna backfire on the RIAA. There is going to be a class action suit filed and they are going to wish they had never lit this fire. Just watch and see! Im not going to set here and say music file swapping is wrong becuase i have some downloaded music myself. For those that say you think it's stealing and this and that. You better check your hard drives and cd players. You know you have done it and will continue to do it. It's something that can not be stopped. Try to encrypt the music. "If it's man made a man can break it". That is all i have to say about it.
#19 DigitalDreamer on 10 Sep 2003 - 19:43
s0ldats its both the people that share it and people that download it.
#20 DigitalDreamer on 10 Sep 2003 - 19:47
realmccoy made a great point above. Road Runner and PC Resellers advertise to the masses that there product is great for mp3's. What do you expect people to do when there encouraged to do it. Makes sense hu?
#21 busdude on 11 Sep 2003 - 04:24
If they would have listened to consumers years ago they wouldnt have the problem that are having now. They need to make music available a heck of a lot cheaper than they have been and not like Itunes where they sell for .99 they should make it .50 a song

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